IN JANUARY 2025, I AM AIMING TO SKI TO THE SOUTH POLE IN ANTARCTICA!

Reaching the South Pole has been a dream of mine since I was a child, when my inspiring parents introduced me to adventurous tales of endurance, hardship and triumph. My head buzzed with the adventures of Scott, Shackleton and Ranulph Fiennes. As soon as I turned 16, I became a Member of the Royal Geographical Society and I spent my spare time poring over maps and expedition plans in the very same rooms that my heroes did so many years before.

I will be skiing the last degree to the South Pole at the start of January 2025 in a team of 3. We will be hauling our heavy pulks behind us which will carry all of our equipment, food, fuel and tent; in temperatures of -30c and at an altitude of 2500m. The route we have chosen will take 7-10 days depending on the weather, fitness and our navigation skills!

This is hugely exciting to be treading in the footsteps of my polar heroes, but also incredibly daunting, and I have already been training in polar skills and fitness for 3 years in preparation!

❄️🧊🇦🇶🎿⛺️❄️🧊🇦🇶🎿⛺️❄️🧊🇦🇶🎿⛺️

On a more personal note, as many of you will already know, on 18th August 2023, I lost both my parents in a tragic accident.

My world collapsed and I was quite honestly completely lost.

With time, I eventually started to slowly pick myself back up, and my expedition training has helped me enormously with this. I will be dedicating this challenge of a lifetime to their memory. It links me to them and I feel closer to them when I’m working towards my dream. They have always been my biggest advocates and supported my dreams wholeheartedly.

This expedition has given me the purpose that I needed in my very lowest times and I am absolutely determined to smash it.

I have chosen to raise funds for the incredible Parkinson’s UK Charity while training and taking part in this expedition This disease tightened it’s grip on my beloved mum (Anne Spencer) over the past few years, and I saw first hand the affect it had on her.

Parkinson’s is a horrendous, cruel disease that destroys the brain and robs people of their mobility and ability to live a full life. There is currently no cure. Parkinson’s UK provides crucial support to people living with this disease and to their families. They are at the forefront of research and are making major breakthroughs to develop treatment options.

THANK YOU for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page - every pound and penny raised will spur me on with my training and to ultimately reach the South Pole!

UPDATES

I will be posting updates about the training, preparation and from Antarctica itself on this page - please ensure you are logged into JustGiving (and not a guest) and update your preferences to allow updates if you would like to see them.

I'll also be posting updates on my instagram:

@adventure_vet_spence