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Expedition 5 takes on Greenland

World record-attempting duo Louis Nethercott and Anthony Lambert face a very different challenge as they begin their fourth unsupported island crossing.

Having successfully trekked across Borneo, Papua New Guinea and Madagascar, the Royal Marines veterans are swapping searing heat and impenetrable jungle for the bitter cold and vast, barren ice cap of Greenland.

Through Expedition 5, Louis and Ant are highlighting the mental health issues faced by ex-military personnel and raising funds for Help for Heroes and The Royal Marines Charity. Their aim is to set a new world record for crossing the five biggest islands on Earth, self-supported and only using human power.

Louis Nethercott and Anthony Lambert from Expeditiion 5 in Greenland

Heavy pulks

The pair arrived in Greenland, the largest island on their list, on 15 August to begin preparations for their traverse, which will take them from the small, remote settlement of Isortoq on the east coast to Kangerlussuaq’s fjord on the western coast.

They will have to haul all their equipment in pulks weighing up to 120kg along narrow mountain ridges to reach the ice cap that covers 80 per cent of the island, which they will then ski across.

As ever, the challengers will rely on Inmarsat to keep them connected in the icy wilderness, where they will face temperatures as low as -25°C and winds of over 80mph. Their essential kit includes IsatPhone 2 satellite phones and a compact IsatHub terminal to use with their own smartphones to update social media with blogs, photos and videos.

Following survival training in Norway and Sweden ahead of the challenge, Ant said: “With no one to rely on but each other and no villages along the way, this will be a wholly different crossing to what we have become accustomed to. Easier in some aspects, vastly more difficult in others. We have done our best to be as ready as we can, the rest depends on us getting the job done in August.”