Adventurer • United Kingdom
I truly feel alive when I am battling against the elements in this mighty but fragile ice scape. As a woman and a mother working in a male dominated environment I have learned to believe in my abilities.
Starting out as a mother of young triplets, with no outdoor experience she answered an advert in a newspaper and was chosen to be a part of the first all women’s expedition to reach the Geographical North Pole. Three years later she skied from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and in 2002, just 5 years after her first polar expedition put together and skied from the land to the North Pole and along with her team mate Caroline Hamilton became the first and only women in history to ski to the North and South Poles as part of all women teams.
When her solo North Pole expedition in 2005 was cut short after 21 days on the sea ice, she turned her attention to science and the difficulties facing the Arctic Ocean’s melting ice covering. She was asked to be the ice leader of three major scientific expeditions which took part 2009, 10 and 11. She has worked with NASA, The European Space Agency and many scientific institutions, tracking and measuring ice and collecting data at the extreme ends of the planet. She has sledge-hauled over 2000 miles, in the most inhospitable environments in the world, completing over 10 polar expeditions and has seen first hand the disappearing sea ice.