Dragan Jovovic is the first Serb to arrive on Antarctic by skis

Dragan Jovovic, owner of MOUNT Hotel in Kopaonik, is the first Serb to reach Antarctica by ski and thus conquer the South Pole. He and three other Russian comrades embarked on the expedition on January 1, 2012, and reached their intended destination on January 16, 2012.
How the expedition passed, we had the opportunity to read in texts from Dragan’s diary that he kept during the conquest of Antarctica.

Dragan Jovovic “MOUNT” and the Russians – on Antarctic by skis

Four brave climbers, a Serb from Kragujevac, Dragan Jovovic and three Russians – Vladimir Pankratenko, Aleks Abramov and Dimitrij Koznikov set off on 01.01.2012. on a hike to conquer the South Pole (Antarctica) on skis.

Dragan Jovovic, owner of exclusive Mount Hotel on Kopaonik, General Manager of Takovo Osiguranje Kragujevac, member of Extreme Summit Team from Belgrade and Mountaineering and Climbing Club of Kragujevac, on January 1, 2012 set out to conquer Antarctica by skiing, as part of a Russian mountaineering expedition.

Dragan Jovovic, who has many of the highest mountain peaks in the world behind him, will attempt to achieve a historic feat and become the first Serb to conquer the South Pole – Antarctica by skiing.

“I will be a member of the Russian expedition to the South Pole, which has three Russians besides me. An expedition like this is an effort that is mentally difficult to endure. What characterizes this expedition are the extremely exhausting conditions for the organism and exposure to extremely low temperatures. The average temperature in that region is about -40 degrees Celsius, and it can go down to -70 degrees! So far, four Serbs have tried to conquer the South Pole. However, the weather conditions are unpredictable there. In such conditions, we will be forced to do everything ourselves: to tow our sleds with things weighing about 50 pounds, to set up tents, to melt snow for water, to prepare meals …, and during this time we will have extremely strong winds against which we will have to to ski on the broken ice sheet of Antarctic ice, ” reveals Dragan Jovovic’s expectations.

During the day it goes from four to 20 kilometers, which depends on the conditions, because it constantly goes on rough terrain, difficult and slow. The dilution of the air in that region is as high as 5,000 meters above sea level, making it difficult to breathe and exhausting faster. As a result, headaches and insomnia occur.

„Despite the difficult conditions, I find myself physically prepared for one such expedition. I run 30 kilometers daily, and for me, these are sufficient preparations for this endeavor. That is why, before leaving for the expedition, I signed a document confirming that I was taking personal responsibility for my trip, “Jovovic details.

Dragan Jovovic has participated in many mountaineering expeditions so far and has won peaks such as: Jongsong (7,462 m), Chukung Ri (5,565 m), Akonkagwa (6,962 m) and Elbrus (5,642 m). In 2006, Jovovic became the Serbian record holder in downhill touring. He descended from the altitude of 5,642 m on Elbrus.

Jovovic was born in 1958 in Gornji Milanovac. He spent most of his life in Kragujevac, where he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. For the last 20 years, he has been the General Manager of “Takovo osiguranje” Kragujevac.

Through a diary kept by Jovovic during the expedition and posting texts on the internet, we followed the expedition and somehow experienced the march but also encouraged Dragan’s messages to reach his destination.

Dragan Jovovic (Kopaonik “Mount”) – started conquering Antarctica with skis

The Kragujevac businessman and mountaineer embarked on an expedition on January 1, the 100th anniversary of the conquest of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen, which also coincides with 110 years of mountaineering in Serbia. The Jovovic team gathered in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas to prepare and pack. From there, on the fourth day, the climbers fly by plane to the Patriot Hills, and from there to the highest mountain massif of Vinson in Antarctica, from where they hike to the South Pole. If everything goes according to plan, the expedition will last at least 20 days. But one must always keep in mind the extremely difficult and changing weather conditions that this endeavor can take.

What the landing in Antarctica looks like and what the conditions are there read first hand – Dragan reports regularly:

“We landed about an hour and a half ago in Antarctica.

We are now in a place called Patriot Hills, where the airport is located, and where we landed. This airport is big so we flew a large Tupolev Ilyushin 76th transport plane.

