..get even just the smallest hold on you...
..then it will eat you up and... spit you out.
Antarctica -
the coldest, windiest and highest continent on Earth.
It's minus 40 today.
January 2009
saw the first organised race to the South Pole
since Scott and Amundsen's fateful adventure nearly 100 years ago.
We're off.
TV presenter Ben Fogle... How far is it?
..Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell...
I'm absolutely exhausted... together with their third team member
raced over 750 kilometres... Oh, mate, what's happening to me?
..in one of the world's most hostile and remote environments.
We are very much alone.
They raced 16 hours a day...
It's just got so bad now, it's just not true. It's not funny.
..faced blizzards...
BEN:I don't know whether I want to laugh or cry!
..suffered frostbite and exhaustion...
(COUGHING)
BEN: We're not even halfway.
..and risked their lives trying to win one of the toughest races...
Oh, Jeez!
..on the planet.
This is their story.
BEN: January 4th 2009, and it's race day.
And for the next three weeks,
we're going to be on our own, racing to the South Pole.
Ben Fogle, whose TV work includes Animal Park and Extreme Dreams,
is no stranger to adventure.
BEN:I grew up reading books of Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton -
they were the stuff of boys' adventures.
The opportunity to go somewhere
that very few people have ever seen - that's too much to not take up.
NARRATOR:He's run the Sahara Desert
and rowed the Atlantic with Olympian James Cracknell.
The adrenaline this morning -
that makes me feel alive.
James won gold medals rowing for Britain at two Olympic Games.
JAMES:I've always enjoyed pushing myself, finding out the limits of what I can do.
Now he works as a journalist and sports presenter, but is still
a keen athlete and adventurer.
JAMES:Just to experience a place that so few people have been
and so few people will get a chance to go makes you feel so lucky
and you want to grasp it with both hands and take it on.
Together, they're now facing their biggest challenge.
Enjoy it, buddy. Have a good time. Cheers, mate.
Look after yourselves, yeah? Yeah.Have a good race.
BEN:Usually at a race, you say "good luck".
But it wasn't - it was "stay safe".
In just a few minutes, six teams will set off
across one of the most inhospitable places on Earth in the inaugural Amundsen
Omega 3 South Pole Race. BEN:Harnessing up, skis on,
and the final walk to the start line.
As the competitors line up, last-minute checks are made.
The pressure is on.
Just remind me how I turn...
So you want it on...221.
Good luck, everybody.
This is it. We're on the start line.
No turning back now. Two minutes!
Two minutes to go. Two minutes to the start of the race!
JAMES:We've trained for this. We can do this.
We're gonna feel tired and hungry and like pitching the tent.
But we're not going to pitch a tent until we've done our 16 hours.
Good luck.
One minute!
ALL: Five, four, three, two, one.
(HORN BLARES)
BEN:Go on! Go on, guys!
It's 15 months earlier.
Ben and James have only just decided to take part in the race to the South Pole.
To kick off their training, they're going to compete in the Great North Run.
SUE BARKER:You guys love a challenge. We saw you at the top of this programme,
rowing across the Atlantic, but there's a new challenge looming, isn't there?
We're going to race to the South Pole, the first race since Scott raced Amundsen
100 years ago, nearly, and, er... Today is, kind of,
day one of our attempt to get to the South Pole -
probably the biggest challenge of our lives.
Although there's over a year before they leave for Antarctica,
there's a vast amount of preparation needed just to complete the race,
let alone win it.
Standing up for 18, 19 hours a day is incredibly tiring, let alone walking
in incredibly cold temperatures, so we've got to be ready.
Just like their historical forebears, Ross, Scott and Shackleton,
surviving Antarctica is all about meticulous planning and training...
but also luck.
BEN:The South Pole, if we do anything wrong,
if we're not prepared, we will die, probably - that's the reality.
(PISTOL FIRES)
(CROWD CHEERING)
As they set off, it's the start of a huge adventure.
But it's not their first. Ben and James met shortly before competing
in the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race.
Together, they overcame a desperate lack of preparation...
Whose stupid idea was this?
..and a capsize that nearly cost them their lives.
Now the cabin is underwater.
Yet they still managed to cross the finish line first in their class
after 49 days at sea. We have crossed the Atlantic!
But that was rowing to the Caribbean.
What will Ben and James face in Antarctica?
It's November 2007.
Ben and James have come to MIRA,
a research facility in the Midlands with a giant deep freeze.
The plan is to simulate 24 hours of Antarctic racing,
all under the watchful eye of a polar medical expert.
Morning.Hi, Ben.
James.Morning.
Nice to meet you.Dr Ian, polar doctor. Nice to see you.
"Polar doctor"! This is a strange place to meet.
This is where your training for the South Pole Race starts.
But Ben and James's kit isn't quite up to polar standards.
My wife's UGG boots!
Seriously, that's the only, er...
Rubbish!.. the only warm thing I could find!
What else have you got in here? My wife will be thrilled with that.
Thermal underwear... I've got wind-proof pants on.
..to protect your essentials? Wind-proof pants.
At least you won't get frostbitten manhood.
