Other Pages: [ Drop Zone site map. | South Pole Schedule | South Pole Base Protocols ]

Organization:

Co-organizers:
Evgeniy Bakalov, Para-World Company - Moscow, RUSSIA
e-mail: bakalov@glasnet.ru
Oleg Prodan, Para-World Company - Moscow, RUSSIA
e-mail: icholding@glasnet.ru

US Representative:
Bob Christ, Forum International - West Chester, Pennsylvania USA
e-mail: forum@chesco.com

European Representative:
Nathalie Chudiak, Den Haag, HOLLAND

Freefall Coordinator:
B.J. Worth, Big Sky Productions - Whitefish, Montana USA

Tandem Coordinator:
Bill Booth, The Relative Workshop - DeLand, Florida USA

Media Coordinator:
Karine LYONS, Starter Communications - Paris, FRANCE

Freefly Coordinator:
Adrian Nichols - London, ENGLAND

Documentation Coordinator:
Stephan JEAN, CARPO Productions - Paris, FRANCE

Internet Coordinator:
Paolo Velcich, Korum Designs - Udine, ITALY

French Science Coordinator:
Jean-Claude LAFAILLE - Toul, FRANCE

South African Environmental Officer:
Graham Hoal, Capetown, SOUTH AFRICA

American Team Doctor:
Rick Howden, MD - San Diego, California USA

Travel Coordinators:
Nick Hetzer and Jeannie Graves, Forum International - Pleasant Hills, California USA

Under the patronage of:
The Honorable President Jacques Chirac - President of FRANCE

This Expedition is Sponsored By:

The Russian Antarctic Expedition
Valery Lukin, Director
Valery Klokov, Vice-Director

We have now assembled a Team List

Click here (246 kb) to view an excellent pictorial description of the route [done by Paolo Velcich]. If we were to land the An-74 at the South Pole, this (349kb) is a picture of what the landing snow tracks looked like in the November, 1988 An-74 landing at Vostok. The particulars of that flight were as follows:
Crew for the Vostok An-74 landing flight:
Bladimir Lysenko - commander
Genadiy Bratyshenko - second pilot
Vladimir Birkin - navigator
Sergey Cruce - flight engineer
Juriy Sumnoy - Radio Operator
Genadiy Kolesnikov - engineer of utilization
Vladimir Perevoznik - senior of aerotechnicses
Nikolay Glusa - aerotechnician - electrician
Igor Minaev - aerotechnician - aparatusian
Michail Micuk - aerotechnician - radio operator

Compressive strength of the snow runway at Vostok - 6 kg/cm2
Some areas - 2-4 kg/cm2
Temperature - -40 -50 C
A total of 3 take-offs and landings were made

South Pole Expedition pages:

The trip:
This is how it looks at this point:

December 16 - Everyone arrives in Santiago and is transported to hotel (don't expect the Hilton folks). Please jump to the Santiago Boogie page.

December 16-20 - Practice jumps from the Chilean CASA 212-200 from 18,500 ft. MSL with opening at 12,000 ft. MSL. We should be able to make a total of 5 drops to work out exit procedures and use of the supplemental oxygen systems. Also, team practice for "South Pole Airspeed" the 16-way speed formation will be held during practice in Santiago. We should be able to chunk an 8-way and slam the floaters and divers together right out of the airplane for a picture perfect 16-way Norm Kent picture with the SP Base in the background. With the talent we have on this expedition, we may even expand it a little. There are definitely a lot of big names on this one - I just hope the CASA will be big enough to fit all of those big heads. Also during this time, we will be giving instruction on ice survival, crevasse safety training and general rules of conduct while on the ice. We are all ambassadors of the sport while on this expedition. I request everyone to realize that and save your "skydiver behavior" for when we get back. Also while there, we have been asked to do a couple of demo jumps into some of the better locations in and around Santiago. We will be issuing invitations while down there. I would hope that everyone will participate.

December 20 - Travel day from Santiago to Punta Arenas.

December 20 - Start of Expedition vigil for weather window.

Once the weather window hits (there are satellite pictures available over the net as well as weather stations along the way from the various bases), we're on our way.

