Hackney People
Dwayne Fields
For someone who has camped in the Arctic in -50°C temperatures, snowbound London must be a tad underwhelming.
"Snow isn't the problem; it's the wind," says Dwayne Fields, who became the first black British man to reach the North Pole in April.
Adding: "The wind comes directly from the Pole. If you're walking into it, you're in the right direction. It also takes every ounce of warmth, but you can't let it hold you back. It's cold, it's windy, it's going to be nasty. You just get on with it."
Such determination helped him achieve his Arctic goal and it's evident when we meet in the snow - he's on crutches; with a broken leg suffered during a marathon.
His drive also stems from a pivotal moment when Dwayne and his brother had a loaded gun pointed at them. Fortunately, the weapon jammed.
The Stoke Newington resident and personal financial advisor reveals: "I'd also lost a friend to gun crime and I wanted to do something that said 'things need to change'. I wanted to do something unusual, abstract and inspirational."
So, with no experience of outdoor pursuits, he applied to join the Polar Challenge - a 350-nautical mile team race to the North Pole. He underwent an intense 10-month training schedule, including enduring a -15ºC cold chamber wearing nothing but shorts and a T-shirt.
"The day before I left I was asked if I was scared. It wasn't the cold I was scared of. My biggest worry was to have done all that and not finish," he says.
After a five-day walk from Resolute Bay, the last inhabitable space in Northern Canada, the race began in earnest. An average day would start with Dwayne and his team mates warming up the tent using the cooker, packing up camp, then a three-hour walk or ski across the Arctic to cover 15 to 20 miles. Sleep was cut down to just four or five hours a day.
In such harsh conditions maintaining energy levels are key and he was eating up to 7,500 calories a day.
"When you have nothing to look forward to except resting, food is very appealing.
"I craved chicken biryanis and lamb kormas. Every time I ate the noodles, I'd complain about it," he admits.
"I remember one day it was -50ºC, I had three pairs of mittens and two pairs of gloves on but I couldn't open my hands. It took 25 minutes to light the fire. For those minutes I got frustrated and wondered what I was doing there. But as soon as the match struck and there was fire.", he smiles. "It showed me no matter how bad things get, you can still get through it."
And yet Dwayne confesses that reaching the Pole was a let-down: "While it was amazing to get there, it was a bit of an anti-climax. Don't get me wrong, it's great to achieve your goal. But I had these preconceived ideas that there was going to be Northern Lights or a rainbow, but you get there and look down at the snow and think, 'well that's the same thing I saw 16 days ago'," he says.
Dwayne prefers to concentrate on the journey, which included a rare sighting of a polar bear with two cubs. He describes another pivotal moment: "We only had a few inches between each other in the tent, so if one moved we'd all move, we were spending 24-hours a day together. I didn't like it, I was used to having my own space.
"At one point, walking over the frozen sea, there was literally nothing. There was no difference between land and sky. It dawned on me these are the only two people in my world at the moment. And I suddenly felt closer to them."
Back home, Dwayne has now begun raising funds for a trip to the South Pole.
He also conducts talks around the country, often speaking to young people from African and Caribbean backgrounds.
He says: "I'm trying to use my experience to encourage and inspire. They can't always identify with the people who talk to them - they may think 'why should I listen to you?' But, whatever they're going through now, I've gone through it. Stabbings, shootings, fights. They can look at me and think: 'Yeah, this guy kind of knows. He looks like me, sounds like me and, to a degree, acts like me. But then he's gone and done something that's not the usual'."
Curriculum Vitae
- 1982 Born Linstead, Jamaica
- 1988 Moves to the UK
- 1999 Leaves Broomfield Secondary School, Arnos Grove
- 2001 Joins London Underground on apprenticeship
- 2005 Begins work at Barclays bank
- 2010 Completes Polar Challege
More information
Dwayne is looking for sponsors for his next trip to the South Pole. For info visit: www.dwaynefields.org
Page updated: 21 Jan 2011
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