Exactly.
That's my wife's instruction to me.
It may be funny now,
but they're about to face the extreme.
DR IAN:Even 24 hours
in this climatic chamber, they can get injured with frostbite.
Clearly, if they get frostbite in Antarctica,
they're in huge trouble and then we're into a situation
where they're losing digits or limbs.
Ben and James are covered in temperature probes
to monitor their bodies during the simulation.
And what's the dangerous temperature?
We start worrying when they get sort of towards ten.
If they get too cold, they risk serious injury.
DR IAN:When you get frostbite, the fluid in, for instance, your fingertip freezes,
and forms very spiky, sharp shards of ice which expand
out into the tissues.
The problem comes when you defrost it.
Your finger swells up, you get a great, big blister and it hurts like hell.
I've seen fingertip amputations, I've seen toes.
Unfortunately, I've seen a man with a frostbitten penis and he had to
have a trimming procedure, shall we say?
Inside the chamber, it's minus 35 degrees Celsius, and from the control room,
they can turn the wind up to 160 kilometres an hour.
Fully clad in cold-weather clothes,
Ben and James are ready to face the polar conditions.
It's SO cold in here!
It's unbelievable!
They'll spend the next 24 hours
eating, sleeping, exercising and even going to the toilet in here.
They'll only come out if something goes wrong or it gets too much.
What do you think, mate, putting the tent up first? Shall we get going?
The tent is their only escape from the bitter cold and biting wind.
The air temperature's minus 35, but with a 32kph wind,
the temperature drops to minus 52 degrees.
DR IAN:The Antarctic is a very dangerous place.
There are lots of things that can creep up on them - hypothermia, frostbite,
injury from tent fires.
They're going to have to be very, very vigilant. If they're not,
there's a domino effect. Who knows? If we can't evacuate them, they may even perish.
NARRATOR:In the cold, everything is a drawn-out process,
Could've timed my events better before we came in!
It certainly feels pretty chilly down there!
Everything's ready. Time to start moving.
Down south, they'll have to ski for 16 hours every day
to stand any chance of winning.
This is basically the equivalent of what we'll be doing, pulling sledges behind us,
on skis... just basically moving.
WOMAN: That's 24...
DR IAN:It converts their temperature gradient...
But after only 90 minutes, in the control room
they're getting worried. WOMAN: Keep an eye on James's nose.
Once they get out... And their toes are getting a bit chilly.
Ten minutes later, it's worse.
WOMAN: The measurements are too low now, so we have to take them out.
We can measure them and maybe reheat them
so they can come back out. Put some hand warmers in their boots.
Basically, they're worried that our toes, um...are just too cold.
They've, um...they've gone below
a kind of...a level that the girls are happy with.
Ben and James are minutes away from getting frost nip. They have to warm up.
My feet definitely felt colder than any other part of my body, but...
it just makes you realise how careful you've got to be.
One of James's little toes got to sort of 5 degrees C,
which is becoming dangerous, really.
In the Antarctic, we won't have the luxury of knowing what our toe temperature is.
I now know, maybe, a little bit more about what it feels like
when the toes or fingers are starting to go.
Warm again, it's back on the exercise machines.
Are you enjoying it, Ben? Not really.
Part of me does think, "Why on earth are we doing this to ourselves?"
Five hours in,
James is still going strong but Ben is struggling.
Dr Ian's getting worried again.
He wants Ben in the tent to get some food and to warm up.
INAUDIBLE)Um...no.
I am starting to feel a bit cold, I have to say. I've got to heed their advice.
This is what it's all about out there - keeping a check on things.
But yeah, of course it feels a bit frustrating,
being my first experience, and it's not kind of proving ideal.
JAMES:Yeah, I'm worried about Ben. It's never nice to see your mate
feel like that, you know.
He feels frustrated, I'm sure.
But inside the tent, it's minus 35 degrees too.
Ben won't get any warmer
until the stove's lit.
With each passing minute, he's getting closer to hypothermia.
(LIGHTER CLICKS)
DR IAN:Ben has got very cold.
His hands have got very cold and he's just had real trouble lighting the stove,
which is an absolute nightmare in the cold environment.
You know if it doesn't light, you are absolutely stuffed.
Praying to the stove.Huh?Yeah!
Yay! Now, stand back. Remember, you might get a flame.
The inside of the tent will start to get very warm. He'll be able to get cooking.
He'll feel much better. I have to say,
it would be very easy for me now to say, "Well, this is a fun experience,
"but I'm definitely not doing it."
I'd be lying if I didn't say that that was crossing my mind - of course it is.
I tell you what - this is going to test us to the limits,
that's for sure.
Both of them are in the warm tent.
Briefly, they can escape the constant, bitter cold.
(STOVE ROARS)
The race routine is 16 hours of skiing,
then melting snow to make water, eating a rehydrated meal,
repairing damaged kit and sleeping for four hours,
before starting all over again.
As night sets over their tent in the climate chamber,
the snow's turned back on and the wind's turned up.
After only four hours' sleep,
it's time to start again.
DR IAN:It's an uncomfortable time, first thing in the morning, in the Antarctic.
