Mind over Matter

In November 1992 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Michael Stroud set out to achieve what no one had ever done: to walk and ski - unsupported - the 2700km across the Antarctic, a continent almost devoid of life, in temperatures of -45 degrees centigrade. This is Fiennes's account of the expedition.

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In November 1992 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Michael Stroud set out to achieve what no one had ever done: to walk and ski - unsupported - the 2700km across the Antarctic, a continent almost devoid of life, in temperatures of -45 degrees centigrade. They walked an average of 35km a day, surviving on what they could carry or haul. Fiennes developed a severe infection in his foot - so severe that antibiotics failed to work. Their food supplies ran dangerously low, and they battled against heavy winds which whipped their sledges out of control. At one point Stroud fell into a crevasse and Fiennes dragged him out before he froze to death. They pushed on, and after 95 days - the longest-ever unsupported polar journey - the pair radioed to be picked up, their journey having raised thousands of pounds for multiple sclerosis research. Containing many of Fiennes's photographs, this book is his account of the expedition.