About John Wilton-Davies

John is 47, and a business consultant from Exeter, England. He has two sons: Zak aged 6 and Sam, 4.

John grew up in Hampshire, and went to university in London. He lived in Jersey for a while and moved to Exeter in 1982. With a background in finance and investment, he now runs a small consultancy firm helping financial advisers. He is a keen tennis player and footballer.

In 2004, in a moment of serious mid-life crisis, John decided he wanted to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole. With no experience of winter travel at all he sought expert help with training and the practical application of new skills. After brief trips to Svalbard and Greenland, he set out alone across Antarctica, travelling 1,000 km in 60 days.

Near the mid-point of the expedition, he entered a huge unmapped crevasse field  (entirely buried by the ice, the mountain that creates this crevasse field is now named after him), giving him nightmares for weeks afterwards, and even camped on top of a crevasse. He found the journey physically tolerable, but suffered from the isolation and lack of external stimulus for much of the time.

Having taken on that expedition as an unknown experience and adventure, John believes he is now capable of achieving a first in polar travel, testing the human body against the extremes of nature, and bringing a major polar record to Britain.

To those of us observing and supporting his adventure, the performance of this everyman was inspiring. John is planning another go at it during the coming 2010-11 season. I am confident that he will reach his objective.         [Adam Brown, Communications Officer, Patriot Hills, Antarctica]

You are gloriously bonkers. I salute you!
[Philip Attfield, Creative Director, Men from Mars]