They're going to be getting out of a toasty warm down sleeping bag
into minus 35, to force themselves to get ready for this morning.
Morning, guys. Come on, wakey-wakey!
It's time to get up.
(GROANING)
Lovely morning(!)
And the best thing is that my pee has defrosted.
At night in Antarctica, you urinate in a bottle and keep it until the next morning.
First job of the day.
To finish off their Antarctic simulation, they have one final ordeal to face.
The wind's about to reach 64kph - the wind chill will hit minus 60.
This will be the coldest you've ever been.
Any exposed skin will freeze in seconds.
Absolutely everything must be covered.
You probably can't even tell who I am now, but I'm Ben.
Something tells me a storm's coming.
(KLAXON BLARES)
They will face this, and even worse, in Antarctica.
They have to know how to deal with it, or risk serious injury -
even death.
(WIND ROARS)
BEN:This wouldn't be nice.
This is SO cold!
Antarctica holds
the world records for the highest wind speed of 300kph
and the lowest still-air temperature of minus 89 degrees.
BEN:Would we keep going for a whole day in that?
You have to make a judgment call. Yeah.
When the weather's that bad, do you stay in your tent or do you travel?
If you were just an explorer,
you'd be tempted just to stay in your tent, wouldn't you?
But it's a race.
DR IAN:The other people taking part in this race
are all experienced polar travellers,
so Ben and James are going to have to get up to speed on all that
to stand any chance at all of being well placed in this race.
If they don't do that, they'll come last, for sure.
(LAUGHING)It's summer!
It's summer.That is ridiculous!
That is really warm out here.
BEN: I'm very worried about what we're going to have to face in Antarctica now,
having experienced this.
You know, this is a little controlled experiment.
JAMES:It's a real case of looking after each other,
having the knowledge to do that, and the confidence to trust each other.
The cold has a nasty way of creeping up on you,
and if you're not concentrating, it will grab you and hurt you.
NARRATOR:But the real dangers of Antarctica are a long way off.
Before they can even get there,
they need to find a third team-member.
Hi. How are you?
My main concern is still a third person. It's kind of narrowing down
the choice of person to someone who's interested...
to someone who's interested, someone who's got the time
and someone who's fit, so they've got to fit all three of those.
The race rules state all teams must be three strong.
Ben and James have to find their third member by Christmas
in time to attend the first race training session in Norway.
We keep talking about the third person, but we've got to try and nail it...
Their first thought is to hold an open contest - an Antarctic tradition.
JAMES:We could put an advert in... the paper,
and we could just hold trials and do it that way, if that's what we wanted.
If that's really what we wanted to do.It's quite cool.
It's...it's what Shackleton did. It's, er...you know...
It's another way of doing it. But time is pressing,
so the other option is to get someone with a strong sporting background.
JAMES:I can think of two people
that fulfil it... Which are? Gordon Ramsay?
Gordon Ramsay does marathons. Jonny Lee Miller.
Done the Marathon des Sables. I've seen him do the marathon.
And if we can't get them very, very soon,
then I think we should try the idea we came up with of putting it in a paper -
just trying to get a person who's passionate about it.
While Ben spends the next few days trying to e-mail
Hollywood actor and marathon runner Jonny Lee Miller,
James tries to get hold of chef and running enthusiast Gordon Ramsay.
'Hello.'Hi, there.
Is it possible to talk to Gordon Ramsay? It's James Cracknell.
You're Gordon's father-in-law, aren't you? Is that right?
No, it was that we, um...
Yeah, well, we basically sat down and listed people
that, you know, would help raise the profile and raise money for charity,
and the list was very quickly down to him,
just because it's amazing how fit he keeps himself
around the commitments he has.
That takes a real kind of mental strength, as well.
(INAUDIBLE)
Yeah, and wish him well. Tell him not to work too hard.
He's only got half a day free, that's ridiculous.
(LAUGHING)
Thank you very much. All right, cheers, bye-bye.
That was Gordon Ramsay's father-in-law who is an incredibly nice bloke.
Er, also told me that Gordon's free for half a day between now and...
next, er, Christmas.
Then, a few days later, while Ben's on holiday,
he gets a more positive response from Jonny Lee Miller.
"Dear Ben...
"Wow!
"This is one of the best e-mails I have ever received.
"I'm currently under contract in a US TV show.
"This may stop me being able to join you.
"But I'll do anything I can to come with you.
"I recognise once-in-a-lifetime opportunities
"and love training to achieve a goal.
"Thank you, thank you.
"Yours respectfully, Jonny!"
Whoo-hoo!
That is a cool e-mail.
It's good news from Jonny.
But at the moment, he's filming in LA.
So they've arranged to call each other in a couple of weeks
when he knows his availability.
In the meantime, Ben and James continue with the training.
They're on their way to Portsmouth University.
We're here to be given hypothermia, basically, in a simple nutshell.
One of the greatest polar dangers is severe cooling, or hypothermia.
BEN: The more we learn about how the body functions in the cold, the better.
And given that I'm absolutely freezing cold already,
it doesn't bode well, really.
