Adventurer forced to abandon Australian desert challenge
Belgian adventurer Louis-Philippe Loncke, who set off at the end of July on a solo crossing of the Simpson Desert in Australia on foot, has been forced to abandon his challenge because the cart carrying his supplies is too heavy for the steep dunes, his father told Belga on Friday.
Loncke, a veteran of extreme expeditions, is also suffering from a sprained ankle and an inflamed knee. He has eight or nine days of food remaining and expects to be able to return to civilisation on his own. If he encounters any further issues, he will need to be rescued by helicopter.
The engineer and data protection consultant, named European Adventurer of the Year in 2016, has carried out 19 extreme expeditions, including 14 world firsts. Seven of these have taken place in Australia, two of them in the Simpson Desert.
"If I am too deep in the desert, a helicopter from the nearest town would not have enough fuel to rescue me"
This time, he was aiming to complete his longest ever trek. It was due to last around 60 days, starting near Alice Springs in the uninhabited desert, which is six times the size of Belgium. His plan was to cover just over 1,000km, with a positive altitude difference of 11,000m and a negative altitude difference of 10,600m.
The 47-year-old from Mouscron faced average temperatures of 30° C and peaks of up to 45° C, with night-time temperatures dropping as low as -2° C. He also faced wild animals such as dromedaries, dingoes and snakes, including the most venomous in the world, the desert taipan.
In 2008, he hiked 600km across the Simpson Desert in 36 days, pulling all his supplies in a self-built cart. In 2016, he returned, carrying only a backpack, but had to give up after 13 days due to a lack of food. He is one of only three people ever to have crossed the desert unaided.
“This is a Class 5 expedition,” Loncke says. “That means there is no higher risk. If I am too deep in the desert, a helicopter from the nearest town would not have enough fuel to rescue me.”
Louis-Philippe Loncke sets off on a previous expedition in Tasmania in 2018 © BELGA PHOTO MARIE DOSQUET
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