Ben Saunders: To the South Pole and back — the hardest 105 days of my life
本 桑德斯: 极点往返 - 我生命中最艰苦的105天
In 2004, Ben Saunders became the youngest person ever to ski solo to the North Pole. In 2013, he set out on another record-breaking expedition, this time to retrace Captain Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole on foot. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
intelligentsia that is TED,
stuff around cold places.
for most of my adult life,
Tarka L'Herpiniere and I
expedition I've ever attempted.
transported straight here
straight to the TED stage.
that hasn't been entirely seamless.
memory is entirely shot.
in the next 17 minutes.
about this expedition,
or building space telescopes,
或是建太空望远镜这样的贡献,
we had to achieve something
find some food for thought.
expedition in Antarctica,
highest altitude continent on Earth.
海拔最高的大洲。
It's a huge place.
as China and India put together.
in the last few days,
may get at TED in a few years' time,
在TED演讲时应该也经历过。
with Lindblad for our anniversary."
for the marathon?"
69 marathons back to back
它实际路程约69个全程马拉松。
on foot from the coast of Antarctica
journey in history by more than 400 miles.
比它多了400多英里。
here to San Francisco,
and walking back again.
most succinctly here
of Business Insider Malaysia.
That Killed Everyone The Last Time It Was Attempted"]
全军覆没的一次极地探险。”
and indeed the odds of survival.
attempted this journey before us,
to attempt this expedition.
和竞争者欧内斯特·沙克尔顿爵士,
the first to reach the South Pole,
the interior of Antarctica,
the moon through telescopes.
a century ago, uncharted.
大部分地方都没地图。
Terra Nova Expedition in 1910,
斯科特对新大陆作了他最后一次探险,
siege-style approach.
depots of food and fuel
的条件下,
would travel to the Pole,
将会到达极点,
back to the coast again on foot.
用双脚丈量海岸。
in January 1912
到达了南极点。
by a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen,
由挪威人罗尔德·阿蒙森领头的小队
this journey has remained unfinished.
漫漫旅途无果而终。
on the return journey.
死于归途。
the high-water mark?
1600英里。
of human endurance,
human athletic achievement
人类极限运动的巅峰。
predictable combination of curiosity,
to try to finish the job.
there were just two of us,
我们相伴二人行。
of Antarctica in October last year,
我们从南极洲海岸出发,
here to San Francisco and back,
从这儿到旧金山的往返路程。
something that weighs a shade more
比美式橄榄球运动员
of Scott's ponies pulled.
的种马拉的货物重量。
attempted this journey until now,
超过一世纪,
stupid enough to try.
sense of the word —
or mapping any uncharted valleys —
或是标出任何未知的峡谷
territory in a human sense.
there is an area of the human brain
我们得知人在赌咒时
spends 90 percent of their time indoors.
for nearly four months.
three times in 105 days
30 square feet on the canvas.
that Scott could never have imagined.
技术
from the tent via a laptop
及简易制作的卫星信号转换器
panel over the tent.
literature of adventure and exploration,
here this week
the power of storytelling.
challenges that Scott faced
what Scott called glide,
the sledges and the snow.
斯科特称之为“滑动”的作用力。
we experienced was in the -70s,
what's called white-out,
这就是所谓的白茫茫一片。
in the world, the Beardmore glacier.
is what's called blue ice.
蓝冰的物质覆盖。
shimmering steel-hard blue surface
它是美丽却难以使车轮前行的光滑冰川
and thousands of crevasses,
up to 200 feet deep.
chance of being rescued.
after 61 days on foot,
在徒步走了61天后
something of an anticlimax.
at the South Pole.
they have a canteen,
厨房,
as a movie theater.
365 days of the year
and movie theaters,
a lot of empty cardboard boxes.
this photograph,
from the South Pole.
than anyone in history.
and flown home,
折返离开,
the eminently sensible thing to do,
the right tools, the right technology,
险情的科技
and enough determination,
意志坚定
very cold, very dry, we were exhausted.
