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Colin O'Brady
In addition to precisely calculating his daily calorie intake, O'Brady has tried to maintain a strict regime of sleeping seven hours a night to allow his body to recover from hauling his heavy sled—a considerable challenge when high winds bash the sides of his tent.
When the weather allows, O'Brady digs out a flat section of show before setting up his tent.
Colin O'Brady, who is vying with Rudd to be the first to complete the solo, unsupported first, pulls his sled beneath a “22-degree halo,” a phenomenon that results when sunlight passes through billions of tiny, six-sided ice crystals in high-altitude clouds.
If this looks hard, that's because it is. Rudd’s sled weighs 150 kilograms; O’Brady’s a hefty 170 kilograms. The men fix skins to the bottom of their skis to gain traction on the snow.
On December 13, O'Brady became the first to reach the South Pole in this epic trek at the bottom of the world.
At the start of the nearly 900 mile journey, both Rudd and Colin O’Brady, 33, who is also attempting a solo, unsupported Antarctic crossing, were overwhelmed by the monumental difficulty the challenge. O’Brady wrote in an Instagram post that the fourth day of trekking was the first day he didn't cry into his goggles.
O'Brady is skiing 12 hours most days to Rudd’s 11. Each day, both men have to carefully set up their tents, make water from snow, and dry out their clothing. On the world's coldest and windiest continent, where the temperature can drop below -46 C, any damage to their tents—their only shelter—could prove fatal.