Belgian Arctic explorer Dixie Dansercoer (58) dies during expedition in Greenland
One of our country’s best-known explorers Dixie Dansercoer has died while on an expedition in Greenland. The 58-year-old West Fleming made several expeditions to both the North and South Poles. The most well-known of these was in 1997/1998 when he and the Brussels explorer Alain Hubert crossed Antarctica. Dixie Dansercoer died on Monday evening.
On 4 November 1997 Dixie Dansercoer and Alain Hubert left Belgium’s King Boudewijn Base on the South Pole. Their trek across Antarctica ended just over three months later on 10 February 1998. They had covered 3,900 kilometres crossing the inhospitable frozen continent.
The 1997-1998 South Pole expedition was not his and Alain Hubert’s only great adventure. In 2002 they attempted to cross the North Pole in 100 days. However, they were unable to do so.
In 2007 Dixie Dansercoer sailed to Antarctica, following in the footsteps of the Belgica expedition led by Alain de Gerlache 110 years earlier in 1897. In 2012 he and Sam Deltour broke the world record for the longest non-motorised expedition to the South Pole. They travelled on skis pushed along by wind-power using a parachute-like kite.
Body not yet found
Dixie Dansercoer died while on an expedition to Greenland with the Canadian Sébastien Auby and the Dutch explorer Johanna Adriana Simone Maria. They were trying to cross Greenland from north to south using a snow kite. However, tragedy struck on Monday evening when Dixie Dansercoer fell at high speed through the snow and into a deep ravine.
Sébastien Auby was able to alert the emergency services. It took several hours for them to reach the remote area. They spend several hours searching but were unable to find Dixie Dansercoer’s body. The explorer and adventurer was 58. He leaves behind a wife and four children.