A FEARLESS Royal Marine who is famed for his epic physical adventures has chalked up yet another admirable achievement.

Lee Spencer, who lives at Horrabridge, has just come back from a skiiing expedition across a notoriously difficult route across the snowy wastes of northern Norway.

If that was not hard enough, even for a Royal Marine Arctic veteran warfare specialist and senior ski instructor — he only has one leg.

Although Lee and his team were thwarted in completing the 90-mile cross-country ski ­— he is happy to have proved he has achieved a lot to overcome limits from having only one leg: ‘I’ve never skied in such tough conditions. The snow was warmer than the ground conditions, so we could not glide across the snow as normal because our skiis just stuck to the snow. This made it very hard work and tired us out. Also, it was white-out conditions, so it was hard to see the terrain.’

The team, who were skiing with the 65deg North charity, which provides adventures for wounded and injured people like Lee, were stopped, not by the weather, but out of consideration for an injured colleague who had to be airlifted to safety after falling.

Lee said: ‘It would have been wrong and unsafe to keep going while we were distracted and worried about him. So, we spent the time skiing merely for fun. I not only proved to myself I could overcome the limits of having one leg with new techniques, but gained confidence and renewed joy from skiing without pressure. We all also achieved the mission of taking part in an expedition providing rehabilitation and recovery, while rediscovering our spirit of adventure. To continue wouldn’t have been in the right spirit — it wasn’t do-or-die.’

The expedition recreated a WWII Norwegian resistance fighters’ escape after sabotaging a Nazi heavy water plant and re-told in the film, The Heroes of Telemark.

Lee had not skied since the loss of his leg after being hit in a road accident while helping at an earlier crash, but it has not stopped him pushing the boundaries.

The expedition is one of several he is planning to continue his mission to show how people should not be defined merely by their disability — while also raising funds to allow ex-service, like him, and serving military personnel to undertake physical and mental challenges which they thrive on.

Having found fame with two Atlantic rowing crossings, he is now raring to achieve more — including a cross-Channel relay in aid of the Bowra Foundation which supports people with nuerological disorders. which he is now training and a solo cross-Channel swim. Find out more at https://www.bowra-foundation.org/

Lee attempted his own unique long-distance challenge last year — the UK Triathlon, but was let down by a combination of issues with his above-knee amputated leg and adverse weather. He is planning to try again in 2025.

He explained: ‘I do all this because I want to show that no one has to be defined by their disability and that anyone can live their best life by adapting and not accepting their supposed limitations.

‘I also raise funds for charities that enable wounded or injured serving and non-serving military personnel to rediscover their spirit of adventure which is ingrained into us all.’

To support 65deg North go to this link: https://www.65degreesnorth.co.uk/