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Martin Hewitt Reaches Summit

In November 2021 Martin Hewitt set off from Hercules Inlet with record-breaking polar explorer Louis Rudd (Director of Expeditions at Shackleton) towards the South Pole on the Olympian Homes sponsored expedition. In a truly astonishing feat of physical and mental endurance, Martin skied over the most inhospitable environment on the planet, across extremely challenging terrain, in sub-zero temperatures and with one fully functioning arm. He did all this whilst dragging 95kg of equipment with him, unassisted and unsupported.

On day 28 of the expedition, Martin suffered a debilitating Achilles tendon injury, forcing him to stop temporarily at Union Glacier to receive medica aid. Despite this, after only a short break, he went back  to complete the last degree – the 60 nautical miles which mark the last latitude of distance to the South pole from 89° south. On the 5th January 2022 Martin reached the South Pole after skiing a total of just over 650km in 50 days.

This however was only half of Matin’s ultimate goal.

After a few days rest, the pair set off for the second phase of the Adaptive Grand Slam, to reach the summit of the highest mountain in Antarctica – Mount Vinson. Every day, Martin walked through 45 knot winds and as he got higher up the mountain the wind only got stronger. In the early hours of the 15th January 2022, after 58 days since initially setting off, Martin Hewitt and Louis Rudd reached the summit, successfully completing this herculean endeavour.

Martin Hewitt is now only one summit away from becoming the first ever disabled person to complete the ‘Explorers Grand Slam’ –  the seven highest summits on each of the seven continents and the North and South Poles. His final challenge is Puncak Jaya (Carstensz pyramid) in Indonesia.

Olympian are immensely proud to be Martin’s primary sponsor. In addition to his inspiring expedition, Martin’s charity ‘Adaptive Grandslam’ aims to train and enable disabled adventurers to take on some of the most extreme expeditions on the planet to inspire others with life-long injuries and disabilities to achieve their goals. If you feel moved by Martin’s endeavour, please donate what you can here:  https://lnkd.in/dKxHNsG7