Steve of the Arctic comes home

10:32am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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FREEZING temperatures, blizzards and unpredictable travel times aren't most people's idea of a holiday.

But one Arctic explorer who has returned from just such an experience says it was the trip of a lifetime.

Steve Evans, aged 50, of Mitchell Street, Stockton Heath, fed his life-long hunger for adventure by taking part in a £7,000 ski-traverse that stretched 110 kilometres across the Akshauk Pass.

He trained for the trip in the Lakes and Snowdonia With flight delays and aborted landings, the group reached its destination four days behind schedule and set up camp for the night on sea-ice at a temperature of minus 38C.

Steve said: "Sleeping on the sea-ice for the first time was a memorable and haunting experience. I listened to it creaking all night and when the tide came in at 4am you could feel the movement under the tent."

With mornings starting at 5am, Steve had to extract himself from his sleeping bag that froze on the outside each day. Despite it being a time-consuming process, he enjoyed the breathtaking views of the sea-ice and the reflecting colours of the sunrise.

One of the members of the nine-strong team developed frost bite in his fingers and face and, with his condition deteriorating, the group trekked for five hours in the face of the blizzard to get him back to civilisation.

The man experienced the Arctic the hard way, as he now faces the possibility of losing at least one finger.

The eight remaining members of the group spent eight days on the sea-ice and they arrived back safely in Heathrow.

Steve, a manager of a Manchester furnishings company, said: "I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to spend time in this quite unspoilt environment, and most importantly to have lived to fight another day."

He said wife Lyndsey and stepdaughter Lizzie Wood, aged 15, were pleased to see him back safely.

"We all have mid-life crises but not many ship off to the Arctic, do they?"