After 12 days on the ice only four teams remain in the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the Pole event. Team South Africa, with Braam Malherbe and Peter van Kets are still in. They’re fatigued and sore but remarkably determined.
The Cape locals arrived at the half way checkpoint just after 17h00 on Sunday, 15 January, having survived 375km of some of the most impossibly harsh icy terrain on the globe. The pair are currently observing a mandatory 24-hour rest and recovery period before they take on the remaining 330km of the race.
Team South Africa currently lies in 4th position, almost tied with the British team currently in 3rd place. Race observers are unanimous that the South Africans are putting in a great performance, considering that they are almost strangers to the icy temperatures.
“This is the hardest thing I have ever done, we’re often racing at “-40°, for at least 35km per day, pulling a 70kg sled behind us,” says Braam.
To view the team’s minute-by-minute progress visit www.coldsweat.tv.
Braam and Pete are also on Facebook.