DAY 5 - S80 23' 32.28", W80 32' 56.40"

Day 5

S80 23' 32.28", W80 32' 56.40"

///depleting.analytical.antenna

Progress is starting to pick up, and the wind has dropped. Martin has a tricky time with the sastrgui and has one spectacular fall. Fortunately no injuries, and the team is in good spirits.

“Hi good evening everyone, it’s Lou reporting in from day 5 now of the Adaptive Antarctica expedition.

Slightly better day for us today. Still pretty windy; you can probably hear it battering the tent again. But it’s eased off to around 20 knots, which has definitely made life a bit easier for us. And we’ve definitely made some better progress. We’ve passed through a significant waypoint today, called Three Sails, which is actually three nunataks, which are mountain peaks which poke through the Antarctic ice sheet. We made it to those, and then we had a change of direction, which actually meant the wind wasn’t quite so head-on, it was more of a sort of side wind. But then it also meant that we were cross-graining over sastrugi; the sastrugi is these rock-hard ridges of ice, that we’re skiing over. It can be a bit challenging, and cause a few falls. And that was definitely a bit trickier going over those. And Martin had a pretty spectacular fall today. Straight over onto his back. I definitely provided a bit of comedy, and had to go over there and get his skis off and get him back up again. He was cursing for a while, and then eventually saw the funny side.

We’ve made good progress; 11.4 nautical miles, which is new personal best for us, so we’re really pleased with that, and we’re on our way to our next waypoint, which is around 17 nautical miles. So hopefully a couple of days and we’ll hit the next waypoint as well.

Martin’s still finding bits of this expedition challenging; eating and drinking are definitely a bit of a problem for him. There’s been quite a bit of dry-retching going on at the breaks, but I think again it’s just getting used to the rigours of this routine and he’ll settle into it and things will get easier.

But we’re doing well, despite the challenges that Martin has with his arm. We’re adapting all the routines and we’re working out systems to make things more efficient. So really enjoying working together on all the challenges that this expedition is throwing at us. We’ve got a long way to go but we’re really starting to ramp things up now.

Looking forward to the weeks ahead.

Martin will be updating you tomorrow night.

Onwards!”

— Louis Rudd

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DAY 4 - S80 13' 45.12", W80 36' 27.36"

Day 4

S80 13' 45.12", W80 36' 27.36"

///situate.cisterns.bedstead

Challenging conditions continue. The team are now within sight of the Three Sails mountains. A good indication that most of the climb from Hercules Inlet is behind them. Martin is feeling frustrated, although better weather is forecast.

“Hi everyone it’s Martin here.

We’re now at camp 4. We’ve done 8.8 nautical miles today, so slowly building up the distance. The morning started really challenging – there was a hell of a lot of wind last night, so it was hard to get any sleep, and it was still really quite windy when we set off this morning. Again, another head wind, so driving into that; the pulks are still very heavy obviously at the beginning of the expedition, so that was really hard work.

Then the visibility wasn’t great, there was a lot of spindrift, and my googles steamed up fairly quickly early on unfortunately, so I was skiing by feel, and that proved to be physically quite demanding. We’ve now got a mountain range to our right-hand side as we ski at the minute. And it’s beautiful to look at. Unfortunately that beauty is often taken away by the harshness of everything else. The wind, the terrain, it’s hard yards at the minute. I’m finding my arm quite a hinderance. Trying to do anything in this environment with one arm is a lot more challenging than I thought it was going to be. Everything is so slow. The wind speed – it’s about 35 knots – and even just trying to get into your pulk to undo a zip, to get a jacket on; any basic tasks in this wind, with one hand, just become really challenging. And then of course there’s the skiing; putting all of the load through the left arm is making me quite tired quite quickly. So the balance work is proving to be hard.

I was sick today, which was a real nice treat. Not because I’m ill, just because of the exertion I think; just trying to balance everything with one arm is quite hard over the sastrugi. So yes, fun and games, puking up. What a treat. [second message added later, so not in first audio].

But, despite that, we’re getting further each day. I’m having to rely on support from Lou, a lot more than I thought I would, which is frustrating. He’s doing the vast majority of the work in the tent. I’m trying to help out with the cooking tonight, which I started doing but then he took over. It’s just – you can’t afford to mess around here. The environment is what it is, and you’re at risk of getting an injury pretty quickly, if you’re not efficient. So it’s just faster for him to get my jacket on for me when we do our stops, and zip it up, than it is for me to mess around and do it.

