Far from the icy wilderness of the Arctic, Mike Horn is now in Switzerland undergoing treatment in an attempt to save his frozen fingers, particularly his thumbs. His descriptions of the pain he endured sound hellish, but he remains committed to tackling his original goal of circumnavigating the Arctic Circle, a feat never previously attempted.

Following the advice of his doctor on the 10th of April, Horn stayed in his tent to bathe his hands in warm water. With the hours crawling by and the pain becoming unbearable, he contacted the doctor by satellite phone again and was told to take the morphine tablets in his first-aid kit. At that point, he knew his polar traverse was really over.

With the drugs taking the edge off the pain, he could finally sleep, only to be awoken at 2400hrs GMT by the sound of the approaching MI8 helicopter sent by sponsors Groupama Assistance.

The evacuation, however, was an adventure in itself. The strength of the wind and the fragility of the ice meant there was to be no landing. Despite the condition of his hands, there was no alternative but for Horn to scramble up a rope ladder, pulling his equipment up behind him. Once on board he was greeted by a Russian doctor and film crew.

First stop was a meteorological base at Dickson, after a flight of 8 hours. There he was immediately hospitalized, before being transported to Moscow and on to Noril'sk, the biggest town north of the Arctic Circle, where a frostbite specialist from Chamonix met him. From there, it was straight on to the hospital in Geneva for intravascular vasodilator injections and antiseptic soaks, a treatment that virtually pushes the blood to the extremities, encouraging a regrowth of dead tissue.

The result is that Horn will not need amputation of his fingers, but only the removal of the upper sections of his thumbs. He is optimistic that he will regain full use of his fingers and will continue the Arktos Expedition once they have healed. However, the hardest part is dealing with his disappointment at not having achieved the task he set out to.

Horn, though, is not a man to dwell on the negatives. He says he is happy with the progress he made - 45 days on the ice over the most difficult terrain, with a heavily laden sledge and extremely bad weather conditions. He arrived at 85°N, "the point where it's all the way downhill to the Pole," where the terrain flattens out, the kite can be used and the sledge is lighter. Also, this partial traverse has given him the opportunity to test his equipment, and gain the necessary knowledge and experience to ensure that his circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle, his originally planned expedition, will be a success.

— Dominique le Roux, MountainZone.com Correspondent