About John Wilton-Davies

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

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 is now ready to achieve a first in polar travel, testing the human body against the extremes of nature, and bringing a major polar record to Britain.

"And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore. If you are a brave man you will do nothing: if you are fearful you may do much, for none but cowards have need to prove their bravery. Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, 'what is the use?' For we are a nation of shopkeepers, and no shopkeeper will look at research which does not promise him a financial return within a year. And so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal."

[Apsley Cherry-Garrard]