Patrick Woodhead

Patrick Woodhead (born November 20, 1975) is an English polar adventurer, entrepreneur and author. He currently runs White Desert, a company that arranges luxury adventures into the interior of the Antarctic.

Early life and expeditions After completing a university degree in philosophy and ancient history, Woodhead traveled extensively. For a period of 8–10 years he alternately took jobs as a ski instructor in Canada, a park ranger in Namibia, explored unclimbed mountains in Krygistan, and went on expeditions in the Amazon and Congo.

Despite having no previous polar experience, in November, 2002, at the age of 27 he and fellow adventurers Tom Avery, Andy Gerber, and polar guide Paul Landry, made a trek across Antarctica from the edge of the continent near the Patriot Hills camp to the South Pole in 45 days and 6 hours. The expedition used snowkiting when possible to aid the trip.

In 2004 Woodhead led the first ever east to west traverse of Antarctica, covering 1850 km in a total of 75 days. Woodhead stated that before that time only 11 people had done a full traverse of the continent.

In May 2015, Woodhead was part of a team that accomplished the fastest horizontal coast-to-coast crossing of Greenland, making the crossing in 9 days, 19 hours, and 40 minutes. The team was led by Tom Avery, and included Andy Gerber and George Wells. The weather was severe at the end of the trip, and Wells lost eight toes to frostbite.

Woodhead has stressed the importance of preserving the natural conditions of the continent.