High school friends James Castrission, 29, and Justin Jones, 28, made history this week after a gruelling 80 days in one of the harshest and most unpredictable environments on Earth.
The pair, who formerly had jobs in the accounting and science worlds, have become the first men to travel more than 1,800km unsupported through the Antarctic wilderness.
But their mission is by no means complete.
The pair must arrive back at their starting point by January 27 to make the last flight out of Antarctica for the season.
That means skiing an average of 40 kilometres a day to get there, which will be extremely difficult given they are now down to half rations.
Once they reach their destination - Hercules Inlet - they will have set another world record and achieved their ultimate goal: to become the first men to ski unassisted from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back.
"It's certainly a nice feeling to have got this far and set a new world record but our mission is far from over," Mr Jones said.
"We've still got a lot of kilometres to cover to make it in time for that last flight out of Antarctica and only when we step foot onto that flight will we feel like we have achieved something special."
"We are now down to half rations and are being pushed to our very limit, but reaching the record overnight has given us a boost and we can't wait to punch out the last few hundred kilometres and finish the job," Mr Castrission added.
Because their mission is unsupported, they are only equipped with the same food and belongings they started out with.
The pair have already lost 15 to 20 kilograms each, and have only taken four days to rest.
They are using the expedition to raise money and awareness for You Can, a national fundraising campaign to build specialised youth cancer centres across Australia.
They also made history in 2008 when they completed the world's first kayak crossing of the Tasman, from Australia to New Zealand.
