Ray Zahab treks to the South Pole

Translator: Lucia Daubnerova Reviewer: Zuzana Munzarová Dziaková

A month ago today

Presne pred mesiacom

I stood there:

som tam stál.

90 degrees south, the top of

90 stupňov južnej šírky,

the bottom of the world, the Geographic South Pole.

vrchol spodku zemegule, južný geografický pól.

And I stood there beside two very good friends of mine,

Stál som tam vedľa mojich dvoch skvelých kamarátov,

Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely.

Richarda Webera a Kevina Vallelyho.

Together we had just broken the world speed record

Spoločne sme práve prekonali svetový rýchlostný rekord

for a trek to the South Pole.

v túre na južný pól.

It took us 33 days,

Trvalo nám to 33 dní,

23 hours and 55 minutes to get there.

23 hodín a 55 minút.

We shaved five days off the previous best time.

Predošlý rekord sme prekonali o 5 dní.

And in the process, I became the first person in history

Stal som sa tak prvým človekom v dejinách,

to make the entire 650-mile journey,

ktorý túto asi 1000 km dlhú túru

from Hercules Inlet to South Pole,

z Hercules Inletu na južný pól

solely on feet, without skis.

zdolal čisto pešo, bez lyží.

Now, many of you are probably saying, "Wait a sec,

Mnohí si asi hovoríte:

is this tough to do?"

„Ale je to ťažké?“

(Laughter)

(smiech)

Imagine, if you will,

Predstavte si,

dragging a sled, as you just saw in that video clip,

že ťaháte sane podobné tým vo videu

with 170 pounds of gear,

s 80 kilami vybavenia,

in it everything you need to survive on your Antarctic trek.

ktoré potrebujete na prežitie na túre po Antarktíde.

It's going to be 40 below, every single day.

Každý deň je 40 stupňov pod nulou.

You'll be in a massive headwind.

Proti vám silný protivietor.

And at some point you're going to have to cross these cracks in the ice,

Nastane čas, kedy budete musieť zdolať praskliny v ľade.

these crevasses.

Takéto trhliny.

Some of them have a very precarious thin footbridge underneath them

Niektoré pod sebou skrývajú zradné tenké mostíky,

that could give way at a moment's notice,

ktoré sa môžu kedykoľvek zrútiť,

taking your sled, you, into the abyss, never to be seen again.

a vy zmiznete so saňami v priepasti a už vás nikto nikdy neuvidí.

The punchline to your journey? Look at the horizon.

A čo je na tom to najhoršie? Pozrite sa na horizont.

Yes, it's uphill the entire way,

Áno, cesta vedie stále do kopca.

because the South Pole is at 10,000 feet,

Pretože južný pól leží vo výške asi 3000 m

and you're starting at sea level.

a začínate na úrovni mora.

Naša expedícia vlastne nezačala na Hercules Inlete,

Our journey did not, in fact, begin at Hercules Inlet,

where frozen ocean meets the land of Antarctica.

v bode, kde ľad oceánu prechádza na pevninu Antarktídy.

It began a little less than two years ago.

Začala pred takmer dvomi rokmi.

A couple of buddies of mine and I

Ja a pár kamarátov

had finished a 111-day run across the entire Sahara desert.

sme práve dokončili 111-denný beh cez Saharu.

And while we were there we learned

A keď sme tam boli, dozvedeli sme sa

the seriousness of the water crisis in Northern Africa.

o závažnom nedostatku vody v severnej Afrike.

We also learned that many of the issues facing the people of Northern Africa

Tiež sme zistili, že mnohé problémy v severnej Afrike

affected young people the most.

najviac ovplyvňujú mladých ľudí.

I came home to my wife after 111 days of running in the sand,

Po 111 dňoch behu v piesku som prišiel domov za manželkou

and I said, "You know, there's no doubt if this bozo can get across the desert,

a povedal som jej: „Ak je blbec ako ja schopný prejsť cez púšť,

we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to."

dokážeme všetko, na čo sa zameriame.“

Ale ak mám pokračovať v takýchto dobrodružstvách,

But if I'm going to continue doing these adventures, there has to be

a reason for me to do them

musím na ne mať nejaký dôvod,

beyond just getting there.

okrem samotného príchodu do cieľa.

Around that time I met an extraordinary human being,

V tej dobe som spoznal výnimočného človeka,

Petra Thuma, ktorý ma svojimi činmi inšpiroval.

Peter Thum, who inspired me with his actions.

He's trying to find and solve water issues, the crisis around the world.

Pokúša sa vyriešiť problémy s vodou, krízu, ktorá trápi celý svet.

His dedication inspired me to come up with this expedition:

Jeho odhodlanie ma inšpirovalo pre novú expedíciu:

a run to the South Pole

beh na južný pól, na ktorý

where, with an interactive website,

pomocou interaktívnej webovej stránky

I will be able to bring young people, students and teachers from around the world

prilákam mladých, študentov a učiteľov z celého sveta,

on board the expedition with me,

aby sa ako aktívni členovia

as active members.

zúčastnili našej expedície.

So we would have a live website, that every single day of the 33 days,

Takže nápad bol mať stránku, kde by sme všetkých 33 dní

we would be blogging, telling stories of,

blogovali a písali o veciach, ako je

you know, depleted ozone forcing us to cover our faces,

ozónová diera, kvôli ktorej si musíme zakrývať tváre,

or we will burn.

inak by nás spálila.

Crossing miles and miles of sastrugi --

Ako je prekonávanie km závejov zamrznutého snehu

frozen ice snowdrifts that could be hip-deep.

zvaných „sastrugi“, ktoré môžu byť hlboké po pás.

