If things go badly wrong with
the Antarctica Expedition people will wag fingers and say, “We told you so!”
In an article* posted to this
blog on 20th January, 2013 I expressed my concern that success of
the Expedition was entirely dependent upon the reliability of equipment. A failure of one or both of the mobile support
vehicles would put lives at risk. Was it worth taking the risk to obtain scientific
knowledge? I suppose it depends on how vital that knowledge is to mankind.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes has
dedicated the last five years of his life to the Coldest Journey on Earth Expedition,
partly motivated by his own desire to achieve another record for being first to
do something. He was first to circumnavigate the world along the polar axis. Apart
from Charles Burton, his companion for the adventure, no other person has done
it. With Mike Stroud, in 1992/93 he was first to complete an unsupported
crossing of the Antarctic Continent, and he has done many other intrepid
ventures.
Fiennes planned to ski 2,000
miles across Antarctica in front of two support vehicles and sled cabooses manned by a team of five people; thereby achieving
another record for being first. Even more remarkable, this incredible feat of
endurance would have to be done in total darkness during a South Polar winter
when temperatures could drop to -90 degrees Celsius.
This was not to be, because when
training at base camp he had a fall, and it was necessary for him to fix a ski
binding. He could not do it without removing a glove which caused him to suffer
frostbite to fingers of his left hand. The 68 year old adventurer was
transported on a skidoo to Princess Elisabeth Station 70 kilometres away; from
there he was taken by plane to Novo and on to South Africa.
Back in the UK he speaks of his
frustration at not being able to lead the Expedition in person, which task has
fallen to Ian Prickett. Fiennes is dedicated to making sure two other
objectives of the Expedition are achieved, namely fundraising for ‘Seeing is
Believing’, which is a charity that has helped 31 million people to have
affordable treatment for preventing them from going blind, and the other
objective is to link with 43,000 schools and colleges who will follow the
Expedition through a Microsoft platform that is continuously updated by cloud technology.
The Expedition starts the trek
on 20th March, and my prayer is as before, that no one will die..
*Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the
Coldest Journey on Earth (Part 1)
Links
Ranulph Fiennes
pulls out of Antarctic challenge
Sir Ranulph Fiennes 'very frustrated' after returning from Antarctic trek
Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes
returns from Antarctic - video
Ranulph
Fiennes
The
Coldest Journey on Earth
Seeing is Believing
No comments:
Post a Comment