So it’s frustrating, but that’s just the way it is. We have to work together.

Hopefully the weather forecast is improving, so we should get a bit of lighter wind tomorrow, and that might help with progress. We’re ready for bed, and hopefully we’ll get some sleep tonight, unlike the previous three nights because of the wind.

I hope all’s well back there. All the best.”

— Martin Hewitt

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DAY 3 - S80 6' 25.92", W80 28' 0.84"

Day 3

S80 6' 25.92", W80 28' 0.84"

///incompletes.ridiculous.hinders

Another tough day for the team, as very high winds keep them tent-bound for most of the day. A hard-won four nautical miles closer to their goal.

“Hi everyone, it’s Lou reporting in on Day 3 of the Adaptive Antarctica expedition, 19th November.

So, we had some really strong winds overnight, just battering the tent, all night long. It was really hard to get any sleep with the noise, it was kind of like being inside the old proverbial jet engine.

We looked out in the morning; the pulks were completely buried. A huge amount of spin drift all around the sides of the tent. And the wind was still howling. So we made the sensible decision to delay our start today and just see if the winds would ease off at all. And so we stayed in the tent till around midday. We sensed a slight lull, so we packed up and we got moving by 2 o’clock, but really it was still pretty strong. It was round about 35-40mph
and headwind straight onto us. Which drove the temperature down well into the minus 20s. And just made progress really battling forward. We were going uphill, with very heavy pulks (the sledges we’re dragging behind us) and with a strong headwind, and we were barely making any progress. It was really tough going. But we stayed out there for hours, and managed to creep forward 4 nautical miles, which isn’t
brilliant, but at least we actually made some sort of progress. But a really tough day with the temperatures, the headwind and the climbing. Certainly towards the end of the day, it seemed to level out a bit.

The wind is still howling, you can probably hear it now while I’m inside the tent. And it’s forecast to get worse tomorrow, unfortunately! We’re looking at 40 knots tomorrow, which is going to be a real challenge. But then hopefully, the longer-term forecast is going to start to ease off. So we’re looking forward to that.

So we’ve just had our dinner, our freeze-dried meals, and we’re going to have some much- needed sleep, and then prepare to do battle once more tomorrow.

I hope you’re all enjoying following our very snail-like progress at the moment, but we’re hoping for better progress soon.

That’s all from Lou and Martin.

Goodnight.”

— Louis Rudd

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DAY 2 - S80 2' 34.08", W80 14' 35.16"

Day 2

S80 2' 34.08", W80 14' 35.16"

///shorn.seaward.transferability

Strong headwinds and steep gradients made for slow but steady progress today.

“Hello everyone, Martin here, at the end of the first full day. We’re now at camp 2….

Today started pretty good actually; we were on a bit of an incline last night, so we carried on with a fairly gentle incline, and then we hit a bit of a plateau and we started pushing across from there. But it was immediately obvious that we had a big wind – the wind reached about 40knots and during the day it was coming from our left as we were walking - we’re heading towards waypoint two – to avoid crevasse fields – so the direction of the waypoint changes. So we hit the next waypoint and we basically turned straight into the headwind and the incline increased and it got hard. Very hard. I think the combination of high wind, the weight of the pulks at the minute obviously at the beginning of the expedition, and the gradient, I was sweating. I was trying to go at a pace when I wasn’t sweating but I just can’t do it – you’re just putting so much effort into making this thing shift on an incline. (The pulk is ‘this thing’).

So slow progress, but we wanted the first week to gradually increase our distances each day, and I’m not looking to go at full pace and full distance to begin with. That’s the advice we’ve been given from everyone, including Lou, so we’re going to just keep on slowly increasing each day. But as we got towards the top of this feature, we starting experiencing blue ice, and that was quite tricky. We couldn’t get traction, even with the full-length skins.