As we traveled by plane, I thought about what the landing would be like, because there is no electronic indication of the landing here, but the pilot lands on the basis of personal experience. Usually, the plane does not land comfortably on the icy runway. Because bleach, blindness also prevails with the pilot, that he cannot sense exactly how many feet from the ground. And so it happened this time. The plane was shaking a little more, but no one was paying attention to it, or anyone cares, because it’s a common thing. There are several other planes here, these are small planes on skis, which, I think, accommodate 8-12 passengers. Two such planes and one slightly larger for about 20 passengers. When I say about 20 passengers, it would usually be much more, since here 40-50 kg of equipment comes to one passenger, if everyone has one.
It’s an eternal day here. The sun just goes in a circle, goes down a little in a moment, but then it comes out immediately. The temperature is lower than expected. We expected the temperature at the beginning of Antarctica to be from -5 to -10, however, the temperature is -22. But it’s very clear, the air is quite dry, the humidity is low, so these -22 are easy to handle, I don’t even have gloves.

This white desert seems remarkable. The place is located in a large basin of maybe 20-30 km. mountains, hills are visible in the surrounding area. The rocks are also seen here, not all of it is covered in snow, as I thought, that it is absolute unprecedented whiteness and nothing more.
Patriot Hiles is actually a camp that seems to have 20-30 small tents, where everyone sleeps two or three in a tent. There is a special tent for us where it says 7 Summits Russia. We will stay here for 2 more days, and then with one of these two planes we will depart and fly 7-8 hours to the distance from where we are going to go and pull the sled and try to reach our end point of the South Pole.

Abramov, who organized the whole of this expedition, stayed in Chile, escorted us from the airport, and Dmitri Ermakov was waiting for us here. This is one younger guy, at 30 and some years of age, who has a lot of climbing and climbing experience. And this is 4-5 seasons for him to lead expeditions to Antarctica at this time, where he organizes expeditions to the largest peak of this continent at 4892m, and leads expeditions to the South Pole itself.

In addition to these small tents we are in, there are 6 large tents. The two tents are the ones we will eat these two days, and are also equipped with board games to make time go by. There are also heating stoves. All other tents are heated by the sun and have a temperature of up to 20 degrees higher than the outside temperature.

Here we rent outline equipment, sleds, skis, sticks … We will also have one short training, how to go as fast as possible and to bother as little as possible, in order to conserve energy because all this is quite tiring and it will be exhausting that we know ourselves.

When we landed today, the expedition ahead of us departed the plane we took. We don’t know exactly what percentage they managed, we didn’t even ask, there is no need for that. We are facing our problems that await us, and what we are here for.

I took more photos, but now I can’t send those photos due to technical conditions.

So much for today. I’ll be answering every day in the future. Unless it might be overloaded, so I won’t have time to set aside for it. Which may only be in about 5-6 days, when that extreme progression begins.

Dragan”

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – another 72 km to the South Pole

“Today is our third day as we set off. Yesterday we crossed 15.5km in about 8 hours, that’s about 2km an hour. It looks like a small distance to cross within an hour. However, those 2km, given all the conditions, the temperature and the rough terrain, is quite a solid distance.

Otherwise the terrain is all undulating, there are no big hills, but it also requires a lot of ascent to get a lot of energy, because we haul about 50kg of equipment.

Our biggest problem is sweating. We need to drink a lot of beverages, because the air is dry enough and with each exhale it evaporates from us, so we dehydrate a lot. And dehydration is a big problem. Usually in the morning we prepare plenty of tea to make up for a lot of liquid. Excessive liquid can lead to excessive sweating, and at this point at this temperature it is very risky because it can easily cause pneumonia.

There is still 91km left, as GPS shows us, and it will take a total of about 6 days. We will walk about 15km a day to avoid over-exertion. My idea was to go 18km, but the expedition leaders from our experience still set us 15km, it is much healthier, less stressful and safer. So the forecast, if the weather doesn’t change, is that we will be in the South Pole in 6 days.

We all feel good, there is a good atmosphere in the team, we are all under a great psycho-physical strain.

Today is supposed to be January 10th, yesterday was St. Stephen’s glory, I forgot to congratulate the glory and past Christmas holidays, but here the orientation of the time, what day it is and how many hours are lost.