Here at the university's Sports Science Department,
they study the effects of the cold on the body.
Ben and James will spend an hour in a cold-water tank.
This will reduce the normal core body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius
and bring on the early stages of hypothermia.
JAMES:I wouldn't manage that for an hour.
BEN: I think some part of our anatomy may shrink. It'd be quite small in there!
They'll experience a cold shock response, then they'll experience peripheral cooling
and start to lose strength and the ability to manipulate their fingers.
Then gradually their core temperature will start to fall
and they'll start to experience shivering.
As your deep-body temperature falls a bit further,
the brain begins to shut down and you lose consciousness.
You start to experience heart problems and death normally intervenes
at just 12 degrees below normal body temperature.
Measuring core temperature is vital.
This is the part I've been most dreading. James, I know you find this hilarious.
I only find it hilarious because of your reaction.
What are they doing?
We basically have to have a thermometer put up our bottoms.
All too soon, it's time to get into the cold water.
(MUFFLED)Oh, that's very cold!
Straight in then.
Straight down.
Just watch your laser probe.
Nice and steady. Just bring that one over there.
All the way down. Just squat down and try to get your shoulders under for us, Ben.
That's it, just stay like that, that's good. Breathe out, that's good.
That's good, just quite far away.
Everything is being monitored closely,
from their heart rates to the air they breathe.
How is it, Ben?It's so cold, James.
An hour, you reckon?No, I...
That's good, that's the first minute gone.
JAMES:Fifty-nine to go!
Oh, I wish I'd gone in first now.
Oh, God, that's so cold.
Ohh!
That's really nasty, isn't it?
Well, that's the cold-shock response. Is it? Oh!
Major, major killer.
Ohh! Sorry, I'm not going to keep complaining,
but it's just really nasty.
Just drop your shoulders under the water and keep your head out.
Perfect, good stuff, well done.
OK, that can come out. You can take your nose clip off.
I don't really like to say this, but I want to hug you.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
They've been in the water for four minutes.
There's another 56 to go.
Is that you again?
No! There's something funny going on.
The other thing is, I think you're shivering a bit more.
Is that good? Why do we shiver again?
To warm yourself up?
The only problem is, in water...
Halfway through the test, the cold is having a serious effect on them.
Your superficial muscles and nerves are cooling, which is making you
move towards being paralysed by the cold.
Now your core temperature's fallen, but you're feeling like this
on the basis of your deep-body temperature only falling about 0.5 of a degree.
It's just starting to get really uncomfortable again.
Um, I'm looking forward to a hot bath.
After an hour of enduring the cold water, the ordeal is over.
Once in a hot bath, recovery can seem instantaneous.
But it can take a long time to recover fully.
JAMES:For me, seeing how Ben was reacting when he gets cold,
it's very easy for me now to know he's getting cold, this is what we need to do.
And it's important not only for us to feel it,
but to see how the other person copes.
And just while we're on the subject, I never believed I'd be able
to put an anal probe in, and I did!
So there you go, brilliant! Excellent.
(RINGING TONE)
It's mid-December. Ben and James are phoning America
to speak to actor Jonny Lee Miller.
Hi, is that Jonny?
Jonny, it's Ben Fogle.
English actor Jonny Lee Miller now lives in Hollywood
and was married to the film star Angelina Jolie,
divorcing in 1999.
Jonny has starred in many successful films,
including Trainspotting, Plunkett And Macleane
and on Flux, with Charlize Theron.
But will he be able to commit to Ben and James?
You know, I totally understand that, um, you don't want to let us down
by suddenly something coming up next year and dropping out,
but I think that we'd love to kind of put you at the top of the list.
Jonny's a keen marathon runner and fitness fanatic.
He's Ben and James's ideal third team member.
But with a very busy work schedule, it's going to be hard for him to commit.
The biggest stumbling block for us at the moment is to see if...
if you're up for coming, if you've got any time over the January/February...
The race rules state that all teams have to attend
a Norwegian polar survival course in January.
If they can get Jonny to come, the team is on its way.
Is there anything else you want to know, Jonny, rather than
two strange blokes ringing you up saying do you want to go to the South Pole?
No, no, thank YOU. Hopefully it'll all work out.
Good man. All right, Jonny, have a good day.
Cheers then, bye.
He's free and he's up for it.
It's kind of "mission accomplished" for the third team member at this stage.
That sounded like good news.
He sounded so keen straightaway.
BEN: He's just right.
And for me, the benefit of going with someone like Jonny is that
he doesn't need to do this. He WANTS to do it.
Oh!
JAMES:If we get on with each other well,
and he thinks this will be an amazing thing to do - if something does come in
between then and the start of the race that he'll say, "No, I'll pass that by,
"this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."
I'm really excited, really excited.
It's January 2008,
nine days until the polar training
in Norway.
Ben and James are meeting Jonny Lee Miller for the first time.
I have a slight, um, kind of anticipation,
a slight worry that perhaps, you know, what happens if we don't like each other
or what if he comes along and is overwhelmed by it.
I feel that we should go ahead with Jonny as our third team member
and if he can't do it for whatever reason, then it's back to the drawing board.
