“Human Urge”

A rare blog from expedition co-leader, Sir Ranulph Fiennes: “Sometimes I am asked what attracts me to Antarctica, this expedition being the third time (hopefully) that I will have crossed it. The Norwegians have a word ‘polarhullar’ meaning ‘polar hunger’, suggesting the Poles and travel to or near them is addictive. For me, I call it normal human urge. The first time I crossed the Antarctic was…

I feel greatly relieved now that the expedition has set out for Antarctica. Since Mike Stroud suggested the idea to me five years ago, I have been working on it full-time and, like all the volunteers I have recruited onto the Team, unpaid. My original aim, and Mike’s, was simply to cross the Antarctic Continent on skis during the polar winter and using food/fuel depots parachuted the previous…