Swiss adventurers abandon Greenland record attempt

Three Swiss adventurers have given up their quest to cross Greenland on skis and pulled by kites in record time, organisers said on Friday.

Bad weather conditions, including snow and erratic winds, forced Mike Horn, Jean Troillet and Erhard Loretan to abandon their hopes of covering the 570 kilometres faster than the 11 day record set by a Czech team last year.

However, they returned to their departure point at Angmagssalik on Greenland’s eastern coast on Thursday due to “unusable winds”. The conditions meant they failed to reach Sondre Stromfjord on the western coast, a statement said.

“Mike Horn, Jean Troillet and Erhard Loretan have decided to give up, as they have no hope of completing their attempt in the remaining time,” said the statement issued in Geneva.

Loretan and Troillet are Swiss mountaineers while Horn is a South African adventurer who lives in the Swiss Alps.

Loretan has climbed all 14 peaks in the world exceeding 8,000 metres, while Troillet has scaled eight of them, organisers said.

Last year, Horn circled the globe at the equator by sailing, rowing, walking and cycling.

swissinfo with agencies