Hey! James, how are you?Very good.
He's not here yet, unless he's very short.
I think I just saw him signing in. Oh, did you?
OK, perfect. How are you anyway? Yeah, not too bad.
Yeah? Did you have a nice Christmas? Enjoying the fair-weather biking.
Good Christmas and New Year? Not too bad.
Bit of cold-weather practice in the sea in Devon.
Did you? Did you do some Highland walking?
Yeah, lots of Highland walking. You've still got your sunbed tan!
Hey, Jonny!
Very nice to meet you at last. Really nice to see... This is James.
We just met in the corridor. Did you find it OK?
Yeah, easy.Excellent.
Do you want to come and sit down and I'll show you what we've got here.
James has literally only arrived as well, so, um...
Have a seat.
So how...? I suppose... How much do you know about the race?
Nothing.Absolutely nothing?
It's a long way and it's cold. Yeah, exactly.
JONNY:I'm quite blown away, actually, to be asked.
To take on a challenge like this is something I've really been looking for.
I've really been looking for something like this,
especially to visit a place on Earth
that you never get the opportunity to go to and to see.
Straight when you got that e-mail, were you...?
I...I, um, I leapt out of my chair.
Actually, it was probably one of the best e-mails I've ever got.
Really?Yeah.
To tell you the truth, that's why James and I knew straightaway.
Because of your response.
The whole thing is quite, um... it's quite overwhelming, actually at the moment.
It's not just like training for a run or something like that
and going in a race like that.
There's a lot to learn and take on board.
But I'm just thrilled to have been asked.
I'm...honoured.
How are you feeling about Norway next week?
I can't wait.
I believe, if I'm right, I think it's a team of girls
who the organiser reckons stands the best chance to win the whole race.
We'll see about that.
(BEN AND JAMES LAUGH)
Can you ski?
You should've asked that. Cross-country skiing.
I've never done any cross-country skiing.
We know you're here now, but what's the latest then?
Over the next couple of months I'll find out... I'm under contract to a TV show
And, er...that starts airing in the US at the end of this month
and, um, depending on how successful it is,
it's whether we get signed up for a second season or not.
So over the next couple of months I'll find out, and if I am signed up,
then I have to go back to work and I won't be able to take part.
Anyway, to Norway. Good stuff.
BEN: I think we've made the right decision at this stage.
You know, he's a big Hollywood actor
and he just seemed really keen and excited.
And if the worst happens, and...
If the worst happens and his show's successful...(!)
Um, you know, he's got a job and a life to lead, and...
you know, you can't just turn your back on a career in LA.
I have a positive attitude. I am a glass half full always.
Blindingly optimistic! Blindingly optimistic
is probably a good way to describe it, but I think he'll do it.
I do.
Nine days later, Ben, James and Jonny have arrived in Norway
for an intensive course in polar survival.
It's the same area that Scott trained in before his fateful Antarctic expedition.
Blimey, that's a long old journey.
It's also their first time meeting the other competitors.
Most of them are very experienced.
It's the unknown, I think, that's what's most nerve-wracking about it,
and kind of eyeing up all the other people and who's here and who's taking part
and hearing about everyone with great experience.
Hello. Hello.
Hello. Holland?England, James.
James, welcome. Thank you. Good to meet you.
The course is being held on a Norwegian army base.
It's here they'll learn the skills to survive
and compete in the South Pole Race.
What do you think this temperature is? Minus five?
One. I saw it on the... Did you? Minus one?
I thought it was colder than that.
They'll learn everything - from cross-country skiing to tent routines,
from stove use to cold-weather survival.
BEN: I am quite nervous about the week ahead.
In many ways I'm nervous about how Jonny's going to get on.
He's very quiet now, for example. I don't know if that's just him.
I'm also worried that maybe he's thinking he doesn't want to do this, already.
I'll be worrying about that the whole time. And the reality is
at the end of the week he may say,
"Guys, I loved it, but I don't think it's for me."
Not only do they need to bond as a team,
they also need to prove to the race organisers
that they're competent enough to race.
Now that's good, that's a good start. Everybody here on time.
First, two days of lectures on polar survival.
Sneaking to the back already.
Everything from cold-weather injuries, like frostbite...
I've ended up with feet like this on an expedition, getting stuck at high altitude
and I would not wish it on anybody.
..and snow blindness...
Prevention, prevention, prevention is our key issue.
..to navigation and emergency procedures.
You are all going to be cold, absolutely no doubt about that.
And, of course, kit issue.
BEN: This is like Christmas.
JAMES:Next stop, haircut. Second door on the left.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm not getting a haircut. It'll keep me nice and, er...nice and warm.
It's the best thing about it. I haven't really enjoyed anything up until now.
Hearing how I might die or get hypothermia or...
um...frostbite.
I wanna get out there. I wanna get learning stuff as soon as possible.
I'm not good at classrooms.
Right...
Let's have some light. This is so exciting.
Look at that - we even get...
an MP3 player.
Just in case we don't have one.
That's nice. That's very smart, isn't it?
