Sir Ranulph Fiennes says he is shattered that he had to give up a journey across the Antarctic in winter.
|||Cape Town - Sir Ranulph Fiennes says he is shattered that he had to give up a journey across the Antarctic in winter - a project he had been working on for five years.
Fiennes, 68, hailed as “the world’s greatest living explorer”, was forced to pull out of the six-month winter expedition after he developed frostbite while adjusting a ski binding.
The Coldest Journey team will continue on the 4 000km expedition without him.
Fiennes received treatment at a Cape Town hospital last week and returned yesterday to Britain, where he held a press conference.
He was very frustrated at being back in the UK, Fiennes said.
“But I am not good at crying over spilt milk - or split fingers. It is extremely frustrating. I have been working on this full-time and unpaid for five years.”
Fiennes said he would “make the best of it” by turning his attention to ensuring the expedition succeeded.
“The team are brilliant. I am very pleased and proud of the team. Everything is going totally on schedule.”
He said the remaining five team members would continue with the scientific, educational and charity aims of the project, with the only difference being that no one would be skiing across Antarctica, as he would have done.
The expedition aims to raise £10 million (R136m) for Seeing is Believing, a charity which aims to prevent avoidable blindness.
Fiennes said he had no doubt that a Norwegian team would do the journey on skis within the next two years.
“But that’s the way it goes.”
Fiennes said that when he first developed frostbite on a solo expedition to the North Pole in 2000, he had known it could happen again.
“People who have previously had frostbite from previous expeditions can be susceptible. So I suspected myself when I got the injury 13 years ago.”
But, he said, in all his subsequent trips he had not developed frostbite.
Fiennes described how he had stopped to adjust the binding on his ski and had been forced to remove a glove.
“It was a total whiteout. You can’t see the tracks. You can feel them under your skis, but the trouble is the skis are constantly slipping off.”
He compared the conditions of the day to being in a room full of cottonwool.
A surgeon had told him two fingers would definitely not require surgery while two fingers may require surgery.
Anton Bowring, the joint leader of the expedition, said he felt terribly sorry for his old friend, but he was “selfishly delighted” at his return to Britain.
“It’s a terribly sad missed opportunity which has come about, but on the plus side, it makes our jobs here somewhat easier. Ran is in a very good position to promote the wider aims of the trust.”
Tony Medniuk, The Coldest Journey’s chairman, said he was profoundly disappointed for Fiennes.
He was proud of the team’s unanimous decision to carry on after Fiennes had pulled out.
“Don’t be under any illusions of the hardship and challenges that lie ahead for the Ice Team. This will be an epic achievement and we are tremendously proud of them.
“We have absolute confidence in them.”
michelle.jones@inl.co.za
Cape Times