An explorer from Battersea has completed a 94-mile mid-winter crossing of an icecap known as the grumpiest on earth almost four years to the week since he last tried and failed.

Wandsworth Times:

Alex Hibbert, 29, was forced to call for help at his support team base in February 2012 when his first attempt at the route across the Vatnajökull icecap was scuppered by double-hurricane force winds.

February 20, 2012: Explorer rescued from Icelandic glacier after calling dad

Now, alongside two other explorers, James Wheeldon and Brad Jarvis, he has returned to Iceland to conquer the same route. 

He was he was delighted to go back to the icecap.

Mr Hibbert said: "It was a combination of relief that I had drawn a line under it.

"That ice cap and I had a bad relationship, you do tend to think of them like people and have a positive or negative experience.

"A few people I work with said I should leave it alone, that there are other ice caps, but I did not feel like that.

"There was unfinished business."

The explorer said that going out to extreme locations was a shock to the system, but that acclimatising on the return to the UK and Battersea was always easier. 

Mr Hibbert said: "I slip back into real life easily as I'm instantly busy so I do not have time to sit down and reflect.

"I worked with a sensible, resilient and professional team and it has been a pleasure to share the experience with them and successfully put a demon to rest.

"The experience on the ice and media furore after 2012 was difficult and so to draw a positive line under the project and see it as a springboard to other upcoming polar journeys is beyond satisfying for me."

Wandsworth Times:

The trio set out from the ring road region around Kirkjubæjarklaustur on January 5 on the journey that covered hills, frozen rivers and lava fields.

They had to endure temperatures below -30 degrees and battle high-speed winds during days with six hours of sunlight.