But then Ford thinks about the three years he lost working his way back from injury and how much he ached to just play football then, and, for however long, those feelings melt away.

"Usually you think of icebergs as being transient things; they fragment and melt away. But not this one," observed polar expert Prof Mark Brandon.

But the fears quickly melt away.

Their worries seemed to melt away as soon as the girls led a traditional cheer around the campfire.

The ice and the ropes of light melt away.