We kept on slipping and sliding, so we ended up having to do a detour round this area of exposed blue ice. And then we got back into it again. But then gradient picked up again, and I slipped over a few times so we decided to take our skis off and walk to get a bit more traction. We got to the top of plateau and then it kind of flattened out but by that point I was quite tired. So when we got to the change over, I said to Lou ‘can we just call it a day there for today.’
I don’t want to go too hard too early. And I’m actually quite tired now. It was hard effort for me that was – that headwind making a huge difference.
And then to top it all off, I’ve got a harness system with a few smaller pieces of rope attached to the side, and some bigger pieces of rope attached to the pulk itself. And then
there’s a bungee cord. That basically stops it jarring on your back. Well that bungee cord unfortunately is fraying and those two small pieces of rope have snapped. I’m not sure if it’s
kit failure. So we’re going to bring it in in a minute and see what we can do to repair it and if we can’t, I’ll have to just stick with the rope which isn’t great it’s going to put a lot of pressure on my back along the journey but such is life.

So far so good, some nice food. And that’s it. Hope all’s good.”

— Martin Hewitt

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DAY 1 - S79 59' 26.88", W79 54' 59.40"

Day 1

S79 59' 26.88", W79 54' 59.40"

///legitimately.cataclysm.freelanced

The team have arrived at the start point and got a few hours of skiing in on day one. Strong winds and spindrift but the team are safely in the tent.

“Hi everyone, this is Louis and Martin calling in from day one of the Adaptive Antarctica expedition.

An awesome day; we finally got the nod that the weather was clearing up to fly us, just after lunch today from Union Glacier out to our start point, just off the edge of the continent, to a
point known as Hercules Inlet. It’s a short 20 minute flight. We landed in fairly strong winds, when we were unloading. Once we were all sorted, we said our farewells to the air crew,
and sat and watched the plane fly off. And that was it. We’re realised then it’s all down to us. It’s just the two of us working as a team now, over the next few weeks to make our way to
the South Pole.

We set off and did a short day. By the time we got everything sorted it was
quite late in the afternoon, around about half past four, so we just skied three hours, and covered 4.2 nautical miles. It’s quite a steep incline, in from the Ronne Ice Shelf and up onto the continent itself. It’s fairly strong headwind as well. We did a couple of legs each, and then we’ve just managed to pitch the tent. We’re working out our tent routine, now we’re
working together and the most efficient way of doing all the various jobs we need to do.

We’re settled in for the night, we’re been melting snow, to make all our food, doing our communications checks, and hopefully fairly soon we’ll grab some sleep and then we’re
going to prepare for our first full day tomorrow. We’re hoping to do five or six hours and slowly work our way into the routine. We’re both super-excited to have officially started the expedition.

We look forward to speaking to you all again soon. That’s all from Louis and Martin.

Goodnight!”

— Louis Rudd

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ARRIVAL AT UNION GLACIER

Union Glacier Camp: the only facility of its kind in Antarctica.

S79 45' 37.44", W82 51' 34.20"

///deigned.masterwork.suppository

The weather window held for the team and they are now in Union Glacier, a seasonal logistics base, where they will do final checks and collect fuel before heading for the start line in a few days.

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THE WAIT

“Kit is all packed and ready to go but the weather is not playing ball in Antarctica. Waiting for a weather window. Keeping ourselves active with some mountain biking. Local hire ship even managed to adapt the brakes to put them both on the left hand side.” - Martin

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THE FINAL PREPARATIONS

When self supported = self reliant, being prepared for any eventuality is absolute key to a successful expedition. ‌‌Check out the photos and blogs to hear more about the pair’s preparations and how they are going to keep themselves fit and healthy during their 45 day world first challenge. ‌‌‌

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ARRIVAL IN PUNTA ARENAS

Punta Arenas: gateway to the Antarctic

After a four hour flight from Santiago – travelling almost the length of Chile and over vast swathes of the Andes – arriving in Punta Arenas is something of a relief. Santiago is chaos and noise, but when you step off the plane into tiny Punta airport, it is quiet and empty. A few taxi drivers wait by arrivals to take you the 15 minutes to the centre of town.

Along the way, low wooden houses dot the sides of the road on one side, with the ocean on the other. Eventually this give way to more port and naval areas along the coast. Punta itself is an old colonial outpost, and it still has that feeling today. Ornate turn-of-the- century buildings sit side-by-side with more modern ones, with the centre of town laid out in an orderly grid system.

The history of Chile is mixed but now Punta feels like a gentle place, with faded charm. The Chileans are some of the warmest people in the world, and can’t do enough to help the hapless English visitor who knows no Spanish, but most Punta residents find it hard to understand why you’d travel half way round the world to go there.

