Mark Woods makes it to the South Pole last January 17th.

A polar explorer who is seeking to highlight the issue of climate change reached the first of the two poles he intends to ski to, on his own last January 17^th.

Mark Wood (www.markwoodexplorer.com/blog), a former firefighter from Coventry, took exactly 50 days to ski 612 nautical miles to the South Pole. He wants to become the first person to solo ski South and North Poles consecutively, which Sir Ranulph Fiennes termed “toughest journey on the planet”.

 “I am now standing at the Geographic South Pole and I feel good,” said Mark. “I’d like to say I feel like I’m on top of the world, but I’m actually at the bottom of the world! To be here is just incredible, absolutely amazing even though I know I’m only half way through the expedition.”

Reaching the South Pole exactly 50 days after he set off, Mark hasn’t seen a sole since  November 21, 2011 (other than a brief surprise encounter with a group of Norwegian kite surfers!).

Over 100 people have sponsored Mark via www.thedonation.org.uk  by doing simple actions whilst he’s on ice, like stopping to use plastic bags, eating less meat, or making draft excluders. Together, they’ve saved over 21 tonnes CO2.

From the South Pole, Mark will return to Punta Arenas, Chile, where he will fly up to the Arctic Circle to prepare for the next leg of his journey to the North Pole, where under the veil of complete darkness he will attempt the second leg of this epic journey.

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