OSLO, Dec 31 : A Norwegian .Who tried to cross the Antarctic single-handed abandoned the effort because of severe frostbite, his spokesman said on Saturday, reports Reuter.

Boerge Ousland. 33. was rescued by an aircraft on Saturday In the icy wilderness and was recuperating at Patriot Hills, the US South Pole base, spokesman Hans Christian Erlandsen told the Norwegian news agency NTB.

"Boerge Ousland has given up the attempt to cross the Antarctic on his own." Erlandsen was quoted as saying. "The reason Is serious frostbite."

He said Ousland reached the South Pole on December 21 after a 44-day trek covering nearly 1.300 km (807.8 . miles).