And you probably wouldn’t, without Antarctica. The town has long been associated with voyages to high latitudes, and Darwin visited here aboard The Beagle in the 1830s. Journeys to Antarctica, and exploration of the interior of the continent in the late 1800s and early 1900s, often started in Punta. Shackleton and Amundsen came here to add the last remaining supplies for their journeys South.

And so it remains today. Most expeditions to Antarctica begin here. The main logistics company responsible for getting expeditioners in and out of the continent – Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions – has its own, more modern, outpost here. You can still visit the British School, where Shackleton signed the ledger, or the house where he accidentally shot a hole in the wall (it’s now a newspaper office), or the old British Club off the main square, now the Bank of Chile.

The time in Punta is usually spent prepping food and buying last-minute supplies, or running along the endless beach. It’s a special place, not only for its historical connections, but also for that sense of adventure that hangs in the air; the sea borders one side of the town, and just another four hours south from there, lies Antarctica.

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BBC North West Interview

THE KIT

To accomplish the gruelling challenge and withstand one of the coldest climates on earth, the team will be trekking using Shackleton’s Expedition Pulk Suit, specifically designed to protect them from the elements where temperatures can routinely reach -40°.

Communications equipment

The communications equipment is a vital part of both the progress and the safety of the expedition. GPS waypoints provide the route and the compass bearings for the team to travel on throughout the expedition. There is no mobile phone coverage or 3G, so satellite phones provide communications to check in with the support team, and as a safety measure in case of any issues. As Antarctica has 24-hour daylight during the expedition season, solar panels power all the comms kit.

Skis

Most things developed for polar expeditions are highly-specialised, designed for the extreme temperatures, and to withstand daily use for many weeks at a time. Most people use expedition grade skis; narrow with metal edges and quite different to downhill skis. The boots are soft – more like hiking boots - with a toe-bar to attach to the skis, leaving the heel free to lift. Expeditioners tend to favour Norwegian ski brands, with skis becoming lighters every year.

Tent

Another highly-specialised item. It is designed to withstand high winds in particular; katabatic winds race from the Pole and can be over 100mph in winter. The tent is a canvas construction with a small porch area at each end. Additional canvas surrounds the base of the tent, so that snow can be piles on top to secure the tent from the winds. Inside the tent, when the sun is not obstructed by cloud, it can feel quite warm. On cloudy days, temperatures are usually well below freezing inside.

Pee bottle

Something most people wonder about is how you go to the loo in Antarctica. Of course there are absolutely no facilities on expedition. If you need to pee, then you just go wherever you are (you don’t even take your skis off). If you need to poop, then you dig a hole and go as fast as possible. A slightly chilly – but hygienic – option is to use snow to wipe. Ideally you can go first thing in the morning, before you have all your layers on! In the tent at night, you do not want to be going outside if you can avoid it, so a pee bottle is an essential part of the expedition kit!

Shovels

Essential bit of kit. Not the gardening kind, but a snow shovel which can dig out snow for melting, can dig the tent into the snow for security, or to dig a good poop pit. Usually made from lightweight metal.

Wag bags

As you get within 60 nautical miles to the South Pole, you need to poop in a bag, and carry it with you. This is because there are many science experiments conducted in this area, and it must be kept pristine. It’s a tricky thing to do, especially in the intense cold and often high winds close to the Pole. You must then bring it with you to the finish, where it will be collected and eventually removed from Antarctica. It sounds gross, but of course it’s deep frozen, so not too smelly.

Food choices

Food choices are a hugely personal – even secret – thing for polar travellers. People have their favourites, even treats made at home. Usually, main meals are freeze- dried food, which is rehydrated with melted snow. Snow melting can only be done when the tent is up – not normally recommended but essential in Antarctica. That means that during the day, calorie intake is via a snack bag. This can contain anything tempting – usually chocolate, nuts, dried fruit or cheese. It all must be prepared beforehand into tiny bite-sized pieces, as everything is deep-frozen, and biting bits off could mean broken teeth.

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THE TEAM

“Louis and I will work as a team. I can’t put up a tent efficiently with one arm, but I can melt snow for food. We’ve trained together for months, so we have our routines dialled. Louis wants to teach me how to operate and thrive in that environment.”

