Sir Ranulph Fiennes pulls out of Antarctic winter trek due to frostbite Sir Ranulph Fiennes climbed Everest aged 65 but will not be part of the Coldest Journey on Earth. Photograph: Liz Scarff/PA The serial expeditioner Sir Ranulph Fiennes has been forced to pull out of perhaps his greatest challenge yet, an unaided journey across Antarctica during winter, after getting frostbite during a training exercise. Fiennes, 68, who had planned to be among a small group taking an anticipated six months to travel 2,000 miles in temperatures as low as -70C, was frostbitten after mending a ski binding with bare hands at -30C after a fall at a training base, expedition organisers said. The expedition team aim to evacuate Fiennes to South Africa for treatment, but for now he remains stuck at the Antarctic training base because of a blizzard. A statement released by the organisers of the expedition, dubbed the Coldest Journey, said: "We regret to announce that Sir Ranulph Fiennes has developed a case of frostbite. The condition is such that he has very reluctantly decided with the support of the team doctor and in the interests of the success of the expedition and its associated aims, to withdraw from Antarctica while the possibility to do so still exists, before the onset of the Antarctic winter. This decision has not been taken lightly and it is, naturally, a huge disappointment to Fiennes and his colleagues. The five other team members will begin the trek on 21 March, the autumn equinox in the southern hemisphere. Two expedition members at a time on skis will lead a pair of tracked vehicles pulling sledges carrying modified shipping containers used for accommodation as well as fuel and supplies. They aim to become the first to complete such a trip, and are raising money for Seeing is Believing, a sight-loss charity. The team hope to move Fiennes by snowmobile from their training base to Princess Elisabeth station, a Belgian Antarctic base about 40 miles away. From there he will be flown to the Russian-run Novolazarevskaya station and then to Cape Town. The statement said the plan was on hold due to a blizzard. "Until there is a let-up in the weather conditions, Fiennes will be unable to leave," it added. The remaining expedition members, under the experienced leadership of the traverse manager, Brian Newham, have unanimously elected to continue with the winter crossing of Antarctica and will undertake the scientific and educational aspects of the project as originally planned, with its humanitarian benefits. This view is supported by the board of trustees. The expedition has reached the point where they can readily establish a supply depot on the Antarctic plateau. This puts them in an excellent position to start the crossing as scheduled on 21 March. Fiennes would support the expedition through promotion and fundraising, it added. Fiennes, whose decades of exploits include being the first person to travel by land to both the north and south poles, and climbing Everest at 65, is no stranger to frostbite. In 2000 in a north pole expedition he developed severe frostbite on the tops of his left fingers after being forced to remove his glove to pull supplies from the sea. On being told he should wait months for a safe amputation process he bought fretsaw blades from a local shop and removed the dead flesh himself.