Indian-origin Adventurer Takes On 110-day Solo Antarctic Ski Quest

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He is also one of only 26 people to ski up the remote Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica before he was evacuated due to frostbite.

Akshay always had a penchant for swimming and running. (Photo Credits: Instagram)
Former US Marine Akshay Nanavati is on a daring expedition — a 110-day solo ski quest across Antarctica — a feat no one has attempted yet. The 40-year-old, who has roots in India, will have to bear temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius, The Times of India reported.
Having spent years as a Marine, adverse weather conditions were not much of a deterrent for Nanavati, but when his Bengaluru-based mother heard of his Antarctica plans four months ago, all she needed to know was, “Do they have good hotels there?” A laughing Akshay had to explain that he would be staying in a tent and that he would have to walk four minutes just to get to the toilet.
As a boy studying in Bengaluru, Akshay always had a penchant for swimming and running, his father Ajay told TOI. He added that as a teenager, Akshay was struggling with drugs and alcohol. At that time, a Ridley Scott movie, Black Hawk Down inspired him to join the US Marines. Even with a blood disorder that “two doctors said would kill him in Marine Corps boot camp”, Akshay not only managed to survive but also served in Iraq.
He also became one of only 26 people to ski up the remote Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica before he was evacuated due to frostbite. He lost two fingers in the bargain. One finger didn’t recover; the other did, but he had it preemptively removed because “once you get frostbite, you’re always more prone to it in the future,” his wife Melissa told The Times of India.
Speaking about the expedition, for which he had to raise close to Rs 9 crore, Akshay wrote on Instagram that he underwent extensive training to survive in extreme conditions and that he was confident of completing the quest safely.
“I have trained in such conditions, and Antarctic Logistics (polar expeditions tour guide company) and my friend Eric Philips will give me data that will help me cross the glaciers as safely as possible,” he wrote. Philips is also the director of Icetrek Expeditions and Equipment and polar expedition guide.
“Polar travel, especially in Antarctica, is not remotely as dangerous as free soloing or mountaineering (which it has often been compared to) but it is a lot more suffering, more so than any other effort of voluntary struggle I’ve ever experienced,” Akshay added.
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