Below Zero: Journey to The North Pole
Added on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Below Zero: Journey to The North Pole
Carole Nash Managing Director David Newman is getting closer to his charity expedition to the North Pole, with the aim of raising money for motorcycle charities BASIC and Riders for Health.
David will leave the UK this weekend to continue his training and acclimatise before finally beginning his trek to reach the top of the world later next week.
You can follow his adventure on his North Pole blog but here is his latest extract – the final blog before he leaves for his training base in Norway.
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So April is upon us and my departure for the Arctic is now just a few days away. My mood is a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Excitement because this is a once-in-lifetime opportunity to experience nature at its most challenging and extreme – and apprehension, well, for exactly the same reason!
We had our final pre-departure meeting which gave me the chance to get to know all five members of our team. Sharing the same tent, the same deprivations and the same brutal climate we’ll all know each other a whole lot better in a few weeks time. We also met with some similarly adventurous Brits who are taking on different challenges at the same time as us. One group is looking to climb Newtontoppen, a 5,620 foot mountain on Spitsbergen’s north eastern tip. It’s the largest and highest mountain on the Svalbard islands and no small climbing challenge. The third group is doing a short trek on Spitsbergen.
In terms of practical preparations I’m nearly there with my last remaining bits of kit due to arrive today. Now is not the time to get one of those cards saying “We called but you were out”! Physically I’m as prepared as I’m ever likely to be having trained long and hard and harder still for this attempt. After all it’s not as if I’m likely to enjoy a second chance to take on such an immense personal challenge. Mentally – well all I can say is I’m up for it.
To get me in the mood and for some final words of support from friends we toasted to the success of the expedition at the belowzero ice bar in London. Pardon the feeble pun but this a really cool place where everything from the chair you sit on to the glass you drink from is made of ice. Mind you at a mere minus 5oC it will seem positively toasty compared to the truly icy extremes of the Arctic!
A final task before I set off is to check on how fast the sponsorship monies are flowing. I must mention in despatches David McMillan at Aviva, Carl O’Sullivan of Arthur Cox Solicitors and AXA Assistance’s Jesus Carmona for their kind corporate pledges. Thanks too to Charley Boorman who gave the expedition a plug via Twitter and his Facebook page. No mean explorer himself Charley is a big supporter of Riders for Health and a good friend of Carole Nash and his support has really helped raise profile with the biking community.
You can read messages from friends, family and colleagues who have already supported this event on the two Justgiving pages I’ve set up for BASIC and Riders For Health. Of course don’t forget to click the “Donate Now” button whilst you’re at it! These are two great, great causes which are so deserving of your support, so please give as generously as you can. For many of you it will be on or around pay day so surely there’s no time like now to dig into your pocket?
That’s it for my UK despatches. My next update will be from deep inside the Arctic Circle where I’ll be acclimatising and training ready for this amazing adventure. I can’t wait!
Best wishes,
David.
Donate NOW
http://www.justgiving.com/DavidNewmanNorthPoleRiders
http://www.justgiving.com/DavidNewmanNorthPoleBASIC
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http://www.facebook.com/charitynorthpole
http://twitter.com/cn_northpole
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