Edmonton businessman plans to lead first Canadian driving expedition to South Pole

Edmonton businessman Darryl Weflenhopesto make history by leading thefirst Canadian hybrid-vehicle expedition to the South Pole.

The four-man crew led by Weflen, who is the president of Airworks, plans to headout in November 2018 on a journey being dubbed Xpedition90X.

If successful, it will be thefirst Canadian-led driving expedition across Antarctica to the pole.

Hismassive truck, calledRockhopper, will be equipped with Weflen's patented G-Force green technology, which he eventually plans to market to the military and commercial trucking industry in 2019.

"We're trying to reduce the carbon footprint of this type of vehicle for futureexplorers, or for futurecommercialoperations, with the overall end goal that it will reduce fuel," said Weflen.

'Remotest, harshest climate on the planet'

The 2,400-kilometre return journey couldtake from 20 to 30 days to complete, at a maximum speed of about 18 km/h.

The truck will be shipped from Vancouver to Chile in a sea can. From there it will be loaded into a plane and flown tothe Union Glacier Camp, where the crew will hop in.

Weflensaid he spent more than a year developing thehybrid drive-train system. The green technology is intended to reduce engine strain and cut emissions by up to 20 percent.

"We're taking it to the remotest, harshest climate on the planet," Weflensaid.

"We're looking to see what's the best way to prove the G-Force technology, as well as have an adventure. So it's going to be a good test for us, as well as the machine."

Joining him in the truck will his brother, Greg Weflen,who'sin charge of collecting data and any mechanical repairs; Jerry Fuentes, an ex-Marine helicopter pilot who will take care of navigation and communications; andDaryl Black, who will beresponsible for safety and crisis management.

"We're not going for the four of us," Weflen said. "We're here to highlight some phenomenal technology that I have supreme confidence in. Otherwise, I wouldn't be going."

Google Street View

People all over the world will be able to follow the group's progress on the internet.

In Antarctica, the foursome expects to encounter challenging terrain, crevassesand temperatures that could dip below -50 C.

In April, they will go to the Columbia Icefields for crevasse training.

"Part of the challenge here is we can't make hard and fast rules, so everything we're going to be dealing with we're going to take it as it comes," said Black.

The crew will followa route set up by Antarctic Logistics & Exploration, a company based in Utah.

Xpedition90Xplans to work with Google's street view technology to make the first attempt to map that route to the South Pole.

The $1.3-million expedition is being funded mainly byAirworks, along with along list ofsponsors.

The group will travel 12 to 14 hours per day, and sleep outside the vehicle in tents.

"We're going to be in close quarters for an extended period of time," Weflen said. "We're not just out there to go hard and race to the South Pole. We're out there to explore and have fun and prove the G-Force."