I salute you all
Dragan”

Dragan reported regularly during the march to Antarctica:

“We crossed 18.6km yesterday. More than we planned. The original plan was that we should not go more than 15km a day, but since the whole team is in great shape we decided to go about 18km a day anyway. Which would mean that We reach the South Pole in record time.

Last night, ie. yesterday when we finished the section the weather got worse. A strong blizzard began and the temperature dropped dramatically (we did not measure). We were in a hurry to get into the bags and warm up as soon as possible. When we awoke, a clear sky awaited us.

We still have a problem with sweating, because if we dress less well, it’s cold, and if we dress a little more, we sweat quickly. At these temperatures, wet clothing freezes very quickly, which is not at all pleasant. So all the time we try to find some balance in dressing.
So much for today, I salute you all
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – Antarctica another 54 km

Dragan Jovovic, owner of Mount Hotel on Kopaonik, is even closer to his goal of winning the Antarctic on skis. The first problems have also arisen, but all is well:

“Yesterday I had one unpleasant surprise, the camera stopped working.

However, yesterday we all saw a group of 6 people walking, as we did, towards the South Pole. This was a great thrill for us, because seeing a living man here is a rarity. They are not from our expedition, I don’t know who they are, we only saw them pass. They went side by side for a while, but then we lost sight of them.

The day passed relatively calm to us until about 3 o’clock in the afternoon (Chilean time). Then a very strong storm began. However, as we planned to go 18 km each day, the last 3.5 km was difficult for us. The wind was really strong, blowing from the front, which slowed our movement. And in the moment, as the weather changes here from moment to moment, when the wind was blowing from the side, then we fell a lot of times. I fell 3-4 times for sure, due to heavy snowfall and wind from the side. The moment it strikes, you must stumble or fall. And anyone who is a skier knows how to stand up straight with their skis, especially when exhaustion is high. But well, it’s all part of something we knew would come.

We made it to the end and after that time and storm to finish yesterday, cross 18km and pitch our tents. It was difficult enough to set up tents in that strong wind, but we made it. As we entered the tent, warming up, Dima, the leader of our expedition, began to prepare some dinner and tea, which made us all a little stronger, after which we fell asleep.

But lest I forget, after dinner we had guests, one Canadian and one Englishman (about 9 o’clock). They have already reached the South Pole for sure. They move with parachutes-kites on skis (similar to what I saw on Kopaonik.) The wind drives them with a small parachute, adjusts it as a sail and goes directly to the South Pole. So they just can’t move when it’s calm. Then they go skiing normally. And as soon as the wind starts, they use a parachute and can travel 50-70 km a day. Given the wind that was tonight, they may have already arrived at the South Pole.

After that, around 9PM or 10PM h we fell asleep and now we woke up. The storm still hasn’t stopped, but it’s not like it was yesterday. It will be much easier to navigate.

There is no sun, it is cloudy, there is no precipitation. One has the impression that it is snowing, and in fact the wind just blows away this existing snow.

What is our biggest problem, or at least to me, is the lack of water. There is water here and we drink it, but it is not healthy water. It’s like distilled water. We put sweeteners, vitamins and minerals in it, but it is far from the real water. A bottle of soda water “Vrnjci” is always in front of my eyes.

In about half an hour we leave. We still have today, tomorrow, and if we go 18 km, we should arrive tomorrow night.

So much for this announcement. I salute you all, and as far as I am concerned, I will try to reach my goal.
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – Antarctica another 39 km

“

Yesterday was relatively calm. Without some unexpected things. However, we traveled only 15 km. This time, fatigue began to overwhelm us. Our feet are slowly betraying us. It is now certain that it will take us more than two days to reach the South Pole.

The wind was blowing almost all the time yesterday. It blew to the side in moments, so I fell again several times.

Sometimes too many storms occur, at which point we stop, turn our backs on the wind and wait for it to pass. It does not last too long, because as suddenly too much wind suddenly appears, it disappears.

Yesterday we remembered a story a leader told us at a preparatory meeting. He explained to us that in the last 2-3 days, when fatigue and exhaustion of the organism are great, hallucinations often occur. The endless bleach and the monotony make one look at a variety of things: a low-flying plane, a sleigh with a dog, a snowmobile … None of us have done this yet, but we joked that we could at least see someone in a hallucination when there was really no one else. .

We are all psycho-physically well. We are tired, but we are fine.

