Amateur explorer Alan Lock, 31, battled howling winds, snow
white-outs, temperatures as low as minus 35C (minus 31F), and a diet consisting of dehydrated food packs and chunks of butter to complete the nearly 600-mile trek from the coast of Antarctica to the Pole on January 3 after 39 days.
My decision to go came after years of being the outcast of endless discussions he had with fellow ski addicts about moguls and
white-outs, piste runs, village heights and snow reports before they went on their annual jaunt.
Throughout his solo expedition, Richard faced the brutal Antarctic elements of
white-outs, windchill and snow drifts called "sastrugi" and had to pull all his supplies in a small toboggan, which weighed about 68.2kg (10st 7).
"There were periods where the weather was just appalling - when the wind and
white-outs were very hard to deal with.
"Occasional
white-outs caused by our lunar system but on the whole, nice and warm," Tate forecast -
white-outs being sudden avalanches of Tippex.
"We had some
white-outs where we were walking through a storm and the light was really flat and you couldn't tell what was the sky and what was the snow.
Sir Ranulf describes the conditions well: "Blizzards and
white-outs are common.
The pair reached their goal pulling sledges across the ice-cap after battling against ice pressure ridges, blizzards and
white-outs.
But treacherous conditions, including frequent
white-outs, have added time to the trip.