Tackling Antarctica - British trio race to the South Pole

By Cassandra Jardine and Caroline Gammell

Team QinetiQ: Ben Fogle, James Cracknell and Ed Coats

But next week, three foolhardy Britons will line up alongside some of the toughest polar skiers in the world in a race to reach the South Pole.

Double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, television presenter Ben Fogle and newcomer, doctor Ed Coats, will set off on January 1 to try and beat five other teams to the winning post.

They will be pitted against hazards such as snow-blindness, blisters, mile-deep crevasses and frostbite as they trudge up to 20 miles a day in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius.

Pulling 70kg sleds or pulks, they will have to cover the 430 nautical miles on ski and foot, as dogs are forbidden in Antarctica, a place described by those who have been there as a "continent of pain".

At the pole, where the altitude is 9,500 feet but feels 2,000 feet higher, dust hurts the eyes and frozen sinuses cause perpetual headaches.

When equipment fails, frozen fingers make it hard to carry out repairs.

The British trio, with little skiing experience before they started training 18 months ago, will try to avenge the defeat of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who was beaten to the South Pole by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1911.

Named in the victor's honour, the Amundsen Omega3 South Pole race is expected to last a month and will see each competitor burn up to 10,000 calories a day, losing an average of three stone overall.

To reach the start line, Fogle had to overcome leishmaniasis, a flesh-eating bug which involved a month of debilitating chemotherapy and left him bed-ridden.

He said he had consulted his wife Marina before agreeing to go: "When doctors gave me the all-clear, I asked her permission to join the race.

"She gave it without hesitation saying she knew that the thought of going to the pole had got me through the treatment."

Although the temperature at the British Antarctic Station has risen three degrees in the last 50 years and the glaciers are melting, the central plateau remains as cold as ever.

Summer temperatures of 20-30C are reduced by another 20C by the windchill factor, while winds of 200mph have been recorded.

Cracknell, 36, Fogle, 35, and Coats, 28, are being sponsored by QinetiQ - a leading international defence and security technology company - and The Daily Telegraph.

Cracknell, the most outwardly competitive and whose wife Beverley is expecting their second child, has defended the race against environmentalists.

"For me, so long as we don't destroy the planet, what we are doing is OK," he said.

"In 2041, if oil exploration is allowed, the Antarctic may change beyond all recognition. Before then, people need to see it in order to understand the place.

"They won't if only explorers go there. Through following this race and seeing how three idiots cope, they will get a much better idea of what it's like."

Fitted with tracking devices, the team's progress will be updated every half an hour on The Daily Telegraph website.

The race organisers claim the task will be 90 per cent psychological as competitors battle the extreme conditions.

Nearly a century ago, Amundsen and his team made it to the pole and back safely; Scott's team famously did not.

Dr Edward Wilson, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, and Scott were found dead in their tent, 11 miles from their depot.

In the first race to the South Pole since then, it is not an adventure undertaken lightly.

Follow exclusive coverage of Team QinetiQ at telegraph.co.uk/southpole

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Pictured: The dramatic moment surfer cheats death after being trapped between pier and 30ft wave

By Daily Mail Reporter

This is the dramatic moment a daredevil surfer cheated death after becoming trapped in between a stone pier - and a freak 30ft wave.

Terrified Jacob Cockle, 23, almost drowned when the monster wave emerged from nowhere and charged towards him at at a speed of over 40mph.

Frantic Jacob struggled desperately to paddle to safety, but was caught in powerful currents that prevented his escape.

A giant wave nearly smashes surfer Jacob Cockle (circled) into the sea wall at Newlyn, Cornwall

Clinging helplessly to his board, the student was tossed into the air 'like a rag doll' when the wave - with an estimated mass of seven tonnes - broke over him.

He was flung into the surf and spent 'ages' underwater before finally managing to overcome the currents and paddle back to shore.

Mr Cockle was tossed into the air 'like a rag doll' when the wave - with an estimated mass of seven tonnes - broke over him

Miraculously, Jacob survived the terrifying incident earlier this month at Newlyn, near Penzance in Cornwall, unscathed.

