The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
In the steps of Captain Scott
An adventurer said he has fulfilled his “dream” after completing Captain Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition.
Ben Saunders and former Wasps rugby player Tarka L’Herpiniere trekked 1,795 miles to the South Pole and back.
A BRITISH adventurer said he has fulf illed his “lifelong dream” after completing Captain Robert Scott’s ill-fated A ntarctic expedition.
Ben Saunders, 36, and former Wasps rugby player Tarka L’Herpiniere trekked 1,795 miles from the A ntarctic coast to the South Pole and back after following in the footsteps of the famous explorer.
Captain Scott led the first British team to the South Pole on January 17 1912 but died along with his team on the return journey of the Terra Nova expedition.
Mr Saunders and 32-year-old Mr L’Herpiniere, from France, set off from Scott’s Terra Nova Hut on October 25, hauling sleds weighing up to 440lb and experiencing temperatures as low as -46C (-51F) with wind chill.
They reached their finish point at about 1.15am yesterday — 105 days after their journey began.
Organisers say the pair have now achieved the world record for the “longest polar journey on foot in history”.
Mr Saunders, from Plymouth, said: “It is almost impossible to comprehend what we have achieved.
“Completing Scott’s Terra Nova expedition has been a lifelong dream and I’m overcome to be standing here at the finish. The journey has been a mammoth undertaking that has tested the bounds of our bodies and minds each and every day.
“A t times we found ourselves in dire straits in the intense cold, wind and altitude of the high plateau, weakened by half-rations and closer to the brink of survival than I had ever anticipated this journey taking us.
“In that light, both Tarka and I feel a combination of awe and profound respect for the endurance, tenacity and fortitude of Captain Scott and his team a century ago.”