Soldier eyes pole position

Staff Sergeant Steve Reeves, 40, from Sturminster Newton is with the Royal Signals and won his place on the final selection team after beating 159 entries from the regular and Territorial Army.

He will be one of the final eight individuals who will now be put through the most challenging arctic training in the Alps this summer and in Norway later this year ready for North Pole 08, an expedition which will be the first army team walk to the geographical North Pole.

Steve said: "After leaving school the Army was the only thing I ever wanted to do.

"When I heard about the expedition it was too great a challenge to resist."

North Pole 08 will be led by Captain Andrew Cooney, who became the youngest person to walk to the South Pole in 2003.

He now aims to be the youngest person to walk to both poles and said: "The eight candidates who have made it to the Alpine selection stage have demonstrated the determination and attitude necessary to succeed in such inhospitable conditions.

"The next phase of selection will really push them to their limits and discover what they're made of. By the end of the selection process we will have identified the very best individuals to walk to the North Pole and claim their place in the record books."

If successful each candidate will have to walk up to 700 miles across the frozen Arctic Ocean in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius. The expedition will set off in spring 2008, almost 100 years since Henson and Peary first reached the Pole in 1909.

The Alpine training is being led by W02 Damon Blackband who will also take the team to Norway.

He said: "The successful candidates will have to demonstrate exceptional drive and enthusiasm to make the final selection. I will be putting each and every candidate through the most extreme training to prepare them for the expedition. If they want to make the final cut they'll have to impress me. There's no room for passengers."