'Disabled explorer' begins South Pole solo ski

A former GB para-athlete has set off to become the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole.

Jonny Huntington, 38, from Kingsbridge, south Devon, suffered a stroke while serving as an officer in the British Army in 2014 - it left him completely paralysed from the neck down on his left side.

After a decade of rehabilitation and training he begun his challenge of skiing 566 miles (911km) of Antarctic tundra on Monday - an expedition he said would take 40 days.

Mr Huntington said the attempt would be "quite exciting" as "no one with a disability has done this before".

Mr Huntington experienced left-sided paralysis following his stroke and has a significant lack of strength, mobility and control down that side.

During his recovery, he became a member of the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team and competed for the GB Para Nordic ski team from 2017 to 2020 at World Cups in Ukraine and Finland,

The idea for his South Pole expedition was planted after he stopped skiing competitively.

He said: "I'll be doing it completely on my own with no sort of help, no resupply, nothing like that.

"Existing somewhere which is fundamentally hostile to life, it's the ultimate test."

Mr Huntington is dragging all his equipment and food in a sled, weighing about 110kg (242lbs).

To prepare, he also undertook a 20-day solo expedition in northern Sweden in April.

Mr Huntington has flown into Union Glacier to "spend a few days on the ice" for final preparations, before setting off from Fuchs-Messner on the edge of the Antarctic landmass on 21 November.

He said he was confident he had done the right level of preparation to complete the attempt.

"I've done everything I can to make it succeed, but I've never been to Antarctica before, it famously has quite strict conditions down there.

"There aren't disabled explorers, it's not a job, but I'll just have to figure out how we can make this work."

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