Two Belgian explorers set a new world record for the longest non-motorised polar expedition without outside help, covering more than 5,000 km (3,100 miles) in 74 days.

Fifty-year-old adventurer Dixie Dansercoer and 27-year-old Sam Deltour used the wind patterns around the Antarctic to cover an average of 68 km a day using kites to pull themselves and their heavy sleds across the ice and snow.

“This way people can do 60, 70 km a day, which was unheard of in the days of Amundsen and Scott,” Dansercoer said at a news conference at Brussels Airport, just after he and Deltour had returned from Antarctica.

The previous record was held by Norwegian Rune Gjeldnes who covered 4,800 km in 90 days in February 2006.

The expedition had a difficult start when the Belgian pair started in a zone that was riddled with impassable sastrugi — ice and snow formations made by strong winds — and overpowering headwinds.

“Those first couple of hours were the hardest in my life,” Deltour said.

Conditions became so bad that the decision was made to restart the mission after 10 days and choose a different starting point from where they went on to break the world record.

The initial plan was to travel over 6,000 km but the pair decided to leave Antarctica after they had broken the world record as the southern hemisphere summer was coming to an end.

Dansercoer said he would now spend some time writing a book about the expedition and processing more than 50 hours of 3D film material.

“I even penned a book for children while I was on the ice. It’s about the sastrugi and little animals that live under the ice,” the father of four said.

Dansercoer said that in spite of feeling fit he did not want to rush into any new expeditions immediately.

“It will be very weird because shortly I’ll be in a traffic jam again and I will have meetings again. The challenge will be to channel the great calm of the expedition into everyday life,” he said.

Updated : 07.12am / 29th Feb / Source : Reuters