British explorer Ranulph Fiennes leaves Antarctic expedition after frostbite

February 28, 2013



After suffering severe the British explorer Sir  has decided to pull out from  expedition across Antarctica. The 68-year-old was frostbitten whilst training at a base camp in Antarctica. He fell over and fixed a with his bare hands in roughly -30 temperatures.

He is now on his way to after several days of blizzard conditions halted his evacuation. Despite his withdrawal, the expedition is to continue without him and his fellow team members are to trek the 2,000 miles (3,219km) across Antarctica from (Novo) to the  starting on March 21, at the  and approaching winter, taking six months. A team successfully travelled approximately 70 to transport him by to the. He is now to be flown on to Novo for a flight to Cape Town.

Organisers of The Coldest Journey expedition said in a statement, "The condition is such that he has very reluctantly decided with the support of the team doctor and in the interests of the success of the expedition and its associated aims, to withdraw from Antarctica while the possibility to do so still exists, before the onset of the Antarctic winter".

Expedition organiser Tony Medniuk told the BBC, "After five years of preparation, a small slip like this and a few moments can undermine the most meticulous preparation". Ian Prickett, a member of the team, said on Twitter "Sir Ran is leaving but we will carry on."

The team hopes to raise 10 million (6.2 million) for avoidable- charity. This is to be the first time any human has walked across Antarctica during winter and the expedition team are bracing themselves for cold around -90C and near-permanent darkness.

Fiennes also suffered from frostbite whilst on an expedition to the in 2000 and, as a result, lost the tips of the fingers on his left hand.

has called Sir Ranulph "the world's greatest living explorer". In the past he became the first person to reach both the North and by surface as well as the oldest Briton, at age 65, to reach the summit of  in 2009. Another British explorer,, died a century ago on his Antarctic expedition after being caught out by the beginning of winter.