天寒地燥,我们精疲力竭。
that didn't exist for Scott,
斯科特可没有这些安全措施。
limits as human beings.
of starvation day after day
使你精疲力竭。
full of food.
in sponsorship proposals
of human endurance,
a very frightening place to be indeed.
headwind, which slowed us down.
of eating half rations.
in the sledges to make this journey,
the calories we should have been eating.
来节省食物
increasingly hypoglycemic —
身体机能出现问题
levels day after day —
不断降低
to the extreme cold.
with hypothermia.
something I hadn't experienced before,
这之前从未有过。
like to think, as I do,
of person who doesn't quit,
to lie down and quit.
躺下来。然后退出。
to be debilitated to that degree.
真的令我震惊不已。
for our return journey —
准备返程
could melt snow to get water —
这样你可以把雪变成水。
to call for a resupply flight,
to tide us over that gap.
8天食物的雪上飞机。
from the other side of Antarctica.
从亚特兰地的另一头飞到我们这边
the toughest decisions of my life.
是我人生中最艰难的决定之一。
standing here now with a sort of belly.
无助的站在那儿朝旷野呼唤的人
in the last three weeks.
an interesting mental scar,
导致了另一个有意思的后遗症
every hotel buffet that I can find.
and in quite a bad way.
身体状况极其糟糕
for that plane for a second,
呼叫了那趟飞机
telling this story.
诉说着这个故事。
was never part of the plan,
绝不是计划的一部分。
is still struggling with.
the spikes on our boots
他们是我们
over this blue ice on the glacier —
of the Beardmore Glacier.
in the gap on the horizon.
Mount Hope and Mount Kiffin.
as I did in Antarctica.
to the mouth of the glacier,
the dozens of deep crevasses.
crossing this sort of terrain
走过这层冰川的感觉,
of a railway station.
than I can remember,
or a boot through the snow.
雪橇或木板来看有没有洞
the way up to our armpits,
after 105 days,
inauspicious finish line,
on the New Zealand side of Antarctica.
ski trail of nearly 1,800 miles.
未被破坏的冰线。
polar journey on foot,
of doing for a decade.
much thought to what happens
most of your adult life to,
still figuring that bit out.
superficial signs that I've been away.
covered in makeup now, frostbite scars.
each cheek, from where the goggles are,
都是被护目镜压出来的。
different person indeed.
and humbled me so deeply
to put it into words.
together my thoughts.
telling this story
accomplish great things,
hard enough, as Sting said,
正如斯蒂芬说过的,
saying, you know what,
more important than the destination?
that the biggest lesson
might be teaching me
那就是
a finish line,
us seem to dream of
here, today, now, on our journeys
感到知足,
that we all inhabit,
the half-finished to-do lists,
完成一半的清单
and in front of hotel buffets.
恢复过来
of character to fight it. (Laughter)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ben Saunders - Polar explorerIn 2004, Ben Saunders became the youngest person ever to ski solo to the North Pole. In 2013, he set out on another record-breaking expedition, this time to retrace Captain Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole on foot.
Why you should listen
Although most of the planet's surface was mapped long ago, there's still a place for explorers in the modern world. And Ben Saunders' stories of arctic exploration -- as impressive for their technical ingenuity as their derring-do -- are decidedly modern. In 2004, at age 26, he skied solo to the North Pole, updating his blog each day of the trip. Humble and self-effacing, Saunders is an explorer of limits, whether it's how far a human can be pushed physically and psychologically, or how technology works hundreds of miles from civilization. His message is one of inspiration, empowerment and boundless potential.
He urges audiences to consider carefully how to spend the “tiny amount of time we each have on this planet.” Saunders is also a powerful advocate for the natural world. He's seen first-hand the effects of climate change, and his expeditions are raising awareness for sustainable solutions.
Being the youngest person to ski solo to the North Pole did not satiate Saunders' urge to explore and push the boundaries. In 2008, he attempted to break the speed record for a solo walk to the North Pole; however, his journey was ended abruptly both then and again in 2010 due to equipment failure. From October 2013 to February 2014, he led a two-man team to retrace Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated 1,800-mile expedition to the South Pole on foot. He calls this journey the hardest 105 days of his life.
Ben Saunders | Speaker | TED.com