Poviem vám, ich prekonávanie s 80-kilovými saňami je,

I'm telling you, crossing these things with 170-pound sled,

that sled may as well have weighed 1,700 pounds,

ako keby sane vážili 800 kg,

because that's what it felt like.

naozaj sa to tak zdalo.

We were blogging to this live website daily

Publikovali sme na stránke dennodenne,

to these students that were tracking us as well,

písali sme si so študentmi, ktorí nás sledovali.

about 10-hour trekking days,

Niekedy sme kráčali 10 hodín denne,

15-hour trekking days,

niekedy 15,

sometimes 20 hours of trekking daily to meet our goal.

niekedy dokonca 20, aby sme dodržali plán.

We'd catch cat-naps at 40 below on our sled, incidentally.

Občas sme si krátko zdriemli na saniach v 40 stupňovom mraze.

In turn, students,

Študenti z celého sveta

people from around the world, would ask us questions.

nám kládli otázky.

Young people would ask the most amazing questions.

Mladí ľudia kladú najlepšie otázky.

One of my favorite: It's 40 below, you've got to go to the bathroom,

Jedna z mojich obľúbených: je -40 °C a musíte ísť na záchod,

where are you going to go and how are you going to do it?

kam idete a ako to urobíte?

I'm not going to answer that. But I will answer some of the more popular questions.

Na to odpovedať nebudem. Odpoviem ale na pár častejších otázok.

Where do you sleep? We slept in a tent that was very low to the ground,

Kde spíte? Spali sme v stane, ktorý bol veľmi nízky,

because the winds on Antarctica were so extreme, it would blow anything else away.

pretože vietor na Antarktíde je taký silný, že by ho inak odfúkol.

What do you eat? One of my favorite dishes on expedition:

Čo jete? Jedno z mojich obľúbených jedál na expedícii bolo

butter and bacon. It's about a million calories.

maslo a slanina, obsahujú asi milión kalórií.

We were burning about 8,500 a day,

Spálili sme okolo 8500 kalórií za deň,

so we needed it.

takže sme ich potrebovali.

How many batteries do you carry for all the equipment that you have?

Koľko batérií so sebou máte pre všetko vybavenie?

Virtually none. All of our equipment, including film equipment,

Skoro žiadne. Všetko vybavenie vrátane filmového vybavenia

was charged by the sun.

funguje na solárny pohon.

And do you get along? I certainly hope so,

Vychádzate spolu? Dúfam, že áno.

because at some point or another on this expedition,

Pretože raz nastane tá chvíľa,

one of your teammates is going to have to take a very big needle,

keď jeden z vašich partnerov vezme veľkú ihlu,

and put it in an infected blister, and drain it for you.

prepichne vám zapálený pľuzgier a vysaje ho.

But seriously, seriously, we did get along,

Ale teraz vážne, naozaj sme spolu vychádzali.

because we had a common goal of wanting to inspire these young people.

Mali sme spoločný cieľ, a to inšpirovať mladých ľudí.

They were our teammates! They were inspiring us.

Boli našimi kolegami, našou inšpiráciou.

The stories we were hearing got us to the South Pole.

Príbehy, ktoré sme počuli, nás dostali na južný pól.

Webová stránka fungovala výborne ako obojsmerný spôsob komunikácie.

The website worked brilliantly as a two-way street of communication.

Young people in northern Canada, kids in an elementary school,

Mladí v severnej Kanade, deti na základnej škole,

dragging sleds across the school-yard,

ťahali sánky na školskom dvore,

pretending they were Richard, Ray and Kevin. Amazing.

keď sa hrali na Richarda, Raya a Kevina. Úžasné.

We arrived at the South Pole. We huddled into that tent,

Dorazili sme na južný pól, schúlili sme sa v stane,

45 below that day, I'll never forget it.

v ten deň bolo -45 °C, nikdy na to nezabudnem.

We looked at each other with these looks

Pozreli sme sa na seba

of disbelief at what we had just completed.

a nemohli sme uveriť, čo sme práve dokázali.

And I remember looking at the guys thinking,

Pamätám sa, keď som sa na nich pozrel a pomyslel si:

"What do I take from this journey?" You know? Seriously.

„Čo si odnesiem z tejto výpravy?“ Rozumiete? Naozaj.

That I'm this uber-endurance guy?

Že som mimoriadne vytrvalý?

As I stand here today talking to you guys,

Ako tu pred vami dnes stojím a rozprávam,

I've been running for the grand sum of five years.

behám už dokopy 5 rokov.

And a year before that I was a pack-a-day smoker,

A pár rokov predtým som fajčieval krabičku denne

living a very sedentary lifestyle.

a viedol veľmi sedavý štýl života.

What I take from this journey, from my journeys,

Čo si odnášam z tejto cesty, z ciest,

is that, in fact,

je skutočnosť,

within every fiber of my belief standing here,

že som na 100 % presvedčený,

I know that we can make the impossible possible.

že môžeme urobiť nemožné možným.

I'm learning this at 40.

Dozvedám sa to v 40 rokoch.

Can you imagine? Seriously, can you imagine?

Viete si to predstaviť, vážne, viete si to predstaviť?

I'm learning this at 40 years of age.

Dozvedám sa to v 40 rokoch.

Imagine being 13 years old,

Predstavte si, že máte 13 rokov

hearing those words, and believing it.

a počúvate, čo hovorím, a veríte tomu.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Ďakujem pekne, ďakujem.

(Applause)

(potlesk)