Pole position

Jason de Carteret is one Chiswick resident who is guaranteed a white Christmas. But, as Neil McKelvie discovers, he won't be stopping to enjoy the view

Above: Jason De Carteret

If December is proving miserably bleak, spare a thought for Chiswick's Jason de Carteret. As you read this, Jason and Todd Carmichael will be on the southern polar ice cap, hauling sledges and battling 100mph winds and temperatures of -70 degrees C as they attempt to break the world record for the fastest unsupported trek from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. In a remarkable feat of mental and physical endurance, the duo will be skiing up to 14 hours continuously with the aim of covering 1200kms in 40 days (five less than the current record) across one of the most inhospitable places on earth.

Sitting with Jason in a cosy café on Chiswick High Road, I confess that I'm struggling to get to grips with the concept of -70 degrees C, let alone how anyone can function in such a harsh environment. He smiles: 'Well, to give you an idea, if you throw boiling water up as high as possible in a temperature of -50 degrees C, it won't come down. The water will crystallise in mid-air. And to get our stoves working, we'll literally have to set them on fire with petrol.' So much for the elements, what about the terrain? 'Most people imagine the Antarctic as a frozen wooden floor, but believe me it isn't! If you were to freeze the Thames at its choppiest, so every foot there's a big ripple, that's the best the ground will ever be. We'll also have to get through sustrugi (sand dune-like features carved from snow by the wind); on a previous journey we used vehicles over 12ft tall and the sustrugi towered over them. Oh, and of course there's the danger of falling into crevasses.'

Jason is an experienced polar guide - he has the frostbite scars and what he cheerfully describes as 'toes that aren't quite normal' to prove it - and he already holds the record for the fastest motorised journey to the South Pole (69.5 hours of non-stop driving). Clearly he's a man who relishes a challenge: but why this particular one? 'I've known and travelled with Todd for many years and he's always had this idea about skiing to the South Pole. I've said, "yes, but it's a lot of time out of my schedule, and then there was this and that..." But last year I led a Special Forces expedition in Antarctica and that convinced me that we really could be contenders for the record. Also, I'm 41 and the chances are I won't get the opportunity again. To be honest, and being realistic, I'll be happy just to make it to the Pole - very happy. Only 44 people have ever skied all the way unsupported, in other words with no fuel or food caches. If it's not on the sledge - food, medical supplies, communications equipment, anything - we won't have it. So even if it takes 60 days I'll be proud of the achievement. That's why there won't be any half measures.'

Born and raised on Guernsey, Jason caught the adventure bug while cave diving 'off the charts' in the Bahamas as a teenager. Rather improbably then, after university he joined the Civil Service. However, the nine to five lifestyle was soon renounced in favour of founding a rhino charity, for which he drove a Land Rover to Zimbabwe, donating it to an anti-poaching unit. Jason then stayed in Africa for nine years, spending time in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and latterly working as a commercial helicopter pilot specialising in game capture - 'I've relocated 14,000 large animals, rhino, lion, elephant, wildebeest, giraffe, you name it'. It wasn't exactly a secure job: 'Around 15 pilots fly game capture and every year one of us would die. I did it for five years and lost many friends,' he tells me. 'At the time South Africa was also becoming a tempestuous place to live - I always carried a gun because we were in remote rural areas - so in 1999 I came back to the UK.' In 'normal' life Jason is now the MD of Voyage Concepts, a company that organises bespoke extreme travel, specialising in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Jason's fascination with the Poles sprang from a visit to Alaska while he was still based in Africa. On that trip he learned to dog sledge and in 2002 he achieved fame when he became the first Briton to complete the world's most northerly dog-sledging race, held 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland. 'I came third out of 44 competitors,' he recalls. 'It was 500km and the locals thought I'd take five days, if I finished at all - over half the field doesn't get to the line. I did it in two days 21 hours - and I beat many of those who said I'd never make it.'

In 2006 Jason was hired a polar guide to lead a Special Forces team in the Antarctic. 'I was wary. I thought I'd have to go up a notch working with them, but even though they were supremely fit and massively determined it was me who was saying, "guys, we'll have to pick the pace up here." In fact, a few were on the verge of frostbite but they insisted they'd rather lose a thumb or a bit of nose rather than be evacuated - and that the army would pay for plastic surgery! That experience made me realise that when pushed my technique and speed was such that I could believably have a crack at the world record skiing to the Pole.'

At the end of November Jason and Todd were dropped by skiplane on the Antarctic coast. When we spoke Jason had no idea where that would be: 'The surface changes very quickly so it's a case of wherever it's smooth enough to land, that's where we'll start.' They are intending to cover a marathon distance every day. 'Sometimes we may trek for 14 hours and get almost nowhere because of sustrugi and crevasses. We'll have to take that on the chin. For the first 10 days we've rationed 3000 calories, then 15 days at 4000, then 15 days at 5000. We're only taking food for 40 days, so there's no second-guessing. Unless the weather is exceptionally bad we can't stay in our tent; every morning we must pack up and go, whether or not it's -72 degrees C. It's all or nothing.'

Typically, Jason is determined not only to set a new record, but to do so in style. 'I don't want someone to beat it next year. I want to be in that book for a long time. In those conditions it's about mental focus; if the mind can't conquer the environment your body doesn't know what to do. I've been to the South Pole four times and I know I can block it all out. This is such a pure goal, there are no ifs and buts - we've just got one straight line to follow... Follow Jason's progress at www.subzeroexped.com (he is hoping to write a regular blog). The expedition is promoting Climate Care (www.climatecare.org), a non-profit organisation dedicated to lowering carbon emissions, and Jason is also raising money for the Meningitis Trust