— Martin Hewitt

MARTIN HEWITT

ADAPTIVE GRAND SLAM

FOUNDER

Martin Hewitt served for eight years as a commissioned officer in the Parachute Regiment and was deployed on operations around the world. He worked on operations and training exercises in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. Whilst leading his men in combat in Afghanistan, Martin sustained life changing injuries resulting in the paralysis of his right arm and ending his military career. After his injury, Martin focussed on establishing the Adaptive Grand Slam (AGS), seeking to tackle the greatest challenges known to mankind. The AGS has so far seen Hewitt summit five of the seven tallest peaks on every continent and trek to the North Pole, to inspire others with life-long injuries and disabilities.

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LOUIS RUDD MBE

SHACKLETON
DIRECTOR OF EXPEDITIONS

Louis Rudd MBE is a record-breaking polar adventurer, former Royal Marine Commando and SAS soldier. He is the first and only person to have traversed Antarctica twice using human power alone and has reached the South Pole three times from different coastal starting points. Louis has covered more than 3000 polar miles on skis, with multiple extreme cold-weather tours in Northern Norway with the special forces. He has guided expeditions on a 1100-mile crossing of Antarctica and a 350-mile crossing of Greenland. He is also a military Arctic warfare instructor, a military ski instructor, a qualified army patrol medic, and a military snowmobile instructor, with additional training in crevasse and avalanche rescue. A member of the Explorers Club and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Louis has written of his journeys to date in his autobiography ‘Endurance’.

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WENDY SEARLE

SHACKLETON
EXPEDITION MANAGER

Wendy is a polar explorer with experience in Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica. In 2020, Wendy became only the seventh woman in history to complete a solo, unsupported journey from Hercules Inlet to the geographic South Pole. She has also completed a full traverse of Greenland and trained extensively in Finse. In addition to her own trips, Wendy has extensive experience in planning and managing other major expeditions – she was the expedition manager for Louis’ record-breaking Spirit of Endurance Expedition in 2018 and will be expedition manager for Adaptive Antarctica.

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THE SPONSORS

THANK YOU!

The Adaptive Antarctica team are so fortunate to have such fantastic supporters; we are so grateful for all our sponsors who have enabled not just this epic endeavour to become a reality, but also previous Adaptive Grand Slam expeditions and training events.

Onwards!

Olympian Homes was formed 26 years ago and has a history of mixed use development including speculative residential, retail, hotel, student accommodation and built to rent residential accommodation. It has developed successful partnerships with a number of blue chip partners including Marks and Spencer, Balfour Beatty, Travelodge, Brookfield and now the Goldman Sachs and Welcome Trust owned IQ Students.

“The Adaptive Grand Slam Foundation, founded and inspired by Martin Hewitt is providing a road to physical and mental recovery for numerous ex military and non military alike through the vehicle of extreme training and challenges and we are very proud to support it and help ‘put back’. I met Martin on an Everest expedition in 2012 and was astounded by his unbounded positive outlook, his energy, stoicism and drive to better both his own circumstances and those of others. The AGS Foundation has the potential to change a great many more lives for the good. By participation, donation or support with your time, be a part of this journey.” - Mark Slatter, Founder and Chairman of Olympian Homes and Trustee of the AGS Foundation.

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TSP Ventures is an Environmental technology Venture firm. We support environmental and climate tech start-ups and early- stage businesses with capital, connections, coaching and advice. Our core belief is that businesses must serve the long-term wellbeing of people and of the Earth and we strongly believe that having a noble purpose and making money should not be viewed as mutually exclusive.

“Our core belief is that businesses must serve the long-term wellbeing of people and of the Earth. We believe strongly that having a noble purpose and making money should not be viewed as mutually exclusive. When we back a company or entrepreneur, we believe that the advice we give must be the very best, the support we offer must come from the heart as well as the head and that helping early-stage businesses is a privilege as well as a responsibility. In the Summer, we sponsored The Adaptive Grand Slam for their Cumbria Challenge in the Lake District. It was an extremely humbling and eye-opening week. We learnt about what Martin Hewitt and the team are achieving by helping those adapting to, and recovering from, life-changing injury. Their stories are both moving and inspiring.” - Chris Smith, CEO TSP Ventures

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Round Hill Capital is a leading global specialist real estate investment, development and asset management firm. Since inception in 2002, Round Hill Capital has acquired and repositioned for long-term institutional ownership over 135,000 residential units and student housing beds. Round Hill Capital is a responsible landlord of assets offering housing to a range of occupants, from students through to senior citizens. Round Hill Capital has an established track record of positive returns and invests in and asset manages real estate on behalf of some of the world’s leading institutions and private investors.

