Audi 2011 Annual Report Download - page 110

In the Antarctic, Nilson
covered large distances
pulled by a kite.
Nilson trek almost 30,000 kilometers,
is unique and one of the last great
adventures still possible on Earth. Nilson
and Audi share this pioneering spirit. The
carmaker wants to be a trailblazer – with
its systematic Audi ultra lightweight
construction, its quattro permanent all-
wheel drive, its TDI diesel engine and in
future with its e-tron electric cars. Audi
is supporting Nilson by providing him
with modern technology, materials and
logistics. Before departing for the Arctic,
Nilson tested his survival equipment,
such as his tent and sleeping bag, in the
cold chamber in Ingolstadt.
But what help is even the best equip-
ment if one of the hottest summers in
Arctic history causes the ice to melt?
“I had wanted to cross the ice as far as
Greenland, but it melted away across
a band of 200 kilometers. So we had
to fi nd a diff erent way of getting to
Canada,” Nilson says. After a few days,
however, he and his partner found
themselves drifting on an ice fl oe. Their
provisions ran out. “We eventually had
to call a rescue helicopter and take a ride
to fi rm ice.” This resulted in a change of
route. Instead of heading south down
America’s east coast as planned, the
route now followed the west coast.
So Nilson’s trip got off to an adven-
turous start. And things stayed that
way. He describes how after more
than 50 days he reached a Canadian
military base, spent an hour under a
hot shower and then ate for hours. “The
Arctic cost me 17 kilos in body weight.”
He reports how he cycled through
Canadian forests, only to be pursued
by black bears and moose. How the
U.S. Highway Patrol did not believe his
story and held him in custody for two
hours. How he pedaled through the Baja
California desert in Mexico although his
water rations were too low. “The only
gas station was closed,” Nilson recalls.
After 80 kilometers with virtually no
water, he ended up in hospital with heat
exhaustion. Yet Nilson also has many
beautiful stories to tell. About Canada’s
virgin countryside, about the endless
beaches in Mexico, about the many
people along the way who cheered him
on while he covered an average of
100 kilometers a day. Who brought him
juice when he stopped for a break. Or
off ered him a bed for the night in their
sparse homes.
The expedition route also took Nilson
past many Audi centers. “I stopped off
at countless Audi dealerships along
the way,” Nilson reports – for example
in Los Angeles, in Guadalajara, Mexico,
and later in Panama. Audi employees
and customers were all eager to meet
Nilson. “They wanted to hear what I’d
gone through, why I was doing the trip,”
Nilson says. “Their support means a
lot to me.” He primarily visited social
institutions en route. The Red Cross in
Costa Rica, for example, or a children’s
clinic run by “Operation Smile” in Mexico.
And Nilson emphasized eco-awareness
when visiting Audi dealers. One of his
primary concerns is the fi ght against
global warming, the eff ects of which he
has felt several times – and not only in
the Arctic. A few weeks after his stop in
Acapulco, Central America experienced
the worst storms in 60 years. It rained
for 60 days, from Guatemala via Costa
Rica to Colombia. In the rain of October,
Nilson crashed when unable to avoid one
of the many potholes. A few days later
in Honduras a mountain road was
washed away before his very eyes, with
trees crashing onto the road.
In November Nilson again had to
depart from his chosen route. He took
a fl ight from Ecuador direct to the
Antarctic. “An iceberg the size of Berlin
was just breaking away, which I would
have had to sail around. I would no
longer have reached my planned starting
point for the South Pole stage on time
because of the greater distance. Because
of the weather conditions prevailing
in this season, the South Pole is only
accessible for me until mid-February at
the latest,” says Nilson.
For 49 days, he kited and skied across
the Antarctic ice. On some days, he
managed more than 30 kilometers. On
January 18, 2012, Nilson called in via
satellite telephone: “I’ve done it. After
so many months of rain, snow and ice.
I can’t feel my toes, and I broke two
ribs, but I’m happy.”
Nilson was taken to a hospital in
Cape Town for treatment. His next plan
is to return to Ecuador as quickly as
possible to begin the rest of the trip to
Tierra del Fuego, and sail from there
to the Antarctic, where he intends to
circumnavigate the fl oating ice block.
“It’s the only way I can cover the dis-
tance from pole to pole within one year,”
Nilson explains.
Responsibility _ 107
Daring: Johan Ernst Nilson
on his exciting expedition
from the North to the South Pole.
Nilson had to
huddle in his tent
for four days du-
ring a snow storm
in the Antarctic.