Elliott Baxter’s Race to the South Pole
Arjowiggins Graphic, a leading manufacturer of innovative environmental paper solutions, has sponsored Elliott Baxter’s Matt Elliott on one of the world’s most difficult challenges: crossing the Antarctic.
The Centenary Race to the South Pole is a celebration of the race between Sir Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. This was only the fourth time that the race has taken place, with the second time popularised in the BBC documentary series “On Thin Ice”, which saw Ben Fogel and James Cracknell take on the Antarctic.
The competition was organised by Extreme World Races and included 16 competitors from 6 nations. Team EBB was comprised of Matt, 30 from Windsor and Yoyo Schepers-Menten, a 49-year-old Dutch national.
Matt trained for almost two years for this challenge and is a keen marathon runner. Despite an interest in trekking and hiking he is a complete polar novice so this challenge tested his mental resolve to the limit. Matt also celebrated his 30th birthday on the 21st January whilst on the expedition!
During their time in the South Pole the competitors faced snow bridges, multiple crevasses, winds of 80 mph and temperatures of -45°C. On these extreme weather conditions, Matt explains:
“Antarctica is the world’s highest and driest desert and the conditions can change from sublime sunshine to a horrendous whiteout in minutes. One thing I can be sure of is that I do not want to be in -45°C again as, in temperatures as low as those, the cold is physically painful.”
David Cook, MD of Arjowiggins Graphic comments:
“Our initial reaction when we were approached by Matt was almost one of disbelief. I am a keen runner but I’ve never thought about testing myself this much before. However, his desire and drive were obvious, and we knew that helping him to achieve this goal would be a great thing to do. Both of the charities that they supported are great causes and we were happy to help them to raise as much money as possible for this amazing feat of human resilience.”
The race was filmed by Urban Brew Studios for a documentary called “Cold Sweat” which will be broadcast later this year on TV. The programme will give viewers the opportunity to experience the extraordinary achievements of the participants and to share in the emotions of their journey.
Team EBBS are raising money for The Royal British Legion and The Alzheimers Society. They hope to raise £15,000.