As we approach the South Pole, the weather is getting worse and worse, but not because of some gender influence, but generally the weather has broken down. When we got up it was sunny, here already the clouds covered the sun and the temperature immediately dropped by about 15 degrees.

So much for today, I salute you all,
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – Antarctic, bad weather (over -60 ° C)

“Just to confirm that we’re not moving anywhere. We can’t move in this weather.
The storm is getting worse and worse. We have more food, not too much, but we do.
I still have the batteries. The outside temperature dropped very low, over -60 ° C. We got dressed and rolled up in bags. The tent stands well and so far the wind can do nothing.
We stay here until further notice
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – Antarctica another 25 km

“

We are not sure what will happen to the expedition, the weather is very bad. For now, we cannot continue. We certainly didn’t get here to surrender so easily. The leader of the expedition consulted and was left alone to decide what to do next.

Yesterday was also a bad day for us, it was complete fog, so we wandered a lot. We catch the GPS route, but in 50-100 meters we already move left to right. Yesterday we crossed over 20 km, but only 14 km approached the South Pole, leaving 25 km more.

So far we are still under the tents, we will not leave, we will wait for what day it will be. If this is the weather for the next two or three days, the whole expedition will come into question. Basically, we will not take risks, we will not go after this kind of storm, our lives are more importart than anything.

As far as the weather is concerned, this can never be known, it can take the next few days, and it can flutter the sun at any moment.

So much for now, I will save the battery, because there is no sun to recharge
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) -Antarctica 9 km more

Dragan Jovovic is on track to win the Antarctic on skis. Another 9km to the finish. Four courageous climbers, a Serb from Kragujevac, Dragan Jovovic and three Russians – Vladimir Pankratenko, Aleks Abramov and Dimitrij Koznikov tonight between 7:30 pm and 9:00 pm finally on target. WIN!

“

Definitely for me Russians are a very strange people when it comes to courage. I’ve heard a lot about them before, about their courage throughout history, on the Srem front, in the war. On the front, what knew how to pick them up and launch them was vodka and brandy.

However, there was no vodka or brandy yesterday. At the worst of the weather, sometime around 10-11 in the evening, our expedition leader made the decision to go. The weather was pretty bad, the leader was asleep and at one point he said – let’s go, we pack. We all looked at each other and at that moment such a decision was more than brave. I thought we would go an hour or two to get as close as we could and re-log in immediately.

Those two hours were extremely heavy, the storm was quite strong, but it was strong only on the left, which is much easier than blowing an hour on one side, an hour on the other. In the expectation that those two hours would pass, I could not help but remember Zarko Laušević, except that at this moment it would be “Dan prođe, sat nikako” (The day goes by, the hour never).

But happiness follows the brave and God looked at us, the sky opened up, which is no surprise here, as time knows it changes from moment to moment. For the next 6 hours we were approaching the South Pole, until about 4 – 4:30 in the morning, and we were approaching the South Pole at 9 km. There we pitched our tents, fell asleep, and just woke up, had breakfast and left for an hour.

We expect to be at the South Pole between 7:30 pm and 9:00 pm Serbian time.

Greetings untill the next call from the South Pole
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – Antarctic conquered by skis

ANTARCTIC WAS CONQUERED! SERBIA TO ANTARCTICS!

Four brave climbers, a Serb from Kragujevac, Dragan Jovovic and three Russians – Vladimir Pankratenko, Alex Abramov and Dimitrij Koznikov who set off on 01.01.2012. on a hike to conquer the South Pole (Antarctic) with skis – SUCCESS! They have outdone themselves! THEY WON AND WON THE ANTARCTIC! For all of us who’ve kept cheering for them.
Dragan Jovovic accomplished the historic feat and became the first Serb to conquer the South Pole – Antarctica, by ski.
Read what Dragan wrote in his diary for today, on Target, Conquering Antarctica:

“Antarctica – we arrived (South Pole)
We arrived at 9:30 pm Serbian time.
Today everything went as planned. No problem whatsoever. We’ll be here for a long time.
The signal is bad enough, I hope it will improve, to send me a comprehensive report at least tomorrow.
I thank you all a lot and thank you for the support you have given me.
Dragan”

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – on Antarctic

“First, thank you all for the congratulations and support you have given me.
Last night at 9:30 pm, in Serbian time, we arrived at the South Pole. We were visibly exhausted by the bad weather that had been following us for the last few days, starving. Upon arrival, we were immediately taken into a warm tent, we were given warm tea, warm food. Immediately afterwards, we visited a museum that has photographs from the first conquest of the South Pole to the present day.

