On January 7th, three Canadian men made their way into the Guinness Book of World Records by becoming the fastest humans to cross the South Pole, using only snow shoes and skies.

It took Ray Zahab, Kevin Vallely and Richard Weber 34 days to complete the journey across the Antarctica from the Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole.

Along the way, the team who are part of the impossible2possible organization, had to endure altitude sickness, huge blisters, dozens of frozen snowdrifts and plenty of blinding whiteouts - but they prevailed - crushing the previous record by 5 days!

In order to have enough energy to trek day after day, the team sustained itself on a diet of butter, bacon, pemmican (a mixture of fat and protein), pasta and other high calorie foods, consuming about 7,000 calories a day. They also consumed lots and lots of Gatorade to keep hydrated.

The goal of the mission according to Ray Zahab, was not just to try break a record, but also connect with students and educate them about the adventure on a day to day basis. Using state-of-the art technology, the trio shared their experiences daily with over 3,000 high school students across the USA and Canada.

Besides reading the blog and being able to ask questions, the students also had access to educational modules like the effects of climate change and the history of South Pole exploration.

Impossible2possible is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to educate and inspire young people. It's founder, Ray Zahab, a long-distance marathon runner, is most famous for his 4,500 mile run across the Sahara Desert - completed in 111 days with no rest days. His mission was to highlight the seriousness of the water crises in Africa. To read more about the South Pole expedition and watch some really cool videos check out www.southpolequest.com.

Sources: reuters.com, southpolequest.com