Explorer's bid to emulate father

by Mr007 Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:03 pm

Alicia and David Hempleman-Adams
Alicia Hempleman-Adams will brave bitterly cold conditions
The teenage daughter of explorer David Hempleman-Adams is aiming to emulate his success by becoming the youngest person to trek to the North Pole.

Alicia Hempleman Adams, 15, will brave bitterly cold conditions as she treks there from north east Canada.

She has already been to the North Pole having flown there to meet her father at the age of eight, becoming the youngest person to reach it.

She will be joined by her PE teacher Jo Simmonds from Stonar School, Wiltshire.

Pulling sledges

They will walk with rucksacks and sledges for two weeks along a 200-mile route across glaciers and frozen lakes where temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees.

It's going to be pretty cold but amazing scenery
Alicia Hempleman Adams

The teenager, who will set off next week, said she had been preparing for the trip for the last month by pulling sledges along a beach.

"I think we are pretty prepared," she said.

"We have got all the kit so we should not have any frostbite.

"It's going to be pretty cold but amazing scenery."

Her father had given her a few words of wisdom, she added.

'Big problem'

Mr Hempleman Adams, 48, from Wiltshire, said he was proud of his daughter's "huge undertaking".

I have tried to stress to her that if she does not finish it's not a problem - she's got the rest of her life to do it
David Hempleman-Adams

"She is half my size and a teenager so I think the cold will be a big problem for her," he said.

"I have tried to stress to her that if she does not finish it's not a problem - she's got the rest of her life to do it."

Mr Hempleman-Adams became the first man to fly a balloon over the North Pole in 2000 and three years later he crossed the Atlantic in a hot air balloon with an open wicker basket.

His exploration achievements also include climbing the highest mountains on all seven continents and walking to both the South and North Poles.

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