After a gruelling 2500 km ice-journey, the Antarctica2 expedition team arrived with its MF 5610 tractor at the South Pole today. All are safe, well and in high spirits.
Immediately relaying the exciting news from the ice, the crew announced: “04.30 hours CET. This is December 9th, Camp 17. After 17 days and 2500 kilometres, we are at a red and white striped pole with a reflective ball on top, surrounded by flags. This is South 90 – as far South as anybody can go. It's unbelievable – at the South Pole there is a red Massey Ferguson tractor! We're all ecstatic to be here and so proud to be taking our hero shots with the tractor that never gave us cause to doubt that it would be up for the challenge. Thank you all for your support.”
After reaching the South Pole by Ferguson tractor, Sir Edmund Hillary wrote in his 1958 telegram: “Despite quite unsuitable conditions of soft snow and high altitudes our Fergusons performed magnificently. It was their extreme reliability that made our trip to the Pole possible.” In stark contrast, the 2014 Antarctica2 expedition to take a Massey Ferguson tractor to the South Pole kept in touch via the latest broadcast and social media technology
The adventurous 2014 Antarctica2 mission aims to drive a Massey Ferguson MF 5610 agricultural tractor on a 5000 km round trip from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. The quest echoes the achievement of explorer Sir Edmund Hillary who led the first mechanised expedition to the South Pole in 1958 using Ferguson TE20 tractors.
In taking Antarctica2's Expedition Lead Driver, Manon Ossevoort safely to her destination, the MF 5610 has helped her fulfil a lifelong dream to drive a tractor to the ‘end of the world'. Celebrating this amazing feat with her fellow team members on arrival at the South Pole, Manon hugged the tractor and exclaimed: ”Wow! I've made it! It's such a beautiful feeling and I'm so grateful to Massey Ferguson to have made this possible. It's such a huge dream come true. To have dreams is beautiful but to see them realised is the most extraordinary feeling. I'm inspired.”
The 38-year-old actress and theatre-maker has already driven a tractor 38,000 km from her home in the Netherlands across Europe and Africa. The final leg of her journey was brought within reach when Massey Ferguson accepted to sponsor her to achieve her goal with an MF 5610. Together with the support of other farm equipment industry partners and the expertise of her polar crew, she has been able to complete her dream voyage. “I found that my travels by tractor inspired others to talk about their own dreams, so I set about collecting these dreams with the goal of taking them to the South Pole with me,” she says.
As one of her first jobs on reaching the Pole, ‘Tractor Girl' Manon will build a snowman and symbolically entrust it with the dreams of all the people who have been caught up in her story. “I want people to believe in the power of their dreams – to know that with grit and determination, you can achieve your aspirations. I had the seemingly impossible dream to drive a tractor to the South Pole. You just have to believe in it.”
It was an incredibly challenging trip across the ice, taking 17 days of tough driving. With the Antarctic's constant daylight at this time of year, the team created their own 30-hour days, driving the MF 5610 hard for 23 hours or more at a stretch, pausing only briefly for routine maintenance and driver changeover before pushing on. The tractor engine has been running virtually non-stop since the expedition departed on 22 November.
Not surprisingly, both the tractor and team were left battered and bruised by the hostile environment and ferocious surface conditions. Along the way, they tackled treacherous crevasse fields, steep climbs, punishing sastrugi (solid ice-waves as much as a metre high) and deep, soft snow. Crossing the Gabienz Mountains at 3400m altitude, temperatures plummeted to minus 56 degrees C with wind chill. At one point a massive solar storm blacked out communications. However, man and machine rose to the many challenges, proving their resilience and reliability in this extreme environment.
Richard Markwell, Vice-President and Managing Director Massey Ferguson Europe/Africa/Middle East sent warm congratulations to the Antarctica2 expedition team on achieving their mission to drive an MF 5610 tractor to the South Pole.
Commenting, Richard Markwell Vice-President and Managing Director, Massey Ferguson, Europe/Africa/Middle East said: ”We were gripped by Antarctica2's adventure across the ice and over some of the roughest terrain on the planet. Congratulations to the whole team! It's an immensely proud moment for Massey Ferguson and everyone associated with our farm machinery. As a great example of Massey Ferguson's straightforward dependability, our tractor had a job to do and delivered on all fronts. Manon's challenge to us to accompany her on her expedition was one which we were willing to accept and always confident to win. As such, Antarctica2 is a reminder to a global audience of the challenges facing a new generation of farmers and of the rugged, reliable equipment they need to meet the world's growing demand for food. Challenges which Massey Ferguson is committed to help them win too.”
After a day's rest at the South Pole, the Antarctica2 team will pack up, turn round and embark on the same route back to Novo Runway on the Antarctic coast. They will follow in the exact tracks of their outbound trip which, now having iced over, should speed up their return journey. With luck, they could be back before Christmas.
Together with Massey Ferguson, Antarctica2 has enlisted the help of leading industry partners including Trelleborg, Castrol, AGCO Finance, AGCO Parts, Fuse Technologies and MechaTrac.
You can follow the team's challenge every day at www.AntarcticaTwo.com and #BelieveInIt
You can follow the team's challenge every day at www.AntarcticaTwo.com and #BelieveInIt
En route to the halfway point to the South Pole, the Antarctica2 tractor expedition has had to overcome a range of surface conditions from crevase fields to hard-packed sastrugi ice-ridges and deep, soft snow.
