Please feel free to use the following quotes, making sure you report each one accurately and attribute them to the correct person. More quotes will be added to this section in due course.
Miscellaneous
“I am doing this for many reasons, some of which I don’t fully understand. That there is an inner urge is undeniable.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
About The Traverse
“The conditions we will face may be nightmarish, they may from time to time be show-stoppers. Steel and rubber may crack up. So may some of us.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
“I’ve never been to Antarctica before – the coldest place I’ve been before now is probably Colorado so I’m really excited about getting down to Antarctica and starting the expedition.”
Richmond Dykes
“I’m expecting to treat a lot of blisters and athletes foot and if that was it then I’d be happy! In reality dehydration is a risk, as is frostbite. I’m not expecting the team to be too sick but obviously the cold temperatures will affect things.”
Dr Rob Lambert
“I’m extremely excited to be a part of such an amazing attempt with such a great team and to do something that has never been done before.”
Dr Rob Lambert
“I’m very excited about the whole expedition. The fear has gone and the excitement has overpowered it. I’ve always loved snow and Antarctica will give me plenty. I can’t wait to get there.”
Spencer Smirl
About The Coldest Journey Team
“There are three conjoined parts of this Team – the Ship’s crew under Expedition co-Leader Anton Bowring, the Ice Team, and the Operations HQ in London under the expert leadership of Tristam Kaye. Anton and I have worked together on world record-beating journeys for over 35 years. Without each other neither of us would be here doing this today.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
“The Operations HQ will be the glue which holds everything together during the traverse, communicating with the Ice Team and the ship’s crew on a daily basis. Knowing that there will be someone in London manning the phones and looking out for us every hour of the expedition will give the Ice Team solace and comfort over the long cold months ahead.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
“The members of the Team are the best from across the Commonwealth. No one has been paid a penny. All risk a lot.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
Charity
“Having experienced snow blindness I was moved by the challenge of avoidable and how easily it could be prevented. I wanted to be a part of it and The Coldest Journey has the potential to make a real impact towards the goal of eradicating avoidable blindness around the world.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
Education
“Children from all over the Commonwealth who interact on our educational website should be anything but bored by our interaction with the great frozen land of Antarctica. If I had been taught this kind of stuff when I was a child, who knows, maybe I would have got some O’Levels after all.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
Science
“We are very excited to be part of this incredibly challenging expedition, which is going to push the boundaries of human physical and mental endurance. Hopefully, important information will be obtained which will increase our understanding of the limits of human performance, and in particular those which may be relevant for future trips to Mars.”
Professor Stephen Harridge, director of King’s College London’s Centre of Human and Aerospace Physiological Sciences (CHAPS), which is hosting the White Mars project
“The White Mars [project] is a bold move that will add significantly to our understanding of how to deal with the challenge of human exploration of the Red Planet.”
Robert Zubrin, president of the US Mars Society
“The science content of the Expedition is unique, global and genuine. The thought that we will be potentially doing something ground-breaking in man’s attempts to understand climate change is, for me, one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of The Coldest Journey.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
About the Transglobe Expedition (1979-1982)
“My warmest congratulations to you all on your magnificent achievement of completing the 2,200 mile crossing of Antarctica on open snowmobiles. Now that you are half-way through your polar circumnavigation of the earth, we welcome you to the United States and pray that your luck and skill during the next half of your trip, which promises to be even more harsh and hazardous, will keep you from harm’s way. You are attempting something which has never been done before which takes tremendous courage and dedication. The ‘can do’ your expedition so perfectly exemplifies is still alive in the free world. We wish you Godspeed and clear sailing.”
Ronald Reagan, Former US President
“The British aren’t so weary as they’re sometimes said to be. The Transglobe Expedition, seven years in the planning, is scheduled to leave Greenwich, England, tomorrow on a journey of such daring that it makes one wonder how the sun ever set on the empire.”
As appeared in the editorial column of the New York Times the day before the expedition began
