1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition was a , 220-day expedition and the first-ever non-mechanized crossing of Antarctica.Steger, Will and Bowermaster, Jon, ''Crossing Antarctica'', Alfred A. Knopf 1992 The six-member, international team was co-led by U.S. team member,

Will Steger Will Steger (born August 27, 1944, in Richfield, Minnesota) is a prominent spokesperson for the understanding and preservation of the Arctic and has led some of the most significant feats in the field of dogsled expeditions; such as the first co ...

and French team member, Dr.

Jean-Louis Étienne Jean-Louis Étienne (born 9 December 1946) is a French doctor, explorer and scientist. He is well known for his Arctic explorations, where he was the first man to reach the North Pole alone in 1986, and his Antarctic explorations, including the ...

. The other team members were Victor Boyarsky (Soviet Union),

Geoff Somers Geoffrey Usher Somers is a British explorer, particularly of the polar regions. He was the first Briton to cross Antarctica on foot, and has an Antarctic peak named in his honour, Somers Nunatak. In 1992 he was appointed a Member of the Order o ...

(Great Britain), Qin Dahe (China) and Keizo Funatsu (Japan). The expedition was operated in partnership with the Soviet

Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, or AARI (, abbreviated as ААНИИ) is the oldest and largest Russian research institute in the field of comprehensive studies of Arctic and Antarctica. It is located in Saint Petersburg. The AARI h ...

through a joint venture. Primary expedition sponsors were

W. L. Gore and Associates W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. is an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in products derived from fluoropolymers. It is a privately held corporation headquartered in Newark, Delaware. It is best known as the developer of wate ...

and Union d'Assurances de Paris (UAP). The expedition's purpose was to bring international attention to the continent of Antarctica and the early signs of climate change. The expedition's goal was to advocate for an environmental protocol and continuation of the

Antarctic Treaty The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of A ...

that would open up for review in 1991. Following the expedition, the six team members visited their countries' leaders and lobbied for the environmental protocol and Antarctic mining ban that were currently under discussion as addenda to the Antarctic Treaty. A post-expedition article in ''The New York Times'' described the expedition: "The trip took seven months; the team endured temperatures that dipped to 113 degrees nowiki/>Fahrenheit">Fahrenheit.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Fahrenheit">nowiki/>Fahrenheitbelow zero and one storm that lasted 50 days. No one had ever tried a polar crossing of such length; it is unlikely anyone ever will again."

The route

The expedition traveled to Antarctica on a Soviet Ilyushin 76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

Logistics

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

de Moll, Cathy, ''Think South: How We Got Six Men and Forty Dogs Across Antarctica,'' Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2015, Chapter 5 From the South Pole to the Soviet's

Vostok Station Vostok Station (, , ) is a Russian research station in inland Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. Founded by the Soviet Union in 1957, the station lies at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on ...

, the team was resupplied by a Twin Otter that was stationed at the South Pole. From Vostok to the finish, the expedition was supported by Soviet trucks that moved in front of the expedition, dropping supplies and staying close enough for rescue, should it be needed. Primary navigation was done by

sextant A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of cel ...

. The team also carried with them a GPS prototype that allowed trackers in France to pinpoint the team's location once a day and retrieve a 36-character message from the team. The team carried a 110-watt radio which allowed them, when reception permitted, to receive their satellite-tracked location from support crew on stand-by in Chile. Dr. Qin Dahe, the expedition's Chinese team member, collected snow samples every across the continent to measure evidence of climate changes over time. After the expedition, Dr. Qin earned a senior position in the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

(IPCC), an organization that won the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

in 2007. In 2013, Qin Dahe received the Volvo Environment Prize. Other scientific research on the expedition included psychological and blood sampling on behalf of the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

(Dr. Jean-Louis Étienne), and ground ozone readings by Soviet team member, Victor Boyarsky. Broadcast rights to expedition coverage were sold in 52 countries and the first-ever international live broadcast from Antarctica occurred at the expedition's end. Five ABC Sports Trans-Antarctica specials were broadcast in the United States over the seven-month period, one of which earned a 1989

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for best sports programming special. A full-length feature film was distributed in France. Trans-Antarctica organizers estimated that the expedition reached over 10 million school children worldwide, with printed materials, regular updates by facsimile (FAX), a phone hot-line, museum exhibits at the

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (, "City of Science and Industry", abbreviated la CSI) or simply CSI is a large science museum in Europe. Located in the Parc de la Villette in Paris, France, it is one of the three dozen French Cultural ...

in Paris and the

Science Museum of Minnesota The Science Museum of Minnesota is a museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, focused on topics in technology, natural history, physical science, and mathematics education. Founded in 1907, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution has 38 ...

, a truck outfitted to be a traveling display, and regular reports in publications like

Weekly Reader ''Weekly Reader'' was a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children. It began in 1928 as ''My Weekly Reader''. Editions covered curriculum themes in the younger grade levels and news-based, current events and curriculum themed- ...

and

China Youth Daily The ''China Youth Daily'' ( zh, s=中国青年报, t=, p=) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China. It has been the newspaper of the Communist Youth League of China since 1951. It has occasional ...

. In 1996, Will Steger was named the first

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

Explorer-in-Residence and earned the National Geographic John Oliver La Gorce Medal, awarded only nineteen times in the society's history. Following the expedition, Will Steger founded the Center for Global Environmental Education at

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Will Steger Foundation, now called the Climate Generation, A Will Steger Legacy. The organization encourages young people to take action on climate issues. Following the expedition, Jean-Louis Etienne led numerous expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Website of Will Steger

Website, Jean-Louis Etienne

Gallery of Trans-Antarctica photographs

Antarctic expeditions 1990 in Antarctica