*Photo by Natasha Barton
AFTER recovering from a serious cycling accident, Clare man Robert Phillips is gearing up for the trek of a lifetime in the Arctic circle.
Next week, the father of three will be part of a group of volunteers embarking on an expedition from Tromso in northern Norway.
After training, and days of cross-country skiing through bitter sub-zero conditions and near permanent darkness, the group hope to see the first Arctic sunrise of the winter.
Robert, who coaches underage rugby with Ennis RFC, is taking on the challenge to raise money for the charity, Sightsavers.
Sightsavers works in over 30 countries to tackle excruciating and debilitating conditions such as trachoma and river blindness.
“This is why I am putting myself out of my comfort zone in doing this trek. I have done some remote trekking around the world before in Africa and South America and even cycled across Cuba to rise money for guide dogs. But I haven’t been to the Arctic and I am a bit older now!” Robert told the Clare Echo.
He continued, “Sightsavers asked me last year to go and I said, I’m not sure about it. My wife is working, I’m working, We have three kids and I hadn’t done anything like this for a long time”.
Robert’s plan to trek across one of the world’s most remote environments was almost put in doubt by a cycling accident
He explained, “I was out cycling last year and I went head first over the handlebars. I was taken on a spinal board into hospital in Limerick. I couldn’t move. I spent three days in there. I got an MRI. I was lucky. I was extremely lucky it didn’t turn out a lot worse. Lauren from Sightsavers rang me after it happened and I said, if I come through this ok, I’ll still do it”.
The 53-year-old’s preparations have included endurance training and learning about the skills needed to survive the freezing conditions.
Robert said, “We fly out to Tromso in northern Norway and we head out from there. We spend three days at basecamp for training. There are about 14 volunteers and three guides. They’ll be showing us things like survival skills, learning about the equipment, snow shoes. One of the important things is learning how to control your body heat because if you you sweat too much or too fast, you are going to freeze”.
“We will be cross-country skiing to remote cabins, doing around 14/15km a day. And we’ll be doing this mostly in the dark. You get a twilight period of about three to four hours but it’s dark for the rest of the day”.
“Where we’re going is up around the Norway / Finland border. A lot of the terrain will be quite hilly and there are valleys. One of the days involves a 600 metre climb. Temperatures are currently forecast at high of -10 and low of -21 without windchill factor. We are trekking out to remote wilderness cabins to see the first sunrise in the Arctic for two months”.
He continued, “I’m looking forward to it. There is a great, positive buzz in the group. The people who are leading us are very experienced and I have no concerns over safety. Obviously the weather plays a big part. If you get heavy snows and it’s a complete whiteout, we won’t be able to go”.
Robert hopes to raise €7000 for Sightsavers and has so far collected €6000.
His fundraising mission has received support from local businesses Curtin O’Friel Chartered Accountants, Daly Insurances Ltd and North Clare Sea Kayaking.
Donations have also been made by companies such John Sisk and Son Ltd, SIAC Construction and Harte Civil Engineering.
Donations can be made at https://sightsaversie.enthuse.
