Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Ted Talks: My Trek to the South Pole – Ray Zahab


Rating: ****

In January 2009, Ray Zahab along with his two partners Kevin Vallely and Richard Webber set out and succeeded breaking the record for fastest trek across Antarctica to raise awareness and money for children’s environmental education.

With his persistence and determination, Ray accomplished the unsupported trip to the South Pole on both foot and snowshoes in just 33 days. He was the first person to undertake such an adventure without skis. As well, he broke the record for this trek by five days, as his partners skied alongside him. Along the way, he created blogs of his journey specifically intended for school kids to raise awareness to climate change in Antarctica. His extreme adventures are based on his strong passion for the environment as well as creating awareness about the current issue of global warming and its effect on the environment. Back in 2006, he ran a 7500-kilometer run across the Sahara to raise awareness about the increasing worldwide shortage of water.

This article was quite inspiring since Ray endured some of the most challenging adventures to try and capture the attention of people worldwide to affect a change. However, he also undertakes these experiences for personal pleasure, to try and achieve the impossible and prove a point to make the most of your life. In the future, I will definitely try to participate in different activities out of my comfort zone to try and experience as much as possible. I thought Ray was very well spoken. I believe Ray accomplished his goal, delivering two very different messages; being mindful of our environment as well as trying new things. I respect his attempt to draw the new generation of children into these experiences, teaching them, at a young age, that change is needed in order to save the environment.

Zahab, R. (2015). My trek to the South Pole. [online] Ted.com. Available at: 
https://www.ted.com/talks/ray_zahab_treks_to_the_south_pole?language=en [Accessed 8 Jan. 2015].


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