Ferocious polar bears, bone-chilling temperatures and hundreds of miles of frozen ice-cap lie ahead for York army Major David Johnson next month.

Cap that: David Johnson prepares for his attempt to be in the first British expedition to cross the Greenland ice-cap. Picture: Frank Dwyer

In the first British crossing of the Greenland ice-cap, David and his partner Glenn Morris will each drag 200lbs of equipment and food behind them for 300 miles - all in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

They will be following in the footsteps of the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who made the first crossing of the frozen wastes in 1888. The route is difficult and dangerous and has only been repeated four times this century.

Leaving on April 12, David and Glenn are prepared for a month-long slog across complicated crevasse zones, encountering fierce winds and extreme isolation. The only human contact they will have will be upon landing on the east coast, where some Innuit people live.

But even getting through the planning stages has been difficult. David has had to sell his car to finance the trip, despite being loaned equipment from York's Imphal Barracks, where he works with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Major Johnson, 48, said: "One of the main concerns is the weight we are pulling. We have rechecked our kit and thrown out everything we don't need to get it down to the bone. But we will still be pulling the weight of a 15-stone rugby player each.

"Hopefully the crevassed areas should be fairly solid at the moment, because it's still pretty cold. But I have practised for the cold by spending time in a deep freeze at an Iceland store in Deeside, mainly to test the navigation equipment.

"As far as the polar bears are concerned, we have got to take a gun with us. You can't scare them away and they are the world's fiercest carnivores so if one comes at us we will have to shoot it, which will be regrettable."

Two years ago David led a previous expedition to Greenland, in which he climbed four new peaks and discovered a previously unknown glacier.

If David and Glenn can avoid the inherent dangers of their trip, the intrepid pair know all they have to do is put their backs into it and eventually they will reach the beautiful green fjords on the west coast of Greenland, where they hope to be picked up at the spot where Nansen landed.

If you can help David's trip, with sponsoring or fundraising, or simply want a chat with him about his adventure, you should call him on (01904) 662341.

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