Ben Saunders: To the South Pole and back — the hardest 105 days of my life
ベン・サンダース: 南極点に行って戻る — 人生で最も厳しい105日間
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.
お話をさせていただきます
for most of my adult life,
として過ごしてきました
Tarka L'Herpiniere and I
タルカ・ラピニエール と
expedition I've ever attempted.
transported straight here
straight to the TED stage.
まっすぐここへ運ばれてきたような感覚でいます
that hasn't been entirely seamless.
memory is entirely shot.
in the next 17 minutes.
about this expedition,
or building space telescopes,
we had to achieve something
find some food for thought.
expedition in Antarctica,
標高の高い大陸である
highest altitude continent on Earth.
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,
with Lindblad for our anniversary."
for the marathon?"
「イイね マラソンで南極に行ったんですって?」
69 marathons back to back
on foot from the coast of Antarctica
そしてまた戻ってくる
極地での人力移動距離の最長記録を
journey in history by more than 400 miles.
here to San Francisco,
and walking back again.
相当に長い道のりでした
most succinctly here
of Business Insider Malaysia.
紹介しましょう
That Killed Everyone The Last Time It Was Attempted"]
2名は成し遂げた]
and indeed the odds of survival.
そして生存の可能性について雄弁に語っています
attempted this journey before us,
to attempt this expedition.
the first to reach the South Pole,
the interior of Antarctica,
the moon through telescopes.
a century ago, uncharted.
100年前には測量されていませんでした
Terra Nova Expedition in 1910,
1910年のテラ・ノヴァ号の探検は
siege-style approach.
depots of food and fuel
最後の5名が通る区間に
would travel to the Pole,
back to the coast again on foot.
徒歩でそりを引いて戻る計画でした
in January 1912
by a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen,
ノルウェーのロアルド・アムンゼン隊に
this journey has remained unfinished.
人力での南極点到達は未達のままでした
on the return journey.
the high-water mark?
その後も塗り替えられないのか?
of human endurance,
human athletic achievement
predictable combination of curiosity,
ご想像の通りの要素が一緒になり
to try to finish the job.
かもしれないと考えさせました
there were just two of us,
我々は二人だけです
of Antarctica in October last year,
here to San Francisco and back,
歩いて往復するといいましたが
something that weighs a shade more
of Scott's ponies pulled.
引っ張った重さと同じです
attempted this journey until now,
stupid enough to try.
いなかったからでしょう
sense of the word —
or mapping any uncharted valleys —
未測量の谷も地図に記しませんでした
territory in a human sense.
足を踏み入れたと思います
there is an area of the human brain
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.
いくつかのテクノロジーもありました
from the tent via a laptop
panel over the tent.
太陽電池パネルがありました
literature of adventure and exploration,
here this week
the power of storytelling.
challenges that Scott faced
what Scott called glide,
スコットがグライドと呼んだ
the sledges and the snow.
we experienced was in the -70s,
what's called white-out,
in the world, the Beardmore glacier.
is what's called blue ice.
ブルーアイスと呼ばれるものです
shimmering steel-hard blue surface
and thousands of crevasses,
up to 200 feet deep.
chance of being rescued.
after 61 days on foot,
something of an anticlimax.
at the South Pole.
they have a canteen,
as a movie theater.
バスケットボールコートもあります
365 days of the year
and movie theaters,
a lot of empty cardboard boxes.
生み出されているように見えます
this photograph,
from the South Pole.
than anyone in history.
踏破したという記念碑があります
and flown home,
the eminently sensible thing to do,
the right tools, the right technology,
正しい道具と テクノロジーがあり
and enough determination,
very cold, very dry, we were exhausted.
我々は疲弊していました
雪上飛行機や携帯電話
that didn't exist for Scott,
近いところに踏み出すための
limits as human beings.
of starvation day after day
full of food.
in sponsorship proposals
of human endurance,
軽薄な文章を書いてきましたが
a very frightening place to be indeed.
headwind, which slowed us down.
我々の歩みを遅らせました
of eating half rations.
半分の量しか食べられませんでした
in the sledges to make this journey,
限られていたので
the calories we should have been eating.
increasingly hypoglycemic —
levels day after day —
to the extreme cold.
with hypothermia.
something I hadn't experienced before,
かつて経験したこともなく
like to think, as I do,
of person who doesn't quit,
to lie down and quit.
to be debilitated to that degree.
for our return journey —
could melt snow to get water —
調理器具用です
to call for a resupply flight,
to tide us over that gap.
8日分の食糧を運んでくれます
from the other side of Antarctica.
the toughest decisions of my life.
最もつらい決断の一つでした
standing here now with a sort of belly.
詐欺のように聞こえます
in the last three weeks.
an interesting mental scar,
every hotel buffet that I can find.
食べあさってしまうのです
and in quite a bad way.
本当に空腹でした
for that plane for a second,
telling this story.
was never part of the plan,
計画に全くなかったので
is still struggling with.
the spikes on our boots
over this blue ice on the glacier —
ブーツのスパイクが壊れました
ブルーアイスの下り坂が
of the Beardmore Glacier.
in the gap on the horizon.
すっぽり入ります
Mount Hope and Mount Kiffin.
約32キロです
as I did in Antarctica.
to the mouth of the glacier,
the dozens of deep crevasses.
覆っていることがわかります
crossing this sort of terrain
このような地域を歩いてわたることを
of a railway station.
歩くようだと表現しました
than I can remember,
雪を突き抜ける程度ですが
or a boot through the snow.
the way up to our armpits,
after 105 days,
105日間の後
inauspicious finish line,
on the New Zealand side of Antarctica.
ski trail of nearly 1,800 miles.
1,800マイルのスキー跡があります
polar journey on foot,
of doing for a decade.
我々は成し遂げたのです
much thought to what happens
何が起こるかについて
most of your adult life to,
still figuring that bit out.
認めざるをえません
superficial signs that I've been away.
目に見える証拠はほとんどありません
covered in makeup now, frostbite scars.
何箇所かかすかな凍傷の跡はあります
each cheek, from where the goggles are,
different person indeed.
and humbled me so deeply
to put it into words.
私のプライドをズタズタにしました
together my thoughts.
まとめることに苦労しています
telling this story
accomplish great things,
hard enough, as Sting said,
というようなものです
saying, you know what,
more important than the destination?
という言葉をお伝えしたいと思います
that the biggest lesson
might be teaching me
私に教えてくれたことは
a finish line,
us seem to dream of
here, today, now, on our journeys
やりかけの仕事たち
that we all inhabit,
人生の旅の中で
the half-finished to-do lists,
感じられないのではないかということ
「次は何に挑戦するの」とたずねます
and in front of hotel buffets.
ホテルのビュッフェに入るだけでもとても幸せです
of character to fight it. (Laughter)
(笑)
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