There is a large meteorological facility here – a research station that has about 15-20,000 squares and around 150 people work in fantastic conditions. I think this is an international station, but Americans have the highest share. I made many pictures of this imposing object. After the tour we went to sleep.

There are otherwise very strict procedures here, it can’t move where you want it to be. To the very point of the South Pole, where the mirror – ball is located, we will formally go only later. Where will we be able to photograph, place the flags of Serbia, Russia and sponsors.

We wanted to go to that point as soon as we arrived, but they introduced us to the tents and were introduced to the procedure.

We will return tomorrow by plane to Patriot Hills and sometime January 18-19 to Chile (Punta Arenas). That is the plan, but it will depend on the weather and conditions when the plane can take off.

Otherwise, the agency we came to brings about 1,000 people to Antarctica each year. Mostly people come to the start, near the coast, settle in warm tents, spend their free time in the surrounding area. The second group headed for the nearby hills, the third by plane reached the South Pole itself. They spend 5-6 days there, take pictures, walk and return to warm as soon as it’s cold. There’s also the most extreme group they can get out of the plane, so push yourself as far as you can. So was ours.

The provocative plan was to have three expeditions, one Canadian and one Japanese. However, as most people only see upon arrival what a challenge they face, they give up quickly. And when at least one member gives up, the whole expedition comes into question. So the only thing left was our expedition. three Russians and one srbin. The previous month was also just one Russian expedition.

I tackled new batteries, so I made a lot of shots. As soon as I have the technical conditions, which will be only when I come to Chile, I’ll post a photo.

I salute you all a lot and thank you again for your support
Dragan“

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – to Antarctica and back

“Yesterday around midnight was the official celebration of 100 years since Robert Scott arrived at the South Pole, there were some 30-40 people who marked it. I didn’t go, I slept. I wasn’t particularly interested.

Let me remind you, Roald Amundsen first came to the South half a month before Scott. But here each feature bears their common name.

I’m curious to know if anyone remembers who else conquered America after Columbus. He is certainly not an Englishman. Because if Scott wasn’t an Englishman I’m sure no one would ever mention him. One wonders that by some miracle some Serb was second and Englishman third, then the first and third would be celebrated.

Yesterday, we got up at 6am, packed our tents, equipment and all our belongings and were ready to return at 7am. However, since the weather was bad before boarding the plane, we were asked to sign a declaration that we were flying at our own risk, because the weather was bad and the flight would be risky. And since before the expedition I had already signed a lot of papers, which I take responsibility for everything, I signed this without thinking too much.

The plane took off at 10, it’s a small plane that, in order to reach the Patriot Hills, has to refuel midway. Halfway there is a makeshift runway, more like a plain that has one solar antenna on a solar charger and beside the runway, kerosene barrels buried in the snow. The hand pump, which starts as a chainsaw, is a fuel from 6 barrels. It took about ten minutes. Even if the turbulence were not very high, the flight would be totally monotonous. The turbulence was quite strong, the plane was shaking, tilting at a 45-degree angle. This team that is with me lives for this kind of adventure and can’t wait for a similar event. On landing due to the strong wind blowing the plane stopped abruptly.

Upon arrival we went to one large tent, similar to our military tents, only much larger. The tent housed all the other entrants who came to Antarctica before this agency and unexpectedly received a big round of applause upon entering. Because we were the only expedition to go the most extreme version of the skis. The main organizer of the overall activities of the US agency welcomed us and gave a presentation. Although, when Dragan Jovovic – Serbia said, everyone was confused and confused, I do not know what they meant and that is why it was so. Then a bottle of champagne was opened to celebrate.
We ate, unpacked equipment, tents, etc. and we went back to eat again.
We had lunch once, another time, had dinner, and now we go back to eat. I remember when we were coming back from Akonkagwa we went to a restaurant that only paid for entry (about $ 5) I don’t remember exactly, but I know it was cheap. The owner couldn’t get us out of how much food we ate. If I were to compare this expedition to the ascent of Akonkagwa, I must say that this is much more difficult. Probably the bad weather followed us this year, unlike last year when conditions were ideal.

