Discover Dixie and Sam's extraordinary feat in Antarctica last winter

Antarctic ICE is the longest expedition without supplies and without motorised assistance ever carried out in Antarctica. Between November 2011 and January 2012, Belgian explorers Dixie Dansercoer, co-founder of EXPEDITIONS UNLIMITED, and Sam Deltour broke the world record for the longest Antarctic expedition without supplies and without motorised assistance. Dixie and Sam achieved this feat during their Antarctic ICE adventure in East Antarctica, the last unexplored region of our planet.

After 74 days on the ice, they covered a distance of 5,013 km. To date, no expedition has ever covered such a distance in Antarctica without refuelling. The previous record of 4804 km, set in December 2005, was set by Norwegian explorer Rune Gjeldnes. Like Dixie and Sam, he made the most of the use of kites and sledges to cover the distance without supplies. Each of the explorers pulls a sledge, loaded with a tent, the necessary equipment for bivouacking, food, kites and expedition gear.

For Dixie and Sam, beating the previous Rune Gjeldnes record is above all an opportunity to express the deep respect they have for the Norwegian explorer's performance. "Let's not forget that Rune achieved this feat solo in 2005. Like him, we made maximum use of wind power with the help of recently developed kites. A feat like this requires an enormous amount of strength, motivation and the ability to push yourself. Each day that begins means facing up to the most extreme conditions with your head held high. The last few days have been particularly difficult. We had to find our way through a blizzard of extremely arid Sastrugi and snow dunes up to 3 metres high, all in temperatures between -45 and -50°C. We have nothing but the greatest respect for anyone who undertakes this kind of adventure.

Both are relieved to have been able to complete this unique voyage successfully, without major damage or technical glitches. "We owe the success of this ambitious challenge solely to our close and intense collaboration over more than 70 days. At the same time, we would like to thank our meteorologists, the scientific team and all the specialists at The Antarctic Company - our Russian partner for the logistical aspects - who are helping us to plan a safe route through this still totally wild environment. 'Safety first' has remained our watchword throughout the expedition."

This event places Sam Deltour, Dixie's partner on this journey and a final-year medical student, in the international world of expeditions. DixieDansercoer has undertaken numerous expeditions to Antarctica and has been a member of the inner circle of world-renowned polar explorers for several years now.

Dixie's personal record had been broken only a few days earlier, when he and Sam Deltour reached the distance covered of 3951.4 km on the 62nd day of their epic journey. In 1998, Dixie Dansercoer and Alain Hubert covered a total of 3924 km during a difficult breakthrough of the continent. Even then, they used innovative kites.

This feat gives Dixie and Sam the opportunity to write a page in the history of the 6th continent and to honour the Belgian Antarctic tradition.