During the lead in to the expedition, we will accomplish technical flights to place fuel, a temporary weather station, balloon and press personnel at Patriot Hills before the skydivers leave South America. The balloon and press personnel will transfer to the An-74 which will be stationed at Patriot Hills awaiting the arrival of the Il-76. The press and balloon folks will then travel to Mt. Lechner to transfer to the Mi-17 helicopters to then travel to the South Pole Station to await arrival of the jumpers and to establish camp. Once the weather window opens, 50 jumpers will travel aboard the Il-76 from Punta Arenas to Patriot Hills for assembly. Once the Il-76 has been refueled, the skydivers will overfly the South Pole enroute to Vostok to drop supplies to the Russian Base there. Once the supplies have been para-dropped, the personnel drop will be made on the way back to Patriot Hills over the South Pole. About 30 minutes out of Pole, we will call the ground crew which will be the word to start the inflation of the hot-air balloon. There will be one pass at 500 feet above ground level to calibrate our altimeters to zero (i.e. setting the zero datum 500 feet above ground level to take effect for the increase in airspeed due to the altitude), calibrate the AAD's and set our Dytters. From there, we will have one pass at 18,500 feet AMSL for the majority of the skydivers, then up to 25,000 feet AMSL for the remainder of the skydivers who will be using bail-out oxygen. The only folks going up will be the "South Pole Airspeed" guys and the oxygen monitors (none other than the infamous John Lewis - a.k.a. "Oxy-Nazi"). All others will pre-breath on-board supplemental oxygen for 1 hour prior to drop to O2-soak tissues before the drop. Again, this is the reason for the 5 practice jumps in Santiago - to work these procedures. Once we are on the ground, film crews will board the balloon along with one skydiver (it's a foregone conclusion that this person will be Mario GERVASI - sorry folks) to recreate the first parachute jump made on October 22, 1797 from a Hot-Air Balloon above France.

Folks, this is not a place to take lightly. Antarctica is the coldest, highest and driest place on earth. People lose limbs there. People die there. We've assembled the best team to do this expedition, but it will only function properly if everyone pitches in to make it a success. I am expecting several cases of altitude sickness due to the low pressure air. We'll have supplies of Diamox and the Team Doctor for any severe cases. My biggest concern will be lower-limb injuries due to the increase in landing speed from the higher density altitude at the South Pole. We'll talk some more about that in Santiago.

Our stay at Pole will be between 2 and 24 hours. During that time, I hope to have a tour of the station and some interaction with folks at the base. These guys are great folks - they're skydivers (they just don't know it yet!). From Pole, we will travel to Patriot Hills in 2 waves of 2 helicopters. From there, we will egress back to Patriot Hills aboard the An-74 for staging back to Punta Arenas through the Chilean Base at King George Island.

The scheduled time from the time we leave Punta Arenas to the time we arrive back is approximately 5 days (give or take a little). We must be prepared to spend 2 weeks there in an emergency. We must also be properly clothed and have sufficient personal survival gear. I have created a page with scheduling information. A battle plan is only good until the first shot is fired - so expect constant change once we start the expedition.

I have contacted Northern Outfitters for our expedition. Fred Gonzales is there to assist us and has graciously volunteered (after a bit of arm-twisting) to give us a discount on our gear. His contact numbers are:

Northern Outfitters
14072 S. Pony Express Rd.
Draper, UT 84020
Toll Free: 800-944-9276
Tel: 801-571-9979
Fax: 801-571-6027
Email: manda@inconnect.com

They have the best stuff on the market. The money you save for getting something cheaper will probably be offset significantly by the medical bills from frostbite. I will follow up with a list of personal items needed for the trip.

After we do the trip, we're going to party like banshees in Punta Arenas then again in Santiago. Prepare yourself. And who will be the first Ms. South Pole? Christine Assouad may be returning from her brilliant crowning as Ms. North Pole '96 in April. The competition may be tough. Tradition is never something to meddle with.

OK folks, we're on countdown. There are many details to work out.

Anyone who has not contacted Forum International should do so for trip details at (925)671-2900 for processing.

Produced by: Bob Christ