On January 16, the trio kayakers Cristian Donoso (Chile), Roger Rovira (Catalonia) and Exequiel Lira (Chile) set out to be the first paddlers to traverse Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands by kayak.
The “Antarctic Integration” expedition plans to record the natural elements and the impact of human presence in the territory for an upcoming documentary. And like Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctica expedition of 1914, the Kokatat-sponsored paddlers are hoping for the expedition of a lifetime – albeit with more possibility of rescue and hopefully not losing their boats in the ice of the Antarctic Sea.
“Antarctic Integration” takes its name from the unique international environment of the area, where so many nations converge in a single place in peaceful collaboration, elevating Antarctica as a symbol of universal integration, as well as the source of more historical tales of exploration and survival than any other continent on Earth.
The paddlers embarked by sea kayak on the AP-41 Chilean Navy transport “Aquiles” to cross the Drake Sea to the South Shetland. Once there, the expedition team will begin a self-sufficient kayak trip to explore all the main islands of the archipelago: Snow (Cape Conway), Livingstone, Crescent, Robert, Nelson, King George (Merville Point) and other smaller islands.
They will likely cover over 150 miles during the expedition, and with that Christian Donoso will have kayaked more miles in Antarctica than any one else. He had previously completed 800 miles on expeditions in the Antarctic Peninsula in 2008 and 2010.
Each of the members of the expedition will be wearing Kokatat’s Maximus Centurion PFD and Radius dry suits with SwitchZip technology that fully separates at the waist for the versatility of a dry suit and dry top in one, which is made by the brand in California.
To learn more about the expedition visit expenews.com and follow their progress at suda.io.