Sultan of Snow's plans stalled

Nabil Al Busaidi's Mount Vinson climb put on hold as luggage held in Chile

An adventurer set to conquer the highest peak in the Antarctic could be held up by an unlikely suspect… his luggage.

‘The Sultan of Snow’ otherwise known as Nabil Al Busaidi was the first Arab ever to reach the magnetic North Pole and now plans to scale Mount Vinson.

Last year Al Busaidi vowed never to return to the icy temperatures of the Earth’s poles after his epic trip North. He will join a club of only 1,400 intrepid climbers who have reached the roof of the Antarctic, which is located 1,200km from the South Pole and has a peak of 4,892 metres.

Despite his plans, Al Busaidi could never even make it to base camp as his luggage is currently lost in an airport baggage system. The Bahrain resident became stuck in Punta Arenas, Chile, while his luggage containing precious mountaineering equipment was lost in Brazil.

He was worried that his luggage would not arrive in time and he would have to forfeit the $40,000 trip. “Thanks to katabatic winds at Patriot Hills, our flights have been delayed, which gives me hope that my bags will get to me in time," he said.

“Even better was a phone call from British Airways with the news that my luggage had been located in Sao Paulo. In case the bags didn’t come, I still went shopping to try and replace as much of the $5,000 worth of equipment as possible.

“As it turns out, it seems that my bags have been misplaced in Sao Paulo and they are not sure where they are, which is a real blow after getting my hopes raised.”

Al Busaidi is no stranger to hard work, mere months after he reached the North Pole he accompanied US Navy Commander Rick Ryan and his team on an 888 mile cycling trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats in the UK – a journey they completed in a world record eight days and 10 hours.

Last month he and his brother Muneer Al Busaidi climbed Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. In preparation for his current aspiration Al Busaidi visited the French Alps to acclimatise for the feat of climbing one of the world’s seven summits.

He is undertaking the trip with the Renaissance Services Antarctic Expedition and will start at Vinson Base Camp at 2,150 metres before gradually climbing the Branscom glacier towards the mountain’s peak.