By Elissa Friday
Former Geelong councillor Eddy Kontelj is bracing for six weeks operating heavy machinery in Antarctica for his employer.
“This is an experience I have dreamt about for decades,” said Mr Kontelj, managing director of Caterpillar dealer William Adams.
“The fact it’s now coming true gives me a feeling of extreme excitement, appreciation, privilege, exhilaration and also anxious nervousness.
“The opportunity came about where they offered me a chance to get a better understanding of the environment that the equipment and people work in.”
Mr Kontelj would represent William Adams in 10-member team from 12 November to late December, he said.
He would operate a Challenger MT865 tractor to shift large sleds loaded with supplies including fuel, equipment and essential supplies to France and Italy’s joint Concordia Research Station.
“This experience will certainly provide me the opportunity to better understand and appreciate the environment and conditions and customers, products and people work in, including their challenges and requirements.”
Mr Kontelj completed a diesel mechanic apprenticeship before working for 15 years in the mining industry which included three in Chile’s Andes Mountains where he battled thin oxygen and temperatures down to minus 40C.
“The Andes will be shadowed by this experience,” he said.
Mr Kontelj hoped to return by Christmas
“My access to communication, be it phone or email, will be extremely limited and, in many cases, I will have very little to no reliable access to communication options.”
Mr Kontelj, who has set world records for static-cycling marathons on exercise bikes, said he underwent extensive physical and medical examinations to determine his suitability for the Antarctica job.