But speaking yesterday from his home in Penzance, Cornwall, Jacob said: 'I couldn't believe it.

'I was stuck by the pier and I saw this huge wave rear up right in front of me. It was just massive and there was no escape.

Terrified: Jacob Cockle

'I thought that was it, that I was in way over my head.

'The wave was so powerful that I was underwater for ages but eventually I managed to swim in to the beach.'

Jacob, a photography student who has been surfing since childhood, added: 'I've been surfing almost all my life but I never thought I'd get into a situation like that.

'It was terrifying. It's a real reminder of how nature can throw up a surprise now and again.'

Older brother Joe, 30, was taking pictures from the beach when he saw the giant wave approaching the pier.

Joe, also a photography student at nearby Truro College, said he watched helplessly as his brother was thrown by the surf.

He said: 'There were some really big waves so Jacob wanted me to take some photos of him surfing.

'All of a sudden this massive wave comes through and my brother was in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.

'I saw the wave land right on him so I dropped my camera and ran to the water to see if he was ok.

'It's just so lucky that he got out unharmed.'

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Father and son set off for South Pole

Father and son Kevin (left) and Matt Gaskill, who are teaming up to in the youngest ever record attempt trip to the South Pole Photo: PA

The expedition, should it succeed, will see gap year student Matt Gaskell, 18, become the youngest person to complete the treacherous journey to the coldest place on earth.

The teenager, who has applied for a place to read Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, will set out with his father, Kevin, 50, to cross the Antarctic, fighting some of the world's most extreme weather conditions.

Facing temperatures as low as - 50C and battling winds in excess of 50km/ph, the pair hope to cover 300km to reach their destination.

In another first, supporters will be able to follow them via live updates to their blog, made by using a satellite phone.

The pair, from Newbury, Berkshire, have given themselves a month to cross the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, either on foot or on skis.

They will climb to 10,000ft, pulling sledges weighing more than 135lb (61kg).

But both remain confident they can - and will - achieve what has eluded so many before them.

Speaking ahead of their departure, Mr Gaskell said: "Like all of these things, it's taken a lot of preparation, a year to train and suddenly it's happening.

"I'm feeling apprehensive but very excited. The temperatures are going to be around -50C and anyone would be foolish to go into that sort of environment without any concerns.

"I am taking my son into it, so naturally I'm apprehensive, like any father would be."

But Mr Gaskell, whose previous challenges include climbing Everest and trekking to the North Pole, said he had total confidence in the straight-A student.

"Matt is a big guy, he's very focused and he understands exactly what he's letting himself in for," he said.

"He knows full well that where we are going is mortally dangerous. He jokes that he'll be looking after me and in many ways he probably will."

But he added: "He hasn't got an ounce of fat on him so I don't know what he will look like when he gets back."

The two have been training for a year, walking for 15 miles pulling car tyres behind them, near their home in Berkshire.

But Mr Gaskell said the training had paid dividends and they are ready for the exertion ahead of them, despite a couple of equipment setbacks over the past month.

Father and son will have to contend with four weeks of sleeping on hard ice, eating freeze-dried meals and drinking melted snow.

They will have to build a snow wall every time they pitch their tent and will burn on average 10,000 calories per day.

Mr Gaskell said: "No matter how much you train, there's no preparation for the real thing.

"The climate is so harsh and unyielding that you must prepare for the worst but only take what you absolutely have to.

"But I know what I am going to face down there, so in that respect you are prepared for it.

"The greatest risks are the crevasses but there are precautions you take to avoid them. I am not going to die of exposure, not with the equipment I've got."

During the trek, they will only be able to communicate with loved ones using SpinVox, a voice-to-text service with which they will be able to update the online blog.

Speaking into a satellite phone, they can inform family and friends of their progress.

Mr Gaskell, chairman of Achilles Group Limited, a multinational provider of procurement audit services, is raising funds for the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre.

He is making the expedition in memory of his younger sister Jayne, who died from leukaemia in 2004, and aims to raise £40,000.

On Boxing Day the pair depart from the Patriot Hills base on Antarctica.

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