Audi 2010 Annual Report Download - page 36

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“I just get up and go,” he says, and it
sounds like his motto in life. His partly
bizarre and partly spectacular expedi-
tions brought him fame in Scandinavia.
He is an ambassador for a charity run by
the Swedish queen, and when in 2007
he completed the world’s fi rst zero-
carbon ascent of Mount Everest he was
inducted into the renowned New York
Explorers Club.
“I want to live my dream,” Nilson
says. And that’s not all. During his
past polar expeditions and trips to the
world’s summits he has seen many a
melting glacier. “I feel it is my respon-
sibility to help halt global warming,” he
states, “as otherwise one day there will
be no more glaciers for me to climb.”
This message will be accompanying
stubble-faced Nilson on his Pole2Pole
tour. While in the United States, he
intends to tell the story of his travels to
journalists and at Audi dealerships, in
order to enhance the growing ecological
awareness in the world. Audi is assist-
ing Nilson by providing a car that will
accompany him from Canada to Tierra
del Fuego. “Audi is not my sponsor, but
a partner,” Nilson professes, “we’re a
team.” Customers and staff will also
benefi t from this. You can visit
www.audi.com/ar2010/pole2pole to
watch a video in which Nilson regularly
reports on what he has seen and done.
There’s still quite a while to go until
April 6, the day when Nilson will begin
his expedition at the North Pole. And
he needs this time. “To prepare myself
I go through every stage of the trip in
my head, day-in, day-out, non-stop,” he
says before leaving the cold chamber
and brushing the ice off his gloves. He
is thinking over what he still needs and
what he might have forgotten. “And
then I visualize those last few meters,”
he says with a grin. The last few meters
en route to the white rod that marks
the South Pole. Nilson’s goal.
O
STEPHAN SEILER
Johan Ernst Nilson tested his equipment in the cold chamber at the Audi Wind Tunnel Center
in Ingolstadt at -30°C – and then fi elded questions from a TV crew.
Follow Nilson round the world
Accompany explorer Johan Ernst Nilson
on his journey from Pole to Pole.
His video blog and all the details on
the expedition can be found at:
www.audi.com/ar2010/pole2pole
PHOTOS | TOM SÓLO (2); DDP IMAGES/AP; AKG-IMAGES/NORTH WIND PICTURE ARCHIVES; KEYSTONE PRESSEDIENST; HULTON ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES
Modern pioneers