“Round Hill Capital are proud to support this pioneering challenge, and Martin Hewitt inspires us all to think bigger.” Samantha Rush, Round Hill Capital

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PRESS RELEASE

WORLD FIRST: ADAPTIVE EXPLORER MARTIN HEWITT EMBARKS ON UNSUPPORTED TREK TO THE SOUTH POLE

Hewitt takes on the challenge to be the first person with a disability to summit the continents highest peak after walking unsupported, unassisted to the South Pole from the land edge of Antarctica.

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●    Hewitt aims to complete the 1,000KM polar trek in 45 days arriving at the South Pole ahead of the centenary of legendary polar explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s death

●      Hewitt and record-breaking polar explorer, Louis Rudd, (Director of Expeditions at Shackleton), will haul all the food and equipment needed for the mission in a 95kg pulk

●      Trekking to the South Pole marks the penultimate phase of the Adaptive Grand Slam : Hewitt’s mission to climb the highest peak on every continent and walk to both poles to inspire others to push their boundaries and achieve their potential

●      Hewitt sustained a life-changing injury during military service with the Parachute Regiment resulting in paralysis of his right arm

(November 2, 2021 – Oaxhaca, Chile): Martin Hewitt, founder of accessible exploring charity Adaptive Grand Slam and Louis Rudd, Director of Expeditions at Shackleton, have embarked on a world first polar mission which aims for Hewitt to become the first disabled person to reach the South Pole unsupported and unassisted from the edge of Antarctica.

Hewitt’s arrival at the South Pole will mark a significant step in the completion of the Adaptive Grand Slam (AGS), an adaptation of the infamous Explorers Grand Slam. The AGS has so far seen Hewitt and a team of disabled adventurers overcome adversity to summit the tallest peaks on every continent and trek to the Poles, to inspire others with life-long injuries and disabilities to achieve their own dreams. Throughout the series of challenges, Hewitt has been fundraising for the AGS foundation, which was established to select, train and develop disabled teams to empower them to tackle extreme expeditions and challenges, including Mount Everest, supported by professional expedition and challenge leaders.

In his Antarctica endeavour, Hewitt will be supported by British Expedition apparel and travel brand, Shackleton and will be guided by Louis Rudd, a record-breaking polar adventurer and Shackleton’s Director of Expeditions. Rudd is one of the most decorated polar explorers of the modern era and became the first Briton to traverse Antarctica solo, unsupported and unassisted in 2018.

Following months of meticulous nutrition planning, kit preparation, and extensive training designed to simulate Antarctica’s uniquely challenging conditions, Hewitt and Rudd will set off from Union Glacier with a goal of completing the 1,000KM trek in just 45 days.

As an unsupported and unassisted trek across a barren icy plateau, the pair will have to haul all the food and equipment needed for the polar mission on a specially-designed 95kg pulk. After reaching the Pole, Hewitt and Rudd will then attempt to climb Mount Vinson, at 4,829m the highest peak in Antarctica

To accomplish the gruelling challenge and withstand one of the coldest climates on earth, the team will be trekking using Shackleton’s Expedition Pulk Suit, specifically designed to protect them from the elements where temperatures can routinely reach -40°.

The Adaptive Antarctica Expedition is supported by Shackleton, Olympian Homes, Round Hill Capital, TSP Ventures and Blesma, the Limbless Veterans charity which Martin is a member of.The mission aims to raise funds for the AGS Foundation to enable other people with a registered disability to take part in their own extreme challenge supported by professional expedition leaders, in order to help members of the disabled community regain confidence, independence and meaningful occupation.

On his departure, Martin Hewitt said “After months of physical and mental preparation, I feel ready to take on this challenge and can’t wait to get a step closer to completing the Adaptive Grand Slam. I hope that by succeeding in this challenge, I can show people that you can achieve anything you set your mind to if you have support, drive and determination, and that a debilitating injury should never stand in your way. I’m really thankful to my sponsors: Shackleton, Olympian Homes, TSP Ventures and Round Hill Capital for their support so far and of course to my teammate Louis Rudd, for taking on this challenge by my side”.

Of the mission, Ian Holdcroft, co-founder of Shackleton said: “Martin Hewitt is a real force of nature. His grit and determination in the face of adversity and his desire to help others embodies everything our namesake, Sir Ernest Shackleton, stood for. We’re delighted to support his challenge with Shackleton Director of Expeditions Louis Rudd MBE as his guide and Shackleton extreme weather apparel for this record-breaking mission."

