Oregon man becomes first person to cross Antarctica solo

An American explorer on Wednesday became the first person to complete an unsupported solo trek across Antarctica.

Colin O’Brady, 33, took nearly two months to complete the feat, according to The New York Times.

He completed the 921-mile journey Wednesday with a final 32 hour, 77-mile sleepless finish.

{mosads}“I don’t know, something overcame me,” O’Brady told the Times in a telephone interview after finishing. “I just felt locked in for the last 32 hours, like a deep flow state. I didn’t listen to any music — just locked in, like I’m going until I’m done. It was profound, it was beautiful, and it was an amazing way to finish up the project.”

O’Brady spent 54 days alone in frigid arctic conditions to complete his expedition. He pulled his food and supplies on a sled behind him during the journey.

Another man attempting the same feat, Englishman Louis Rudd, was pushing O’Brady to keep up his pace, he said.

Rudd and O’Brady had been racing the entire time, having left base camp together to start their journey on Nov. 3.

O’Brady told the Times he woke up on Christmas Day with a comfortable lead on Rudd and decided to push for the finish.

“I just woke up on Christmas morning, just thinking about it, and I was like, all right, I have three more days left, how many hours is that of moving?” O’Brady said. “People run 100 miles all the time.”

O’Brady’s wife, Jenna Besaw, served as his expedition manager and did not know about his marathon push at the end.

“Jenna texted me, was like, ‘Wow, 40 miles, you had such an amazing day, you should stop get some rest and do it again tomorrow,’ ” O’Brady said. “And I was like, ‘I’m not stopping.’ I kind of said to her: ‘I need your 100 percent support. Trust me.’ ”

The trek has been attempted several times but O’Brady is the first to finish the trip across the frozen terrain.

Briton Henry Worsley died from exhaustion and severe dehydration after coming up just 30 miles short from the end of his trek in 2016.