Austrian reaches South pole in record 33 days

An Austrian adventurer, Wolfgang Melchior, has achieved the fasted unassisted trek to the South Pole, reaching it in a record 33 days, the Austrian Press Agency reported Wednesday.
"We made it! It is my pleasure and privilege to announce we reached the South Pole on December 27 at 4:30 pm (1930 GMT)," Melchior wrote in his weblog Wednesday morning.
Melchior and fellow adventurers Rolf Bae, Per Henrik Knudson, Roland Krueger and Cecile Skog surpassed their own expectations by walking the 900 kilometers (560 miles) from their starting point north of Mount Hawks to the pole in just 33 days.
The Antarctic expedition, which began on November 25, was expected to take 40 days. Melchior is the first Austrian to reach the pole without assistance and with the added challenge of taking a previously unexplored route to the pole. The five explorers drew all their supplies on sleighs.