Race to South Pole

A British-led team today unveiled plans for one of the greatest polar expeditions of modern times.

They will use three modes of transport - skis, cars and kites to surf across the snow - to traverse Antarctica.

And they hope to set a world record for the fastest-ever crossing of the continent, the team announced today at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall.

Expedition leader Patrick Woodhead, 28, admitted the attempt would need an "extraordinary" logistical effort - and a good slice of luck - if it was to avoid disaster.

"We have taken on nothing less than a nightmare," he said. "It is about as difficult an expedition as could be attempted with current technology. There's plenty of room for things to go seriously wrong."

If they succeed they will have completed a challenge that defeated explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton almost 100 years ago.

His effort to reach the South Pole by car foundered within 90 metres of the start when his adapted vehicle sank into the snow and froze.

Only 10 teams have ever managed to cross Antarctica.

The latest expedition will split into two groups, each starting at different points on the Continent.

The first team of four skiers will aim to leave their base on 5 November, and cover the 345 miles to the South Pole. The second group is set to depart on 12 November and hopes to meet the skiers at the pole on 10 December after a 700-mile drive in two adapted Land Rovers.

Then the ski team will unfurl giant kites to drag them at up to 20mph back to the coast, following the route the Land Rovers took. They hope to take two weeks, bringing the total expedition time to 45 days - 10 quicker than the current record.

The four skiers are Mr Woodhead, fellow Britons Alastair Vere Nicoll, 30, and David de Rothschild, 26, and Canadian veteran explorer Paul Landry, 45. They will drag a 180lb sled full of food and equipment, in temperatures of minus 60C, over land riven with 30metre-deep crevasses

Each skier will carry four kites of different sizes to harness winds of up to 35 knots. "We will wear body armour to stop us getting battered-when we fall," said Mr Woodheadwho became the youngest Briton to ski to the South Pole two years ago.

The Land Rovers will have extrawide snow tyres, solar panels, winches, state-of-the-art navigation equipment and a special ignition heating system to make sure the engines start.

Mr Woodhead said: "Getting teams from different sides of Antarctica to meet has never been successfully attempted. We're trying to do it without air support.

"We are worried the Land Rovers will not make the last 120 miles, as the snow gets softer the closer you get to the Pole. If they get stuck, the crews will have to drag our supplies overland on skis.

"If things go wrong we will improvise a Plan B. There will probably have to be quite a few Plan Bs."