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The French at South Pole
Only 7 French succeeded in reaching South Pole.
Jean-Louis Etienne, with dogsleds, was the first in 1989 to get through it, as part of the international Transantarctica expedition. Seven years later, he is followed by Laurence de la Ferrière, solo, then in 1998, by the High Mountain Military Group (Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne - GMHM) with Thierry Bolo, François Bernard, Antoine Cayrol, Antoine de Choudens and Bernard Virelaude. These men are the first French to reach the Pole unsupported and unassisted.
Since then, no other French made its way to the Pole.
Although Erling Kagge reached South Pole, in 1993, solo, unsupported and unassisted, no French, to date, has managed to achieve such feat.
List of French at South Pole
|
n°
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n°
|
Name
|
Sex
|
Year
|
Comments
|
|
1
|
1
|
Jean-Louis Etienne |
M
|
1989
|
Crossing, dogsled, air resupplies
|
|
2
|
2
|
Laurence de la Ferrière |
F
|
1996
|
Solo, parasail, air resupply
|
|
3
|
3
|
Thierry Bolo |
M
|
1998
|
Unsupported, unassisted
|
|
4
|
4
|
François Bernard |
M
|
1998
|
Unsupported, unassisted
|
|
5
|
5
|
Antoine Cayrol |
M
|
1998
|
Unsupported, unassisted
|
|
6
|
6
|
Antoine de Choudens |
M
|
1998
|
Unsupported, unassisted
|
|
7
|
7
|
Bernard Virelaude |
M
|
1998
|
Unsupported, unassisted
|
Statistics
| First (1) |
1989
|
Jean-Louis Etienne
|
| First unsupported (2) |
1998
|
Thierry Bolo
François Bernard
Antoine Cayrol
Antoine de Choudens
Bernard Virelaude
|
| First unsupported unassisted (3) |
1998
|
Thierry Bolo
François Bernard
Antoine Cayrol
Antoine de Choudens
Bernard Virelaude
|
| Number (1) |
7
|
|
| Number unsupported (2) |
5
|
|
| Number unsupported unassisted (3) |
5
|
|
| First crossing (4) |
1989
|
Jean-Louis Etienne
|
| First crossing unsupported (4) (2) |
-
|
|
| First crossing unsupported unassisted (4) (3) |
-
|
|
| Number of crossing (4) |
1
|
|
| Number of crossing unsupported (4) (2) |
-
|
|
| Number of crossing unsupported unassisted (4) (3) |
-
|
|
| First solo (5) |
1996
|
Laurence de la Ferrière
|
| First solo unsupported (5) (2) |
-
|
|
| First solo unsupported unassisted (5) (3) |
-
|
|
| Number of solo (5) |
1
|
|
| Number of solo unsupported (5) (2) |
-
|
|
| Number of solo unsupported unassisted (5) (3) |
-
|
|
| First crossing solo (4) (5) |
-
|
|
| First crossing solo unsupported (4) (5) (2) |
-
|
|
| First crossing solo unsupported unassisted (4) (5) (3) |
-
|
|
| Number of crossing solo (4) (5) |
-
|
|
| Number of crossing solo unsupported (4) (5) (2) |
-
|
|
| Number of crossing solo unsupported unassisted (4) (5) (3) |
-
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(2) "unsupported" : human powered only, without external power aids (motorized vehicle, dogsled, parasail,...)
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(3) "unassisted" : without any outside help such as air-resupply, rescue or oxygen ; nevertheless, the "unassisted" label does not exclude a distant logistical support
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(4) "crossing" : crossing of the arctic ocean or the antarctic continent from seacoast to seacoast via the Pole ; this label also applies to return trips
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(5) "solo" : the explorer shall be alone, but it does not imply to be also "unsupported" or "unassisted"
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All expeditions up to 10/30/07
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Source : 3 Poles, Adventurestats / Explorersweb, The Himalayan Database
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