“Shackleton’s journey did not fail, it just took 100 years to complete.” Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – April 20, 2017 One hundred years after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s infamous and fateful Antarctic expedition, his great-grandson Patrick returned to Antarctica with the help of Hyundai and a specially modified Santa Fe 4x4. The greatest story of survival in the history of exploration, retraced in a remarkable adventure that began this past December by Patrick Bergel, the great-grandson of Sir Ernest Shackleton. 2016 – 2017: The Shackleton Return Expedition Vehicle: Hyundai Santa Fe Route: Union Camp - Thiels Corner - South Pole – Amundsen Coast – McMurdo Station What preparations would be necessary for an automobile to survive and cross Antarctica in temperatures as low as -20ºF and below all the while crossing an infinite expanse of snowfields and a highlands climb to 9,800 ft. above sea level? The First SUV in history to cross Antarctica. Antarctica Crossing – The 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Modifications A very low gearing ratio was essential when driving in a soft snow environment. The portal gear was installed on the vehicle by rebuilding and reengineering the suspension, suspension links, mounts, and axle shafts. As a result, we lowered the gearing ratio to 1.5:1 to achieve the best performance in the soft snow environment in Antarctica. Another key factor is floatation on snow so AT38 tires, used with tire pressure as low as 2 psi were mounted. The body and fenders were altered and trimmed to accompany the larger diameter of the tires with minimized lift. The tires were designed for the best performance in snow and ice road conditions. The standard fuel tank was replaced with a 60.75-gallon aluminum fuel tank filled with JET A fuel for the expedition. The hefty size supports the operation as it minimizes the refueling stops. No changes were made to the turbo diesel engine or the engine computer, but an engine heater was necessary to start in extremely cold condition in Antarctica. The heater heats the engine coolant up 174ºF and it will shut off automatically when the target temperature is reached. It will then restart automatically if the coolant temperature drops below 149ºF. Sorry I missed this one but the YouTube has over 100,000,000 views so obviously it attracted a hell of a lot of attention!
Hi All: I suspect they had one of those snow cat tracked vehicles along for this journey. Just to dangerous not to. Or maybe it was this Nissan Rogue Winter Warrior along for the drive? Wayne
