Frostbitten feet, but South Pole challenge is a success

A FATHER and son team have completed a gruelling challenge in the icy wastes of Antarctica – reaching the South Pole using renewable energy alone.

Robert Swan grew up near Barnard Castle and was the first man to walk both South and North poles in 1989.

The 61-year-old and his son, Barney, 23, were reunited at the southernmost tip of the earth last week after completing the exhausting 600 mile journey in temperatures as low as -40C.

Mr Swan jnr completed the final 300 miles of the trip without his father after his dad was forced to call a halt to his effort at the halfway point due to the sheer physical effort needed.

The zero carbon South Pole Energy Challenge was designed to highlight how clean technologies can operate in some of the harshest environments on the planet.

The challenge began on November 15 and called on cutting edge technology including a NASA solar ice melter, biofuel from Bangalore, in India, and an algae cooking stove from Germany.

Mountaineer Martin Barnett and filmmaker Kyle O’Donoghue also joined them on the journey, which signalled the beginning of a seven-year campaign – The ClimateForce Challenge.

The team beat their 60-day target by four days despite Mr Swan jnr being struck by harsh frostbite in his feet.

On reaching the pole, Mr Swan snr said in a website blog recording how there would be no permanent damage to his son’s feet and praised the team’s courage for continuing.

“Frankly, personally, it was a huge success,” he added.

Mr Swan snr now lives in California and founded the 2041 organisation in 1984 after seeing the effects of environmental damage on the polar icecaps.

He has since dedicated his life to the preservation of the “last great wilderness on Earth” – the Antarctic.

Through recycling, renewable energy and sustainability he hopes to try to combat the effects of global climate change.

The initiative’s goal following this venture is to clean up 326 million tonnes of CO2 and the team will return to Antarctica in March.

For more information, go to: https://www.2041.com