As the SPEAR17 team inch their way across the Antarctic continent, they continue to raise vital funds for our Charity.

Now on day 20, the team is hitting incredible mileage of more than 16 nautical miles per day as they attempt a 1,100 mile journey across the driest, coldest and most inhospitable conditions on the planet.

Temperatures are expected to drop to -50, everything they need must be hauled behind them in specialist sledges called pulks, and the schedule is punishing.

The SPEAR17 Team
The SPEAR17 team from left to right: Alex Brazier, Chris Brooke, Lou Rudd (Team Leader), Ollie Stoten, with Jamie Facer-Childs and Alun George at the front. Photograph by John Robertson.

Five Reservists from 1ISR Brigade were selected for the attempt after two years of preparation, training and planning. Expedition leader WO1 Lou Rudd – speaking from Antarctica – said: “The team are working incredibly hard and pushing out ever-greater daily mileages. The conditions have varied from horrendous to a balmy -15 degrees, but morale is high and we’re ticking off the daily distances.”

Aiming to raise £100,000 for soldiers, veterans and their families, please help support their efforts.

To describe their attempt as “epic” – a word used all-too-often – is really no exaggeration.

The daily blogs from the team can be found here www.spear17.org. To make a donation, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/spear17.

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