Each of our four vehicles will consume ‘about’ 3.5 L per km traveled. In reality, the consumption varies between 2 and 4 L/km, depending on how hard the snow surface is, the weight of cargo on the sledges, the elevation, and the temperature.

John Guldahl has made countless calculations trying to estimate our needs conservatively and account for all foreseeable variations. Since the South Pole is about 2700 km away, this adds up to a lot of fuel! Fortunately, we won’t have to leave Troll with all of it - last year, a team left a cache of 160 barrels 700 km out along our route. However, that means that we need to take an additional 110 barrels with from Troll. Most of the sledges will carry some fuel, and some will even be stored below the sleeping and living modules. One of the most important things to keep track of as we travel will be the fuel consumption: will we have enough to make it??