Dimplex heaters will be providing vital heating and warmth for explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his team on The Coldest Journey, a world first attempt to cross the Antarctic continent during the polar winter, where temperatures can plummet to minus 90°Celsius.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, regarded as the world’s greatest living explorer, previously used Dimplex in his Transglobe Expedition, which took place from 1979–1982 and was the first and only vertical Transglobe expedition. He always tries to use equipment that he has used before in difficult circumstances which was why he requested support from the UK manufacturer for The Coldest Journey, said Karen Trewick, Dimplex’s director of communications.

“We know our products are used in all sorts of places but we hadn’t realised they had already proved themselves on previous expedition challenges,” she said.

“The team will be enduring some of the most extreme, coldest conditions on earth and we’re extremely proud to be able to provide some support for this really exciting challenge.”

The 2,000-mile journey across the ice from Novolazarevskaya to the Ross Sea will take place in the polar winter, between March and September 2013, mostly in complete darkness. The team will have to be entirely self sufficient and will travel across the ice by ski, with specially adapted track type tractors pulling two cabooses that provide the team with space for scientific work, accommodation and storage and fitted with the Dimplex heaters.

Space in the cabooses is at a premium and fuel and six months’ supplies also have to be transported as the six-man ice group will be crossing a world that is completely inaccessible by search and rescue and by aircraft in winter due to the dangerous conditions. Dimplex space saving products were chosen including FX20V and BUH fan heaters fans for instant bursts of warmth, backed by two CXLS12 storage heaters for background heat and a TUX tubular heater for the storage area.

The expedition set off on 6 December by ship from London, with the primary aim to conquer the last remaining polar challenge, as well as raise $10 million for Seeing is Believing, the global charity initiative to tackle avoidable blindness. In addition, the expedition will also conduct extensive scientific research as well as providing far-reaching educational value and study opportunities for the next generation of explorers and researchers.

For 68-year old Sir Ranulph, The Coldest Journey is the latest in a long line of record-breaking achievements that have seen him become the first man to reach both Poles by surface travel and the oldest Briton to climb Everest. It will be the most testing expedition yet, he said.

“This will be my greatest challenge to date. We will stretch the limits of human endurance and use the unique opportunity to carry out scientific tasks in the extreme polar environment which will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the true effects of global warming on the Antarctic continent.”

For full details and information on how to follow the expedition and support the charity: www.thecoldestjourney.org.