Solo life in Antarctica has ‘not hit home yet’ for skiing ex-Royal Marine

An ex-Royal Marine who has set off on a world record-breaking challenge to ski solo across Antarctica said the thought of being alone for months has “not really hit home yet”.

Sam Cox, from Torquay, Devon, hopes to complete the longest solo unsupported crossing of the continent covering more than 2,000km on a route that has never been attempted before.

The 34-year-old said the thought of being alone on his expedition has yet to sink in despite being two days into the challenge, but said he was relieved to begin the trek on Monday following a 15-day delay in Chile for an appropriate weather window.

With just 78 days to complete the 1,250-mile journey, Mr Cox told the PA news agency: “It’s a long slog, so it’s not really hit home yet that I’m by myself for the next few months, but it’s a big relief to finally get here.

Sam Cox is attempting to ski solo across Antarctica (Sam Cox/PA)

“I spent three weeks – because of a weather delay – in Chile, so I went through a phase of going ‘oh, the next couple of days that’ll be quite nice’, to just getting annoyed and wanting to get out there as you’d expect, so it’s really good to be here finally.”

Mr Cox said he has “no regrets” after two days.

He said: “I’m two days in. Because you’re doing a very repetitive movement, I’m quite stiff, and whilst I was putting the tent up it was that feeling of ‘it’s a long time to be doing this every day’.

“In the morning I woke up fresh… so no regrets at the moment.”

The ex-Royal Marine said the barren environment is particularly challenging as there are “no landmarks and no features” while he faces uphill terrain for the next few days before trekking downhill.

“As with most places going up from the coast, there’s quite a bit of uphill, so (day one) was quite difficult towards the end,” he said.

“There’s no landmarks and there’s no features so you don’t really notice the terrain too much.”

Mr Cox is dragging all the supplies he will need in a specially designed sledge known as a pulk weighing 26 stone, which includes food, spare equipment and communications gear.

Mr Cox’s pulk weighs 26 stone with his food, spare equipment and communications gear (Sam Cox/PA)

Despite facing sub-zero temperatures, he described the weather as warmer than expected for this time of year, forcing him to drink more water.

“I’d say it’s unseasonably warm,” he said.

“I’m by the coast of Antarctica but it’s about minus four, minus five at the moment so nothing too cold.

“I’m sure it will get colder later but I’m drinking a lot more water than I thought I would be at this stage.”

During this time of year, Antarctica experiences 24 hours of sunlight where the sun does not set, which allows for warmer nights.

Mr Cox has begun his challenge which will take two and a half months to complete (Sam Cox/PA)

“My tent reached about 12 degrees above zero so it’s nice and warm – I can have my arms out on the sleeping bag,” said Mr Cox.

“It’s light so I wear a sleep mask at night. In the morning it’s not a horrible feeling to get out of bed. It’s not great but it’s not the same as getting up in minus 15 or minus 20.”

Although Mr Cox is expecting more dull, cloudy days ahead, he said the challenge is allowing him learn about himself.

“I think I’m bound to have cloudy days and no sun where that’s going to be more and more prevalent but that’s probably just learning conditions,” he said.

“Learning more about myself out here is probably one of those (things) that will take a couple of weeks I think.”