Polar Scot plans new expedition

Dave Mill is back home in Scotland

A Scot has returned home after setting a new record for walking solo and unaided towards the North Pole.

Dave Mill, from Kenmore in Perthshire, braved a polar bear and broken equipment during his 43-day trek before melting ice forced him to abandon the attempt.

But the 33-year-old says he is planning a third attempt to complete the journey next year.

Mr Mill was forced to turn back

Mr Mill was speaking after he arrived back on Scottish soil at Glasgow Airport on Friday.

The explorer had set off from Ward Hunt Island in Canada on 12 April and had already completed 287 miles of his 400 mile trek before he took the decision to pull out.

Had he succeeded he would have become the first person to walk solo and unaided from Canada to the North Pole.

Mr Mill endured temperatures as low as -40C as he trudged north - but ironically it was the warm weather that defeated him in the end.

As temperatures soared to -3C, the ice floes on which he was walking became more and more unstable.

A sandwich and a cold glass of beer - that's all I could think about

Dave Mill

On several occasions he had to stop to repair his skis, which had snapped in two.

He spent four days confined to a makeshift camp before he took the decision to call in his back-up team to airlift him from the ice.

"The ice was playing a game this year," he said.

"There was more bad ice and more bad ice and more bad ice.

"I was stuck in an area completely surrounded by water, and I mean big water, we're talking lakes twice the size of Loch Tay.

"I got my shovel out and cleared a 40m runway for the aircraft, then all I had to do was sit tight and wait for them.

Deteriorating weather

"I told them the situation, that there was zero wind and good visibility, and they told me they would have to consider what to do and then call me back in an hour.

"It was a very long hour."

But the moment the decision to send the plane in was taken, the weather began to deteriorate.

For a second time Mr Mill left his tent and cleared the runway.

"It was a shorter runway this time, I angled it so he could come in directly into the wind.

Mr Mill has supported Sir Ranulph Fiennes

"After one pass which he used to flatten the runway, the pilot, Paul, managed to put the plane down.

"His co-pilot got out and her first words to me were, 'Are you Dave Mill?'

"All Paul said was, 'That was a bit bumpy'."

Mr Mill recalled that as he waited for the light aircraft to rescue him, he had only one thought on his mind - a cheese and tomato sandwich.

"That sandwich and a cold glass of beer - that's all I could think about," he said.

Mr Mill also revealed that he had been tracked by a polar bear for much of his trek.

"I didn't actually see the bear, but I discovered he had been sleeping around 400 metres from me.

"He followed me for several days, but eventually I think he got fed up because he couldn't hack the pace!

Ripped tent

"There was a wolf as well, which followed me for much of the trip.

"I eventually felt he was looking out for me, but I had to scare him off when he ripped my tent. I didn't want to shoot him so I fired a firecracker into the air."

Despite the trials of his trip, Mr Mill intends to try again next year.

"There are a few areas to look at, taking a spare ski next time for one," he said.

"It'll be good fun next year because there'll be a race on.

"I'm planning to set off between 8 and15 March and there's a Norwegian guy going at the same time.

"So at last we'll beat the Norwegians at something."

Mr Mill was on the back-up expedition that followed Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the same route last year, when the English explorer had to abort his mission due to frostbite.