A British adventurer was close to becoming the second person to traverse Antarctica completely unassisted just a few days after an American became the first to conquer the feat, which was previously said to be impossible.

Louis Rudd’s expedition blog on Thursday showed that the 49-year-old has only has about 50 miles left on the journey across the continent and is expected to finish Saturday.

If Rudd — a Hereford, England, resident and captain in the British Army — completes the journey, he’ll become the second man to do so after Colin O’Brady of Portland, Ore., became the first on Wednesday.

The more than 900-mile trek took O’Brady 54 days. He and Rudd were competing to become the first to cross Antarctica without getting new supplies or help from the wind.

O’Brady plans to stay on Antarctica until Rudd finishes his trek.