After the short stay at the South Pole with its hospitable part-time residents, Arved Fuchs and Reinhold Messner set off again to complete their Antarctic crossing. The much longer part of their adventurous journey lies ahead of them. They have chosen the so-called death route via the Beardmore Glacier and the Ross Ice Shelf, which Robert Falcon Scott once took when he wanted to return from the South Pole and died along with all his remaining men. The goal of McMurdo Bay should be reached within 45 days because the provisions only last that long. Since they now most likely have the wind at their backs, they are equipped with large ski sails, which they want to be pulled along with their heavy sleds. But frozen ice crusts, crevasses and storms keep stopping them again and again, putting the completion of the expedition in jeopardy.

• Wilhelm Bittorf

• Viktor Boyarsky
• Reinhold Messner
• Arved Fuchs