Erica Stanford — author, speaker and polar explorer in training

Until 2025 I had never really skied. In November 2027 I am skiing 2,000 km across Antarctica, from Berkner Island to the South Pole, and then to the Ross Ice Shelf on the far side of the continent, with polar explorer Ben Weber, who has skied there alone. Our expedition is the Polar Dogs.

After cycling 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats in eight and a half days for charity in 2022, I started looking for my next adventure. After meeting Ben in November 2024, and realising that the training for crossing Antarctica was manageable by breaking it into individual steps, I knew immediately that I wanted to ski across Antarctica too! By January 2025 I was fully in.

Since then I have been learning to ski, and preparing for the crossing with polar expedition and survival courses, crevasse rescue training, and strength training.