Explorer Colin O’Brady is surrounded by duffel bags and dozens of neatly labeled bags of dried ramen while sitting down for a virtual interview from his Airbnb in southern Chile. That’s because the 40-year-old explorer is about to set off on what he says is his most ambitious expedition yet.

O’Brady will embark on a 110-day, 1,780-mile crossing of one of the most remote places on Earth — the Ross Ice Shelf, a frozen expanse at the edge of Antarctica.

“It was pretty funny going through Chilean customs with 14 bags full of protein powder,” O’Brady told NBC News on Oct. 31 as he gestured behind him. “They were like, ‘What the heck is this?’”

If successful, O’Brady would become the first person to cross the entire continent, from ice shelf to ice shelf, solo and unsupported. That means no r

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