The Great Bathgate Arctic Adventure follows ten pupils from Bathgate Academy as they become part of an expedition to East Greenland led by The Polar Academy founder Craig Mathieson. We join the teenagers during each step of their daunting, exhilarating but ultimately life-changing journey.

Programme 2 begins back in the autumn of 2018. Training intensifies as the team learn the physical as well as emotional skills required to navigate, camp and haul heavy sledges in the wilderness. They discover how to adapt to Arctic conditions with a visit to Napier University’s cold chamber, and then put the theory into practice as they camp in icy conditions high in the Cairngorms.

As their fears lessen and their confidence grows, we learn more about the team as individuals as they open up about their own personal stories and the difficulties that they have faced growing up.

As autumn turns to winter, their endurance levels and team spirit are at an all-time high, but then, with Christmas just around the corner, Craig starts to realise that something is not right with the team. And one pupil in the standby group gets a surprise when he turns up at his door with unexpected news.

With the training programme complete, soon it is time to enter truly unchartered territory as they pack their bags and head off from Glasgow Airport to Greenland. It is an adventure of a lifetime, and we are with them every step of the way. Show less