If I may repeat what has been put on the message board at GE.
Just wanted to let people know that what you are doing is probably as hazzardous,if not more so!,than the old plan and in no way should be looked on as some sort of cop out or easy run for the line. Dont forget that Ernest Shackelton had the "troubles" on the way back from the pole,the return leg if you like.
For those not too familiar with Shackletons expedition, including the poster on the msg board as the exped didn't get further South than the 77th parallel, a little reminder;
-----Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 voyage to the Antarctic.-----
Just one day's sail from the continent, the ship Endurance became trapped in sea ice. Frozen fast for ten months, the ship was crushed and destroyed by ice pressure, and the crew was forced to abandon ship. After camping on the ice for five months, Shackleton made two open boat journeys, one of which—a treacherous 800-mile ocean crossing to South Georgia Island—is now considered one of the greatest boat journeys in history. Trekking across the mountains of South Georgia, Shackleton reached the island's remote whaling station, organized a rescue team, and saved all of the men he had left behind.
Timeline -
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackle.../timeline.html
If it gets that bad in Australasia during their summer, something has indeed gone terribly wrong!!
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Your opinion of me is none of my business.