AN ADVENTURER from Basingstoke has completed an epic unsupported 400-mile ski across Greenland, raising thousands of pounds.

James Ketchell carried out the mammoth mission, skiing from the from Kangerlussuaq in the west to Isortoq in the east in an effort to raise money for his chosen charity Kindled Spirit.

James and his fellow explorers reached the helicopter extraction point, called The Grill Hut, on Thursday last week (June 2) after a 21-hour final push, but it was not straight-forward. Due to the bad weather the team had to wait nearly 48 hours for the helicopter to pick them up and airlift them to Iceland – and by this point they had run out of food.

The challenges came early on in the mission, with the team dropping from five to four members in the first two days after losing expedition leader, the renowned polar explorer Mikael Strandberg who suffered a severe concussion and had to be airlifted to hospital.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Throughout the gruelling adventure, temperatures were regularly minus 20-25, with high winds and bad visibility, which left James with frostbite on three fingers.

But, despite the tests, there were also glimmers of joy. Throughout the expedition James made phone calls to schools across the 30-day challenge and spoke to more than 6,000 children.

The expedition was also followed by pupils across the world including those in lockdown in Shanghai, China, who tracked James’s progress and listened to his updates every day.

A spokesperson from Wellington College in Shanghai said: “We have followed him avidly and it has made a massive difference to us and good to have something to distract us from the lockdown.”

Basingstoke Gazette:

The challenge has so far raised more than £6,000 for Kindled Spirit, which empowers vulnerable young women through education and training.

Post on his Facebook page on June 6, James said: “Yesterday I arrived home after an incredible, 30 days skiing across Greenland, it was a tough trip for many reasons, but it was also very rewarding to complete.

“I was fortunate to have a wonderful team of people to share the experience with which certainly made the trip for me. It was however incredibly unfortunate to lose our main man, Mikeal Stranberg in the first day due to a fall on ice and subsequently suffering with concussion, but the main thing is, he is now fine and Greenland is not going anywhere! Mikael Matterson took over as our number one man, leading from the front and did an incredible job. I was also undertaking the trip with my friend Peter Wilson and couldn’t have asked for a better tent buddy.”

He added: "The expedition was much harder than I expected but very rewarding. What really kept me going was speaking to schools every day on the satellite phone and hearing all the childrens questions and being able to bring that environment to life for them.”

James has thanked everyone who made a donation to the charity and the fundraising page remains open for anyone who would like to donate: justgiving.com/campaign/greenland-challenge.

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