Julian’s South Pole adventure, with picture gallery
HAVING conquered both Poles, many would be tempted to go home, put their feet up and take a breather.
But Julian Evans is no ordinary man and having taken on the daunting conditions of the South Pole he is already preparing for the next challenge.
Mount Everest is within his sights and for someone with the kind of determination that has seen him raise more than £50,000 for a host of charities, it will doubtless not be long before the peak is within his reach.
Mr Evans (39), of Harborough, was part of a team that reached the South Pole at 1.30am on Friday, December 9. The chartered surveyor was on the ice for more than two weeks.
Click on the multimedia link on the right to see a gallery of photos from the expedition.
Although he has took on a polar bear during his trek to the North Pole in 2009, the challenge of the south was the unremitting and frigid environment itself and on several occasions while on the trek he drew breath and feared for his life.
He said: “There were several occasions when areas of the ground - the size of a rugby pitch - dropped several inches below our feet with a thunder-like sound which was rather frightening.
“We think this was due either to crevasse fields or large pockets of air compressing underground.”
Mr Evans was part of the eight-strong team that completed the challenge, although only seven of them reached the finish.
The expedition, called Nimrod, was a successful bid to complete the journey of Sir Ernest Shackleton, who turned back 111 miles from the South Pole in 1907.
Joined by fellow explorer David Hempleman-Adams, David’s daughter Amelia (16) and other top adventurers, the team began their journey at the Thiel Mountains in the Antarctic after training in Chile. The bid gained national prominence as Amelia became the youngest person ever to reach the pole.
Mr Evans said the team, who are all now firm friends, will be keeping in touch with one another for the rest of their lives.
He told the Mail it had been a privilege to be on a team with David and his daughter whose enthusiasm and determination served to inspire him.
The journey to the Pole was not without its perils and featured several ‘white outs’ - where the team could only navigate by the sun and GPS systems due to snow blizzards. On arriving at the pole, Mr Evans was greeted by crowds which included the Norwegian Prime Minister. Many were there to celebrate the centenary of the Scott and Amunsden expedition.
Mr Evans first contacted his father to tell him the news before ringing his wife Vicky who was at home in Harborough.
He said: “It was a relatively tough expedition but I often thought of Hambo [former Leicester Tigers player Matt Hampson who has been left quadraplegic after a training ground scum collapsed] who is an inspiration to me.
“Hambo left me a voicemail via email wishing me luck which was brilliant. Only around 150 people have ever marched to both the North and South Pole so I felt elated but also very privileged to be part of that group of explorers.”
The team was given a tour of the research station at the South Pole which included a basketball pitch for the scientists to use.
Mr Evans said the level of support he received was incredible and even as we sat discussing his trip he continued to receive donations. One of them was for £500.
The money raised by Mr Evans is going towards The Matt Hampson Foundation, The Priory, Myeloma UK, Land Aid, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.
Although Mr Evans made it to the finish, their trip was not without incident. One woman who was on the team had to be airlifted by plane after suffering from severe frostbite to her face and altitude sickness.
The South Pole is 11,000 feet above sea level and although many of the team were taking altitude sickness drugs and even Viagra, which apparently helps, Mr Evans was not one of them.
While on the ice, he was determined the team should follow the rules of expeditions to leave ‘nothing but footprints’. He dragged along not only his own supplies and some of his team’s but also all of the rubbish which could not be left on the ice.
After spending a few hours at the South Pole, the team flew to Chile before returning to their respective homes all around the world.
Now Mr Evans is set for his next challenge - to climb Everest - which is considered by some to be the ‘third Pole’ due to the difficulties involved in mounting the expedition.
If all goes to plan, he will have completed the triple by May but you get the feeling that even after this it will be a long time until this man rests.
He returned back to the UK three days after completing his ambitious goal and after 111 miles, 17 days on the ice and five plane journeys to get home, he was by his own admission utterly shattered.
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Monday 21 May 2012
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