I bet it wasn't like this in Scott's day.
It almost looks like you, Jonny, on the front.
That's the monocle. When one eye's gone, you just fit another one in, like that.
I just don't wanna lose the end of my nose.
Cos what I do for a living, you know.
(LAUGHING)
Oh, God, I've got Eddie the Eagle next to me.
I'm ready for the Pole now.
Next lesson...cross-country skiing.
We're fitting our skis now, er...
in the snow, unfortunately.
Ah, yeah, lot of instructions just stored in here right now -
waxing, skiing, make sure they fit, bindings, right ski poles.
Ohh!
To complete the race, every competitor has to ski over 750 kilometres
to the South Pole.
James has two weeks' cross-country skiing experience,
Ben and Jonny have none.
They're surprisingly complex skis to put on.
God!
Gone are the downhill, where you just flick your feet in them...
There's all sorts of buttons and contraptions and straps and things.
So... Yeah, that looks good, does it?Yes.
I'm a bit nervous about going out.
I hope I don't fall.
Oh, but you will, for sure. Oh, will I?
Oh, yeah.OK.
It's possible.OK.
Looks like I'll be falling then.
Your heel's designed to come off...
Ben, James and Jonny have a lot to learn.
You don't wanna be skiing like you want to go to the toilet. Doesn't look too good.
So just walk normally, lifting your heel off the floor.
The Norwegian competitors have all grown up skiing.
It's second nature to them.
Jonny's just doing his first descent.
And, er...you know, we're all shuffling around the car park
and the Norwegians have been doing jumps down there and then I saw them, er...
doing some skating across the car park as well,
so there's no doubt, they're far more experienced.
It's a long way between shuffling across a car park
and doing it down in Antarctica.
But...got to start somewhere.
Try to...
put pressure... on the ski that you're walking on.
It's one of the big advantages by being a good skier,
is that you save a lot of energy.
Huge amounts of energy are saved by good skiing technique.
You will want to keep your centre of gravity low
and what you do is you put one foot in front of the other
and then you're basically just applying
the sliding motion that we were talking about.
Given that I've been out here for less than an hour,
er, and I'm already overheating
and, er...my legs are feeling it,
it's quite overwhelming, the thought of doing it non-stop
in much colder temperatures and much more extreme conditions.
It's day three - more skiing.
Damn!
(LAUGHING)
Good one!
After a day's skiing, they get their first experience of camping
in the Norwegian winter.
But first, they have to put the tent up.
In Antarctica, they'll need to be able to put up the tent in just eight minutes.
You have to put the large one in first, right?
Yeah, the one with the black tip on the end.
But time is slipping by.
Ten minutes.
There is another pole section, is there?
We can't pull it, it's caught on something.
Twenty minutes.
Shall we just get this join back inside here?
More?
More.
Thirty minutes.
I've got to cut more, hang on. Stay there.
What's that, er...?
Do we do a loop first, Ben?
One hour later, and at last the tent is up.
First time, setting it up, learning how to...
how it works and things,
and it's really clever stuff that none of us had a clue about,
like digging a little trench that James is doing there,
which increases the volume immeasurably and makes it more comfortable.
Yeah, it's up. It's good.
Every minute you save is a bit you could walk,
especially in the morning, when you're setting going.
If you leave five minutes earlier, that's...
Someone may well be quarter of a mile ahead.
Every day, it adds up to a long way.
So get used to putting up this tent quicker than that.
As night falls, so does the temperature.
The thermometer reads minus 27 degrees Celsius -
time to prepare the inside of the tent.
Knock, knock.Come in.
I've come to read the meter. Yeah.
The only way to warm the tent and cook food is with a stove.
Ben's determined to do better than the last time he tried it -
in the cold chamber.
This should be turned off.Yep.
You see the button there. See how the button says...
It's to the minus, is that... Have I done that right there?
I think so. Wait a second, wait a second.
You just turn it clockwise...
But, like the tent, it seems to be taking longer than it should.
There's a lot of chiefs and not many Indians over there with that stove.
Finally, after half an hour...
Start it up.
Turn it up, turn it up.
Ohh! We're squeezing it up all the time.
But they can't keep it going.
Yeah, there's not enough... We've got fuel problems.
In Antarctica, the stove is their lifeline.
They have to resort to asking a Norwegian race rival for help.
Cos we've been trying for an hour now. OK.
Oh, hello.
He lights it...first time.
It's what we call lulling them into a false sense of security.
(LAUGHS)
It's the fourth day of the polar survival course.
Time to head up to the Nordic plateau for a four-day expedition.
The teams will be skiing all day,
sleeping in tents and eating rehydrated rations,
just like Antarctica.
But before they head off...
..the added pressure of the filming is getting to Jonny.
You've got to back off me right now.
Of course I'm looking forward to it.
What the BLEEP am I out here for?
Am I looking forward to it?!
For BLEEP sake!
Finally, they're off, onto the Norwegian plateau,
over 1,600 square kilometres of wilderness.
Nothing but snow and ice.
After four hours, they've arrived at their base camp.
Time to put into practice what they've learned so far
under the watchful gaze of the race organisers.
