Letter: High praise for a jolly Norwegian

Sir: We read with delight your front-page report (8 January) about Erling Kagge successfully reaching the South Pole last week. Taking into account the media's desire to make a competition between Mr Kagge and Sir Ranulf Fiennes where none exists, the article was fairly neutral. However, we would be very interested to know exactly to whom you refer that apparently consider him 'brattish'.

Having had the pleasure of being shipmates with Mr Kagge for almost a year in 1986-87 on a sailing adventure from Bermuda to Antarctica, we should like to state the he is rather a single-minded and exceptionally jolly Norwegian.

He deserves the highest praise for his endeavours from us, the Royal Geographical Society, the camp of R Fiennes, et al.

Yours faithfully,

PETER METCALFE

MULLE METCALFE

Stockholm

12 January