Sir Ranulph Fiennes pulls out of Antarctica crossing due to frostbite (From Somerset County Gazette)
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Sir Ranulph Fiennes pulls out of Antarctica crossing due to frostbite
5:10pm Monday 25th February 2013 in News
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is regarded as one of the world's greatest explorers.
EXMOOR explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has pulled out of his Antarctica expedition due to severe frostbite.
Sir Ranulph, 68, was due to attempt the 2,000-mile winter trek, known as The Coldest Journey on Earth, with five teammates but got frostbite to his hand while trying to fix a ski.
It is believed he was injured during a training fall and took his glove off to re-attach a ski binding before contracting frostbite.
Sir Ranulph will now be evacuated to South Africa but is being held up due to blizzard conditions.
The team will carry on and face some of the toughest conditions on earth - near permanent darkness and temperatures dropping close to -90C.
The expedition, in aid of charity Seeing is Believing, is due to begin on March 21 and is expected to take six months.
Nobody has ever attempted to cross Antarctica in winter.
