SCOTTISH adventurer Mostafa Salameh has become the first Muslim to complete the gruelling crossing of the icy wastes of Greenland from North to South.
The explorer and his team spent three weeks skiing across snow and ice pulling a 100 kg sled stocked with supplies, finishing the gruelling trek last week.
Along the way he had to dodge polar bears and cope with wildly fluctuating temperatures which rose from well below freezing start of the trip to a balmy 20 degrees at the end.
Mr Salameh, a Scottish-Jordanian Muslim, has previously climbed Everest, reached the peaks of the seven highest mountains on each of the continents, and made it to the North Pole and South Poles.
He said his latest adventure had been "wonderful", despite the hardship of blisters, weightloss and aching muscles. Greenland is the world's largest island, and is 1,600 miles long from North to South.
The adventurer said: "It was three weeks of peace and serenity, meditating and connecting with the universe and our creator, away from civilisation and its distracting noises.
"A state of mind that makes us appreciate all that we have in this life and do not take things for granted."
The team skied every day for eight hours, starting at 10 am. When the weather became to hot to travel during the day they switched the start to 5 am.
Greenland is under constant daylight at this time of year, which Mr Salameh said drained his body and mind by disrupting sleeping patterns. And then there was the local wildlife to contend with.
He said: "Polar Bears were the spice of our adventure, we saw some of them from a distance
"Luckily, they were looking for seals, who in turn were hiding beneath the ice waiting for summer to give birth to their babies. However, the constant watchfulness made us alternate guarding our camp during the night.
"I spent every night watching the area for two hours. Thank God none came close."
The 45-year-old was brought up in a refugee camp before coming to the UK to study at Edinburgh University. He has received a number of awards for his adventures, and was knighted by the King of Jordan for his services to charity after raising more than £2 million.
He dedicated the adventure to King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Jordanian people, the Arab people, and to all of Scotland.
Mr Salameh said: "What kept me going through this challenging journey is my aim to raise high and proudly the Jordanian flag on top of new remote spots, also in support of cancer patients, especially the King Hussein Cancer Centre, for refugees everywhere, and to support the first Jordanian women team, aiming to summit Everest 2018 and for my adopted home Scotland ."
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