I do not know when we will continue the journey, whether it is still unknown today or tomorrow. I have already been booked on a flight back from Punta Arenas on Friday morning. And if all goes well on Saturday afternoon, I should be in Belgrade. The press conference at the airport has been announced and we will hold it together with Dragan Jacimovic. I do not know exactly what time it will be, but it will be known more precisely tomorrow.

I’ll be back tomorrow to confirm briefly as we head to Punta Arenas.

Greetings to all
Dragan”

Dragan Jovović (Kopaonik “Mount”) – return from Antarctica

Upon his return to Serbia and his native Kragujevac, Dragan Jovic was given a festive reception, which was recorded on the website kragujevac.co.rs

“After conquering the South Pole, I hang up my mountaineering shoe on a wedge, at least when it comes to extreme expeditions. From now on, I can only walk the hills. And believe me, if I knew before I left how it was in Antarctica, I would not have gone, “said Kragujevac businessman and mountaineer Dragan Jovovic upon his arrival in Kragujevac tonight, where several hundred citizens greeted him in front of the local government building, giving him recognition for the extraordinary success he achieved last week when he won the southernmost spot on Earth as the first Serb.

In addition to his family, relatives, numerous friends, associates and others who came to greet him, Jovica was greeted by the Mayor of Kragujevac.

“Mayor, I inform you that on Sunday, January 15, at 4 pm and 53 minutes, at the South Pole, the flags of Serbia and Kragujevac were blown for the first time in history,” Jovovic submitted a report to Veroljub Stevanovic in the army, handing him the flag Kragujevac.

All gathered then moved to the ceremonial lounge of the local government building, where a press conference was held.

“This extraordinary endeavor, apart from excellent physical fitness, above all requires persistence and courage. I congratulate Dragan Jovic on the feat and thank him for contributing to the name of Kragujevac being heard all over again in the world, “said Veroljub Stevanovic.

Thanks to the spectacular welcome in Kragujevac, which he said he did not expect, Jovovic pointed out that the expedition to the South Pole, to which he recalled, he went with three Russians, is much harsher than he could have guessed.

“I was well-prepared physically, but unlike the Russians who arrived in the Antarctic from the high mountains and from very cold temperatures, I did not acclimate best, so the first three days of the expedition made it extremely difficult for me. I was behind the others, but in such conditions, solidarity is one of the best features of mountaineers, so my teammates helped me by distributing a piece of my equipment, weighing 50 pounds, to my sled. However, after that critical period, I felt better and better every day, ”Jovovic said.

Recognizing the extreme conditions of Antarctica, Jovovic reports that he witnessed snowstorms that he had only watched on film before, and that the feeling was creepy because the lethal wind was throwing and afterwards it was difficult to get up and stand firmly on skis.

Noting that the other guys on the team were exceptional, the leader of the expedition, although he is only 30 years old, is very experienced, Jovovic says that in such extreme conditions, even at one point, he was “executed”.

“I don’t even know what happened to him today. There was probably some eclipse due to the effort, only one day we wandered a lot, he couldn’t follow the direction properly, despite having a GPS that guided us exactly where we were going. On top of all that, terrible snowstorms started, so we were contacted from the main operations center and asked if they should send a plane for us. The leader asked us individually if we wanted to quit. I said I would not, because it does not occur to me to come again, “Jovovic jokingly said, laughing at the crowd.

He says he had no hallucinations, though it is a common occurrence as he approaches the South Pole more and more. Those who have already had this experience told him that those who hallucinate most often appear to be passing a sled.

“I even longed to have such a hallucination, only to see someone having it next to us, even if it was unreal,” Jovovic again laughed at the journalists and the others present.

Jovovic and the three Russians were really the only ones on the way to the South Pole. He says that many come by “tourist” – by plane all the way to the South Pole, but Jovovic and his companions were the only ones on the skis for 106 km from the point where they landed to the destination.

“I achieved the goal. Our flags were there for the first time, ”concluded Jovovic, who lost about 15 pounds during the expedition.

Authentic records from this historic march to Antarctica could then be read in the Diary of the South Pole 2012 by skis written by Dragan Jovovic at www.juznipol2012.com.