Into the South Pole
For extreme outdoor sportsman Bobby Del Castillo, known as “Coach Bobby” to his students, the South Pole is the last frontier known to man where the effects of global warming are the most dramatic and profound. It’s also a hot spot for the biggest ozone hole in the planet and coincidentally has 90 percent of the world’s glacial ice. Yes, you do the math.
Under extreme weather conditions, Coach Bobby will attempt to break the world record of 33 days. He will have to cover 1,170 kilometers by skiing/walking/running a minimum of 40 kilometers daily to get to the geographical center of the South Pole, where he will symbolically deliver one million Filipino prayer petitions regarding climate change. Not exactly a walk on the Baywalk, because as Coach Bobby said, nothing can prepare you for South Pole.
Why are you a climate change advocate?
Bobby Del Castillo: Way back in the ’70s when I moved to Bangkok, I noticed that I couldn’t drink water from the tap like I was used to where I came from, Australia and the Philippines. I took it for granted that everyone had tap water. It may not be so noticeable now, but I think the fact that all mankind now is drinking water from a bottle and having to pay for it, something which is God-given and free, is a subtle ‘climate change creep’!
Why the South Pole?
I’ve always wanted to go to Antarctica since I was a kid after reading about the first race between the Scandinavians and the British in the early 1900s. It was tragic and scary! The entire British expedition perished. I was also following the Wilkins Shelf development. This is a 10,000 year-old ice bridge the size of Jamaica that broke off last year as a result of global warming and exposed the continental coastline of Antarctica to further beating by the world’s most volatile ocean. The South Pole is the last source of the purest, cleanest and pristine ice water unpolluted by man. I want to document that and let everyone know that we should make all efforts to preserve it.
Isn’t it a bit hostile out there?
The ambient temperature in summer is -50° C and the wind chill factor can spike that to as low as -120° C. I will be battling 100 kph winds on a good day and when it turns bad, the winds called Katabatic (gravity) winds can turn nasty... as fast as 300 kph. Also, I will be pulling a sled weighing up to 150 kilos comprised of my gear and food supplies. No flora, no fauna, no bacteria can survive South Pole.
To put it lightly... You can actually die.
I’m going to the South Pole solo. That means I can get lost, metal will burn me, magnetic compasses fail, GPS crystals freeze, I can go blind and... Water! If I fall in water, I have 15 seconds to get out and get dry or I go to sleep for good. Frost bites are slow and scary. It starts with a frost nip the size of a mole and then before you know it, it turns gangrenous!!!
What are you doing to simulate the extreme conditions?
I have a daily regimen of two hours of cross country training and a specialized extreme endurance cardio/weight training program. I am trained to survive up to two weeks without “medevac” in case of emergency since no planes can land there with the wind speed. At the end of July, I will head for New Zealand to do my “acclimatization training” for two months including cross-country skiing simulating the South Pole. The temperature in those glacier mountains is about -40°C during the height of winter.
According to Antartic Treaty regulations, you have to bring back everything with you, including your waste. How will that work?
I will use specialized long range reconnaissance bags used by USA special forces and NASA astronauts. It contains chemicals that turn into a gel upon contact and it deodorizes and de-bacteriarizes waste water and excrements.
Any other unsafe hobbies? Like biting off the head of a snake like Bear Grylls (Discovery’s Man vs. Wild)?
I climbed Mt Kinabalu (14,000 feet) last year in one day and rappeled down Via Ferrata (the highest in the world). I do sky diving, level 5 kayaking (jumping off waterfalls) and downhill ZIP mountain bikes. No, I don’t do snakes and caterpillars. That will be for next year when I go to the Gobi Desert to retrace the Marco Polo Silk Route. After I get back from South Pole.
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To send Coach Bobby prayer petitions, log on to www.lifex.ph. To help raise much-needed funds for the South Pole Expedition 2010, drop by today (June 26) in front of Discovery Suites, right across The Podium. The benefit concert is from 4 p.m. until midnight, where ADB Avenue will be closed.
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Tell us what you believe in. http://twitter.com/pingmedina
