Darren Edwards – South Pole Expedition

SOUTH POLE CHALLENGE  – 333 KILOMETRES IN A SIT-SKI

In December 2024, record-breaking Disabled Adventurer Darren Edwards will attempt a new world record by completing the longest sit-ski expedition in the history of polar exploration.

Paralysed from the chest down and operating at the absolute limit of what is possible for someone with a high-level Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Darren’s epic undertaking to reach the South Pole will see him ski 333 kilometres in just 20 days in -20 degree temperatures. Currently, the furthest distance travelled by a sit-ski to reach the South Pole is 111 kilometres, making this a gargantuan undertaking.

Starting at 87° South and ending at 90° South, the Geographical South Pole, Darren will be supported by a team made up of three friends, including Matt Luxton the man who saved Darren’s life on the day of his life-changing climbing accident in 2016.

Antarctica is a dangerous place for anyone, let alone someone with a high-level Spinal Cord Injury. Working together, the team will face the risk of extreme temperatures, altitude sickness, exhaustion, and adverse environmental conditions including sastrugi, high winds, snowstorms, and crevasses.

In addition to changing perceptions of disability, the purpose behind Darren Edwards’ South Pole Challenge is to raise £300,000 for the charity ‘Wings for Life’ which seeks to find a cure for Spinal Cord Injury, and funds research and clinical trials globally – with astonishing results.

ABOUT DARREN EDWARDS

Darren Edwards is a former mountaineer and Army Reservist who sustained a life-changing injury in the summer of 2016. The near-fatal climbing accident would leave Darren permanently paralysed from the chest down. With determination, grit and positivity, Darren has overcome adversity by becoming a Disabled Adventurer, Expedition Leader and Motivational Speaker.

On the 6th of August 2016, Darren Edward’s life changed forever. Whilst rock climbing in North Wales, a section of rock unexpectedly shifted below his feet and Darren was sent tumbling uncontrollably toward his climbing partner 100ft below.

The injury Darren sustained would leave him instantly paralysed from the chest down and with a severe spinal cord injury. Darren had been incredibly lucky to survive. Yet, as he was prepared for aerial extraction by the Mountain Rescue, Darren made an important and life-changing commitment to himself. He would not be beaten.

Darren Edwards is a living testament to the boundless capabilities of the human spirit. Surviving a devastating, life-changing climbing accident that very nearly claimed his life, and could so easily have destroyed his spirit, Darren has instead used it as a catalyst for growth.

What followed his accident was an arduous five-month journey through intensive care, surgery, and rehabilitation. Whilst Darren was able to come to terms with the events of that day, it would be accepting the limitations and implications of his disability that would require genuine grit and resilience.

Darren has pushed himself at each stage of his rehabilitation to come back stronger and to prove what can be achieved by someone with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and disability. Adventure has very much been at the heart of Darren’s recovery. Since first dreaming of learning to kayak as a way in which he could continue to explore the great outdoors, Darren has gone on to train as part of Great Britain’s Paracanoe Team, to pioneer adaptive freediving in the UK, and in 2021, to become the first disabled person to kayak from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’ Groats in Scotland – a distance of over 1,400 kilometres. In October 2022, Darren became the first disabled person to complete the World Marathon Challenge and in April 2023, Darren was part of the first all-disabled team to cross Europe’s largest Ice Cap unsupported.

Now, a record-breaking Disabled Adventurer, Darren has redefined the limits of what is thought possible for an individual with a Spinal Cord Injury.