PH • GETTY Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grandson has become the first person to travel across Antarctica

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Patrick Bergel battled snowstorms, treacherous terrain, dangerous crevasses and temperatures which plunged to -28 for the epic adventure. He covered more than 3,500 miles behind the wheel of a Hyundai Sante Fe which completed the perilous journey to the South Pole and beyond travelling at an average speed of just 16.5mph. Intrepid Patrick undertook the ultimate road trip to commemorate the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s heroic Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-17.

Shackleton’s attempt to cross the continent, via the South Pole, is regarded as the last great journey of the “Heroic Age” of polar exploration. His ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice and sank, leaving his team marooned. Shackleton and five others made an 800-mile journey by open boat to seek help and eventually all the explorers were rescued. In contrast to Shackleton’s three-year expedition, Patrick took just 30 days to cross the frozen continent - a journey which had only previously only been accomplished by special vehicles fitted with tracks instead of wheels.

GETTY Shackleton and five others made an 800-mile journey by open boat

This was a proper expedition with a challenge to accomplish that nobody else had done before Patrick Bergel

Patrick, a tech entrepreneur from London said: “I’m not a polar explorer. I’m an indoor guy.” But he added: “This was a proper expedition with a challenge to accomplish that nobody else had done before.” Patrick was part of a small team which included three pick-up trucks to provided support.

Antarctica: Ice age the frozen world Wed, November 4, 2015 Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole. Most cruises to the continent visit the Antarctic Peninsula, which stretches toward South America where you will find Port Lockroy, a former British research station turned museum. Play slideshow Getty Images/Flickr RF 1 of 22 Icebergs in Antarctica

They drove for 20 hours a day who drove for 20 hours a day. Despite their low average speed at some points they were able to roar through the snow at 60mph. They used a standard Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4, which included the factory-spec 2.2-litre diesel engine, gearbox, and driveshaft. Engineers had to fit special tyres which run on one-tenth of the normal road tyre pressure so they could get on top of the snow rather than plough through it. The suspension had to be adjusted to cope with the new tyres.

PH He covered more than 3,500 miles behind the wheel of a Hyundai Sante Fe

The only other modification was to increase the size of the fuel tank and convert it to run on Jet A-1 fuel which was the only petrol available on the continent. Patrick said: “The driving experience is quite incredible. There are degrees of whiteout where you can’t see three feet, or you can’t see ten feet in front of you. “Because there’s no visual stimulus your brain’s not being fed enough information so it goes a bit haywire. You also start to make up things. “It’s normal to start hallucinating, seeing trees and forests around you, but it’s just dirt on the windscreen.