This in now probably about minus 12, minus 15.
This is frostnip, frostbite time. So the quicker that tent goes up, the better.
For the next four days, they'll be going over and over
all the vital routines they'll need to survive Antarctica.
At the end of the moving day, it's absolutely critical.
If they get that wrong, that's frostbite, hypothermia, very quickly.
You will get this down to eight minutes from stop to...
That's not bad. How long do you think that took us?
25? 20.
No, it was about 20. 20 minutes.
You'll get it down to eight.
If you just think about the time it's taken to find the different things...
But if you cut that out...
Yeah.Good, let's get in.
It's warm as toast in there now.
You can't really stop for a minute outside, it's just...
The cold just bites you.
Of all the routines they've got to do, the most important one
is getting this tent up solid as quick as possible. If they mess it up,
there's a big problem, they're off the race.
They'll have to use all their kit like second nature.
So it's practice, practice, practice.
Tell me when you're ready for more.
As soon as it's up, then it all comes down again
and they head off skiing, pulling all their kit in sleds,
called "pulks", behind them.
You know, what's amazing is, you're just going along with your head down,
and, er...
..and you're just thinking, "God, this is just miserable."
And then, suddenly, the sun comes up...
and there's the most awesome sight! I tell you what,
those are some of the most beautiful views I've ever seen today.
That was very satisfying because me and James were leading and we navigated
from waypoint one to waypoint two, and we couldn't see anything.
We were just using our GPSs.
I'm in my element, I think. I'm a snowman.
It's interesting, actually, Ben and Jonny are...
..seem far more up for it than I feel right now. I feel very, um...
out of anything that I've done before.
At this rate, 4km a day will take us eight months.
Weaknesses of the team so far - it's head down, they're skiing along,
all of a sudden, there's a 150m gap between front and back,
and that potentially is disastrous, absolutelydisastrous,
especially with this flat light that's coming in now.
They could turn round in five minutes and lose sight of the third person.
But gradually, the team are starting to get used to living
and working in the extremes.
And crucially, they're starting to bond...
JAMES:It's cold - I'd just like to point that out!
(LAUGHING)
..with a quick snow bath at minus 30 degrees
in the dark.
(LAUGHING)
BEN: What are you doing with the zip?!
(LAUGHING)
JAMES: Oh...!
(LAUGHING)
BEN: Working as a team now, which isn't so new to James and I,
but obviously, with Jonny as well,
it's a totally different dynamic, and we're finding our way.
NARRATOR:After four days on the plateau,
the team are improving. Now they face their biggest challenge -
a 10km orienteering race.
Today's the day for good decisions. The weather's coming in.
It will become a survival march back
unless we manage it very carefully.
A blizzard is blowing.
The wind is gusting
at up to 35km an hour.
The wind-chill is minus 30.
It will be a good test for all the competitors.
BEN: This will be the first time that all the different teams
have had a proper race. But it's not just a physical race now -
it's about tactics as well.
All the teams have to complete the course,
navigating to markers placed around the plateau.
But the extreme conditions are making it even tougher.
BEN: For me, this is an exercise in navigation,
whereas I suspect for James, this will be more of a...a race.
NARRATOR:The guys start off well,
setting a fast pace.
JAMES:Looking for the way the Norwegian guys ski,
that there's that extra inch of glideor more at the moment.
At the end of the day, that's a long way.
BEN: 527m to the next one, OK? JAMES:OK.
BEN: Furthest one so far.
JAMES:As much as it's going to be an amazing experience,
it IS a race.
BEN: OK, my battery's just about out. Someone will have to take over.
BEN: I don't know whether I want to laugh or cry!
This is one of the most... crazy things I've ever done.
NARRATOR:And now the Norwegians show their true skills
and cruise past Ben, James and Jonny.
As they head for the finish line, they're a long way behind the Norwegians.
JAMES:Norwegian girls, first team back...
Gender issues.
They're just really good.
They've got a long way to make up for the Norwegian teams.
The Norwegian teams are just born naturals at the moment. They can ski
without blinking. Their tent routines are slick.
They've been doing it since they were two years old.
Ben, James and Jonny have 11 months left
to catch up on a lifetime's knowledge
of some of their rivals.
But before they're allowed home, they all face one final polar tradition...
(CHEERING)
..the ice bath.
TONY:When they get down to Antarctica, they'll face everything they faced here
this week, probably four to six times worse.
Jonny Lee Miller - Scorpio!
If we just took them straight down to Antarctica, dropped them straight in,
it would break them up completely.
BEN: The main weakness we have as a team is experience.
First time for Jonny on cross-country skis.
My name...
is Ben...
Fogle.
If you look at the Norwegian boys and girls, they're...way ahead of us.
(CHEERING)
Rune! Rune!
JAMES:It would still be nice to get there first.
We've also realised that it's going to be really hard to get there.
TONY:As it stands right now today, I don't think they can win it.
It's been one of the best weeks I've ever had. Just...I love
learning stuff like this.
It's been a wicked week, wicked week. Well done, boys.
Wicked!Yeah!
Really wicked.
