Antarctic dream over for Ranulph Fiennes
2013-02-25 17:38
London - British explorer Ranulph Fiennes on Monday pulled out of an
expedition to cross Antarctica during the region's winter after
developing frostbite - a bitter disappointment for an adventurer who had
spent years preparing for one of the last great polar challenges.
The
68-year-old and his five-member team had hoped to traverse nearly 4 000km in a place where temperatures often dip as low
as -70°C. The expedition, dubbed "The
Coldest Journey," will continue without him.
"The
condition is such that he has very reluctantly decided ... to withdraw
from Antarctica while the possibility to do so still exists, before the
onset of the Antarctic winter," the expedition said in a statement.
Fiennes,
who has been going where others fear to tread for decades and in 2009
became the oldest person to summit Mount Everest, already is missing
parts of his fingers on his left hand because of frostbite suffered on a
North Pole expedition a decade ago.
"This
will be my greatest challenge to date," he had said on his website
before the journey began. "We will stretch the limits of human
endurance."
The polar trek is
especially dangerous because no aircraft can travel inland in the winter
due to the darkness and risk that fuel will freeze. That means that
there would be virtually no chance of a search and rescue operation if
disaster strikes.
The team is
working toward evacuating Fiennes from Antarctica, but that evacuation
is being hampered by a blizzard.
The team said he was being transported by
snowmobile to the Princess Elisabeth Station, about 70km from his current position. From there, he will be flown to Novo
to get a connecting flight to Cape Town.
But
he will be unable to leave until there is a let-up in weather
conditions. The remaining members of the team plan to start the crossing
as scheduled on 21 March.
"This
decision has not been taken lightly and it is, naturally, a huge
disappointment to Fiennes and his colleagues," the statement said.
The expedition is trying to raise $10m for the charity "Seeing is Believing," which seeks to prevent blindness.
Polar
adventurer and balloonist David Hempleman-Adams, who walked unsupported
to the South Pole in 1996, said he believed the winter crossing would
be unprecedented.
"The
crossing's definitely been done before," he said. "However, that was very
different. That was in summer months. And that was hugely supported
with aircraft and things like this. As far as I know this will be the
first winter crossing."
The
team has been outfitted with high-tech equipment that prompted
comparisons to the preparations for a flight into space, including
special breathing apparatus.
The expedition will use 20-ton tractors to
transport sledges with mounted living quarters and fuel that is designed
not to freeze in the extreme temperatures.
- AP