Mark Slatter, Founder and Chairman of Olympian Homes said “Having met Martin in 2012, in the Himalayas, amongst an elite group of injured ex servicemen attempting to summit Everest he stood out even then. None of the team were able to summit that year but there was no doubting that Martin would be back and he duly succeeded in 2019. 

As lead sponsors of both the 2019 AGS Everest Expedition, the 2017 Aconcagua Expedition and now the South Pole , Mt Vincent 2021 Expedition,  Martin embodies and personifies the success of having very clear objectives, detailed  planning, endeavour , determination and resilience in overcoming the adversity of losing the full use of his body and a career he loved, whilst becoming an inspiration, and supporting others, who have suffered in a similar way.

As an example of the culture values that we at Olympian Homes aspire to there can be no finer example than Martin Hewitt, and we all wish him a safe and ‘enjoyable’ expedition.”

Michael Bickford, Founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital said “We are delighted to support Martin and the AGS team in their latest extreme challenge, walking unsupported to the South Pole.  The Grand Slam is considered, amongst seasoned mountain climbers, the height of expedition achievement. The agility and innovation, the group will rely on to complete the challenge reflects everything we stand for at Round Hill Capital, Martin and his team inspire us to continue to break new ground and we wish them the very best of luck with the expedition.”

Chris Smith CEO TSP Ventures said “The Partners and staff at TSP Ventures have enjoyed sponsoring the Adaptive Grand Slam challenges where we see the substantial benefits that Martin and the AGS have on the lives of people suffering from injury. The Adaptive Grand Slam is a massive and inspiring undertaking and I know that it will inspire, not just those with life-changing injuries, but also those of us fortunate enough not to have gone through what he, and others like him, have gone through on our behalf.

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

Adaptive Grand Slam

The Adaptive Grand Slam group exists to train and enable disabled adventurers to take on some of the most extreme expeditions and testing challenges on the planet and inspire others with life-long injuries and disabilities to achieve their goals. If you'd like to support the AGS foundation, please follow this link https://www.justgiving.com/ags-foundation

Shackleton

Shackleton designs and develops performance apparel for people living and working in the world’s extremes. Driven by exploration and innovation, our company is built on the life and values of polar titan Sir Ernest Shackleton and exists to inspire, prepare and equip people for the challenge. We design in London and work with the highest quality manufacturers in the UK, Italy and around the world. Fur-free and RDS-compliant, we are committed to continual improvement of our sustainability standards.

Olympian Homes

Olympian Homes was formed 26 years ago and has a history of mixed use development including speculative residential, retail, hotel, student accommodation and built to rent residential accommodation. It has developed successful partnerships with a number of blue chip partners including Marks and Spencer, Balfour Beatty, Travelodge, Brookfield and now the Goldman Sachs and Welcome Trust owned IQ Students.

Round Hill Capital

About Round Hill Capital Round Hill Capital is a leading global specialist real estate investment, development and asset management firm.  Since inception in 2002, Round Hill Capital has acquired and repositioned for long-term institutional ownership over 135,000 residential units and student housing beds. Round Hill Capital is a responsible landlord of assets offering housing to a range of occupants, from students through to senior citizens. Round Hill Capital has an established track record of positive returns and invests in and asset manages real estate on behalf of some of the world’s leading institutions and private investors. Further information on Round Hill Capital is available at: www.roundhillcapital.com.

TSP Ventures

TSP Ventures is an Environmental technology Venture firm. We support environmental and climate tech start-ups and early- stage businesses with capital, connections, coaching and advice. Our core belief is that businesses must serve the long-term wellbeing of people and of the Earth and we strongly believe that having a noble purpose and making money should not be viewed as mutually exclusive.

For more information please contact All Conditions Media:

Lucy Hewson - Lucyh@allconditionsmedia.com

// FOLLOW THE CHALLENGE //

A live map will be available when the expedition starts, currently scheduled for the 14th November.

iNews article by Kasia Delgado

“I’m fortunate to be alive. I want to maximise living’ I’m very fortunate to be alive. I want to maximise living and I want to do something with my life Two ex-soldiers, one wounded, today begin a near-impossible 720-mile journey to the South Pole on skis.”

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// FOLLOW THE CHALLENGE //

A live map will be available when the expedition starts, currently scheduled for the 14th November.