This route is the same starting point used by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen when he first reached the South Pole in 1911. O’Brady follows that history and goes far beyond it. Beyond the 932-mile mark, each step he takes will be farther than any human ever walked alone and without support on this continent.
However, he knows how dangerous it is to try to break this record.
“A few years ago, I fell into a crevasse without a rope and probably should have died. I was very lucky to survive that crevasse fall, but I have to go through similar terrain, so there’s no question that it’s a real impact and a real threat,” he said. “If it’s -40 degrees and your tent blows away, you’re in the middle of Antarctica with no shelter and no hope of immediate rescue.”
O’Brady’s expedition also risks public scrutiny. A 2020 National Geographic article accused him of embellishing and exaggerating important details of “The Impossible First.” He strongly denied the allegations at the time and asked National Geographic to retract the article, but the outlet did not.
Asked on Friday whether the new Antarctic venture was an effort to silence those skeptics, he said: “The direct answer to your question is no. It has nothing to do with it.”
“I am still very proud of what I accomplished in 2018: I was the first person in history to cross Antarctica solo, unassisted (no re-applying), and fully human-powered,” O’Brady said in an email.
Recording and calculation
O’Brady’s sled weighs about 500 pounds at the start. Nearly 400 pounds of that goes to food and fuel. Enough for a 110-day trip, but barely enough to sustain the 10,000 calories you expect to consume each day. “This trip starts at 205 pounds,” he says. “By the end, I’ll probably lose 60 or 70 pounds. I gained this much weight just to survive.”
He wears the same clothes every day, lives on a dehydrated diet, and gets his water by melting snow on a small gas stove.
“I don’t have a change of clothes. I only have one pair of underwear to start with. When I come to the other side of the continent, it’s still on my body,” he said. “It’s not very clean in there.”
Still, despite the hardships, or perhaps because of them, O’Brady says he finds peace in solitude.
“Last time I was there, I deleted almost all music and podcasts. I spent 95% of my time in complete silence,” he said.
“At first, I feel very uncomfortable being alone,” he added. “There is nothing to see in this endless white landscape.”
O’Brady said it’s like “standing in the belly of a ping pong ball.”
“It’s also summer in Antarctica,” he said. “Summer in Antarctica means 24 hours of daylight, so it’s like midday sunlight all the time, but a lot of the time, probably 30% to 40% of the time, clouds come in and you can’t see anything. I’m just navigating by my compass… You can’t see where you’re going, even a few steps in advance.”
He shares updates via Starlink Mini. Starlink Mini is a portable satellite unit that can send about one photo or message a day for teams to post on social media. Netflix is also following his journey in an upcoming documentary directed by Academy Award winner James Reid (“My Octopus Teacher”).
“They’ve basically been living with me for the last few months,” O’Brady said. “But when the plane takes off, it’s just me and the ice left.”
Training for the unknown
To prepare, O’Brady created a seven-week training experience at his expansive oceanfront home in Oregon that he dubbed “Love Camp.”
“I thought, what if instead of going to a training camp alone like a monk and just training hard, I did the opposite? What if I created an environment where I could bring all my friends, family, mentors and spiritual teachers?” he said.
“I had 60 people come to my house and stay with me. We woke up every morning and meditated together,” O’Brady said. “They came to the beach and trained with me. We laughed, we played, we danced to the same song every morning before we started. We created these rituals, and now I have rituals when I think about being alone on the ice.”
O’Brady’s small traveling team, based in Chile and the United States, includes his partner Mary Ellis, who provides “love and support from the heart center,” and longtime collaborators Gary Hand and Ali Rogers, who manage logistics, communications and media updates.
legacy of risk
Mr. O’Brady is not naive about the dangers. British explorer Henry Worsley died in 2016 while attempting a similar crossing. In a statement to NBC News, Worsley’s son Max said, “My mother, sister, and I wish Colin all the best in this amazing challenge. We hope the weather cooperates, and above all, we hope he stays safe and healthy until the end. We will be following along, and we wish Colin all the best!”
Mr O’Brady became emotional when he learned that Mr Worsley’s family had wished him well on the expedition. “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I would have done this crossing. He was a huge inspiration,” he said. “So hearing that from his family and having them congratulate me means a lot to me.”
O’Brady carries a satellite phone in case something goes wrong. A company called Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions will handle the emergency response. The company declined to comment on “travel arrangements for individual customers.”
O’Brady warns that rescue is not guaranteed.
“If there is a storm, no aircraft, even ski planes, can land until the storm clears,” he said. “So if you call and say, ‘We’re in the middle of a storm and my tent blew down,’ that doesn’t mean they’re going to come get you. … It could be days or weeks before someone gets there.”
But it’s not the fear of death that keeps him up at night.
“I’m definitely scared of dying. It’s not like I’m trying to take any weird risks. But what I’m more afraid of when I really put my head on the pillow at night is not being fully alive.”
From fire to freedom
O’Brady’s life story began with a very different kind of survival. In 2008, at the age of 23, he decided to travel the world after graduating from Yale University. While in Thailand, he was involved in a fiery jump rope accident that left him with severe burns on a quarter of his body, and doctors told him he might never walk again.
But O’Brady turned tragedy into triumph when his mother told him to set goals. He aimed to participate in a triathlon. Eighteen months later, O’Brady not only walked again, but won the Chicago Triathlon.
“The doctors told me I might never be able to walk normally again,” he said. “That’s with me every step of the way. You know, even when I’m in the middle of Antarctica in a storm, there’s a place in my heart where I can go and be like, ‘Oh, but you’re on your feet.'”
father and explorer
Now a father to 2-and-a-half-year-old Banks, O’Brady said his motivation has evolved.
“I have something real to live for, for my friends, my family, my community and my son,” he said.
When Banks gets older and watches the Netflix documentary, O’Brady hopes he will convey a simple message. “I don’t care if Banks wants to climb a mountain or walk across Antarctica. … I hope he sees[the documentary]and thinks, ‘Wow, my dad had big dreams. What does that mean for my young life and how can I pursue something that I’m passionate about?'”
That connection extends to the Earth itself.
Mr O’Brady said standing alone at the bottom of the world was “awe-inspiring and terrifying”.
“It’s like all the human emotions rolled into one. … It literally brought me to my knees.”
“What always reminds me of it is basically like virgin earth,” he said. “It’s like the Earth before humans touched it. Yet 99 percent of Antarctica has never seen a human footprint. That’s what makes Antarctica so special. … I’m leaving nothing behind. I treat this landscape with a high level of respect.”
