THE TWO IRISH adventurers who had been hoping to stage the first ever Irish trek to the North Pole have been forced to abandon the ice after an accident at the weekend.

Clare O’Leary and Mike O’Shea had been attempting to cover the 780km route (a feat once dubbed ‘ten times harder than Everest’) by the end of next month.

However, they’ll now be heading home after being injured in the sled accident on Sunday.

According to an update from the pair’s team, it happened when a large block of ice became dislodged and moved as they were lowering O’Shea’s 80kg sled.

The sled subsequently fell causing injuries to both — O’Shea suffered an injury to his back while O’Leary’s knee was damaged.

Luckily, a charter flight scheduled to resupply them yesterday was able to land on the ice at the team’s location and bring them safely back to Resolute in Northern Canada.

They had covered around 60km since starting out on Friday 7 March.

It’s the second time the pair have been forced to pull out of a Pole attempt — logistical problems meant they also had to abandon a trek they set out on two years ago.

They’re expected to make their return journey to Ireland over the next 7 to 10 days.

Read: Here’s why the first ever Irish trek to the North Pole could be the last ever by humans

Read: Irish North Pole duo forced to turn back after facing €120k bill