"I regularly read your thoughts and contributions to follow how the project is developing. You are aware that environmental damage is not inevitable. We are very much looking forward to you sharing your ideas and hopes with us. It will be a great pleasure to meet you in Berlin."

Laurence de la Ferrière

 

Laurence de la Ferrière was born in Casablanca in 1957. She has about twenty years when she discovers the high mountain. She gives up then the flute traversière and the medicine to set out to conquer the
highest summits of the world, the Alps at first, then Himalaya.

On the 23rd November 1999, Laurence de la Ferrière left the South Pole equipped only with a pair of skis and a paragliding canopy. The sole links connecting her with civilization were a telephone satellite and an Argos beacon. Behind her, she pulled a sled containing 140 kg of everything she needed to survive her adventure. In front of her, a vast expanse of white stretched as far as the eye could see, and a journey of some 3000 km (of which 1664 km was completely unexplored) in temperatures that could go below -50°C. For 73 days, she faced bitter cold, biting wind, unpredictable icy terrain, fear, thirst, exhaustion and extreme solitude, but also the magic of a landscape that no human had ever glimpsed, the will to survive, and the desire to push existing limits and break new boundaries.

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"Laurence, tell us what dangers for the environment did you notice during your expeditions to the pole?
To me, the Antarctic is the purest continent, untouched by any pollution. A land of science and peace, it is the only place in the world that doesn’t belong to anybody and that everyone is trying to protect. My rations were packaged so as to leave as little waste as possible and I didn’t see the slightest problem in bringing back anything that was left over. Despite the difficult conditions, the scientific bases are bound by highly demanding constraints concerning pollution management, which are improved every year.

and what is the motivation behind your interest in the Youth Eco Parliament project?
We are all jointly responsible for the future of our planet. My explorations taught me that we draw our strength and our life from nature and that as a matter of urgency we must learn to preserve it.
The history of the earth is contained in the heart of the frozen and inhospitable land that is the Antarctic. Situated in the extreme South, the largest desert in the world is in reality an invaluable universal asset.
The Youth Eco Parliament gives me a unique, practical opportunity to involve the younger generations in awareness of the impact our society has made on the environment and the responsibilities they must assume.
Through my polar expeditions, and beyond the difficult vision of the world in which they are growing up, I would like to communicate to the children the idea that in fighting to protect the earth, there will always be amazing things to discover and that we all have the freedom to make our lives a sustainable project."

 

 

• 1984 - YALUNGKANG - KANGCHENJUNGA 8505M - Summit on October 20 (Pakistan)
  The first without oxygen of the southeast aisle
  Feminine world record of height without oxygen
• 1984 - ANNAPURNA 8091M - wintry Attempt (Nepal)
• 1985 - NANGA PARBAT 8125M - Summit on July 8 (Pakistan)
• 1991 - EASTERN SIBERIA
  Investigation on the ice floe of the Bering Strait in harnesses of huskies
• 1992 - EVEREST
  Feminine world record of height without oxygen in 8700m (Nepal)
• 1995 - SPITSBERGEN
  Crossed in total autonomy
• 1995 - GREENLAND
  Complete crossing in total autonomy and in the sail from the West to the East coast.
• 1996/1997 - ANTARCTICA
  First French crossing solo from the coast to the South Pole.
  1400 km in 57 days, from November 24, 1996 till January 19, 1997.
• 1999/2000 - ANTARCTICA
  First crossing solo of Antarctica from the South pole to the Earth Adélie by way of Dome C.
  3000 km in 73 days by means of sails and skis. A world record.
  

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