NARRATOR:It's mid-February, four weeks since Norway.
Jonny is back in the US, promoting his new TV show,
and Ben and James are in the UK.
Hello, James!Benny boy!
How are you doing?Not too bad.
This is very smart.Smart haircut.
I know. You've got some hair behind your ears.
It's literally just been done this morning.
It was Tony demanding I get a haircut the whole time.
I thought, "Let's look, at least, the part."
(THEY MIMIC TONY)
They're planning a trip to Hollywood to spend some time with Jonny.
The problem now
is that Jonny has been filming for the last year
a big-money programme out there, and if they like it enough,
it will be recommissioned. And if it's recommissioned,
he's pretty much out of the race.
If Jonny's show gets a second series, then it's back to the drawing board.
So Ben and James are keen to visit him
and press him for a commitment.
It is a really hard one, isn't it? I find myself kind of looking at the reviews,
kind of hoping they're bad, which is terrible!
You wouldn't wish that on anyone, but that's the thing.
I want... You know, I...
You know, I really want Jonny to be our third team-mate,
but James and I realise we have to be realistic about this.
Ben and James have arrived in LA to see Jonny.
He started working in the US in 1994,
starring in feature films
and now his new TV show.
Long way from Norway.
Yeah. Nicer.Yeah!
I think we should do a sort of equator challenge.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Hey, mister!
Just saying, this is a long way, a long way from Norway, man.
Welcome.
Good to see you.
This is great!
This is nice, man!
How have you been?
I've been good, mate. You? Yeah, really well.
Can we come in?Come in, come in.
I saw the signs for the LA Marathon up when we were driving here.
Yeah?Little banners.
Saw some of the route. I know. The route was, um...
It's been new for the last two years, actually.
But it actually starts just up where you're staying
at Universal City.
Yeah. That's where it starts
and actually runs right past here,
and that intersection down there is mile three.
So out to...Joshua Tree.
Joshua Tree, yes. We should probably get going, cos the traffic is going to get...
And once we get there, then we can chill out.
It's going to get bad... Have something to eat.
The guys are going rock climbing in the Joshua Tree National Park,
a 220km drive east of LA.
A good time to ask Jonny about his work.
BEN: And how's the show doing? Have you had lots of feedback?
The show is...I think in quite a precarious situation apparently,
that's what I hear. BEN: In what sense?
Um, that it's really not guaranteed that we're going to get a second season
at the moment.
It might not be the best news for Jonny's career,
but it's good news for Ben and James.
BEN: It's good, it's good. It's good to be back together as a team again.
Feeling...feeling all excited about everything.
JAMES:We're incredibly lucky to be hereand make the most of it
and try not to almost put too much pressure on working out
what's going to happen as regards the race.
NARRATOR:It's six in the morning,
and Ben, James and Jonny are up early to start climbing.
JAMES:What does "single pitch" mean?
GUIDE:"Single pitch" means just one pitch of climbing.
Although the searing heat is a million miles away from the cold,
bleak landscape of Antarctica,
it's a great chance to bond.
Am I stuck?
JAMES:No, just scamper up it on your feet.
I know that sounds funny, but... OK.
Well done, mate! That was awesome.
It was wicked team building, cos now, when I do this,
James has completely got me in his hands.
What?
JONNY:I got stuck a couple of times...
and had to work up the balls to do it.
Good one, Jonny! Yeah, Jonny!
I thought we worked pretty well together, but it's very different doing it
in a nice dry desert.
But you know what? We have to try and grab any opportunities we can
to do stuff together and do some training.
You know, we've all got busy...busy, hectic schedules.
Uncle Jonny gotcha!
BEN: Anything we do together, it helps.
JONNY:I think all of us are there now, mentally. And then you understand
you can take on different things and learn different things quickly.
And that builds your confidence,
no matter what it is.
JONNY:Anyone fancy a pint?
(LAUGHING)
NARRATOR:Back in LA,the guys are recovering from a night out.
Ben's feeling a bit delicate this morning. We had a team bonding night out
last night and...
we certainly bonded.
We were starting to bond a bit more until a guy in a club
comes up - the bouncer, in fact -
and goes, "Is he with you?
"Take him home."
I got a little bit drunk last night.
I felt I needed to keep up with Jonny.
Jonny's hangover cure is a one-hour uphill run
to the famous Hollywood sign in Griffith Park.
BEN: I think it was really important for us to come up here. It's a long way
for us to come, but I think, on many levels,
it was showing Jonny our commitment to him.
I definitely feel I know Jonny
a lot better than I did,
and I feel even stronger
that he's the right person
for our team.
Which kind of makes it hard, because we haven't resolved
the issue of whether he can do it or not yet.
He's mentioned the date of June or July. Mmm, June.
June's the deadline for...
March, April, May, June. Three months. Three months! That's a long time.
JAMES:It IS a long time. And it's...you hear mixed signals
about what's happening.
I see all the qualities in Jonny that... would make him a great guy
to push to the South Pole with.
NARRATOR:It looks like the team are finally up and running
and set to conquer the South Pole in nine months' time...
if Jonny can make it.