Amazing! Rakonczay becomes the first Hungarian to walk to the South Pole!

Gábor Rakonczay became the first Hungarian ever to walk to the South Pole on 7 January, when his team finished the 44-day-long expedition. The team walked 980 km from the shores of Antarctica to the South Pole in deep snow, fighting ice-cold winds and extremely low temperature.

Daily News Hungary reported last November that Hungarian extreme sportsman Gábor Rakonczay was about to take on 980 km from the shores of Antarctica to the South Pole. He wanted to become the first Hungarian ever to do this walk. Now, it can be declared that he is indeed the first Hungarian to reach the South Pole on foot, Index reports. He did it!

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Rakonczay and his team were able to finish the extreme expedition in 44 days and 4 hours. He posted the details on his Facebook page.

The expedition was extremely challenging both physically and mentally. It even seemed never-ending at some points. Rakonczay lost 10% of his body weight, and he also got ice burns on his face. He said the burns look really bad, but the wounds will heal. About the mental challenges, he said the following: “You just go ahead, and you do not care about how long it is going to take, or how long the whole thing is, or how much 950 km really is.”

Photo: Facebook.com/rakonczayexpediciok

According to the rules, those who walk on Antarctica for the first time need to be part of a team. Rakonczay was part of a 5-member-team. He was in the lead, and he was also responsible for dragging the 94-kg-sledge with the expedition kit. He dragged the sledge for 8-10 hours a day. The kit became lighter each day, but it was over 90kg when the expedition started.

The team finished the expedition on 7 January.

Extreme temperature

It was a physically demanding challenge, walking in deep snow and fighting the ice-cold wind. The temperature was about -12° Celsius when they started walking in Antarctica, but as they started to reach the South Pole, it decreased below -20° Celsius, and it even reached -30° Celsius at some points

Rakonczay was also the first person ever to paddle solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a canoe.

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Featured image: Facebook.com/rakonczayexpediciok

Source: www.index.hu