Next expedition · Antarctica · November 2027
Polar Dogs
A 2,000 km ski crossing of Antarctica: from the outer coast of Berkner Island, up onto the polar plateau and through the South Pole, to the Ross Ice Shelf on the far side of the continent. Ben Weber and Erica Stanford, two 80 kg sledges, up to four months on the ice — unguided, under their own power.
RouteBerkner Island → South Pole → Ross Ice Shelf
On the iceUp to 120 days, November 2027 – February 2028
TeamBen Weber and Erica Stanford
StyleUnguided, on skis, two resupply drops
2,000KM
Coast to coast, on skis
~120D
On the ice, unguided
80KG
Sledges hauled from day one
3,100M
High point, the Titan Dome
−50°C
And the wind on top
The route
Coast to coast,
via the Pole
Both halves of this line have been skied before; as far as the team can establish, never as one continuous journey. The first half follows the ground Henry Worsley covered in 2015–16, and the climbs on and off the plateau use routes pioneered by Eric Philips.
Supported but unguided: two food-and-fuel drops flown in by ALE, one before the Pole and one at it. No kites, no vehicles, no guide — just the two of them, on skis. The route will run on a public live tracker, with daily check-ins and a complete GPS track kept from coast to coast.
Height gained and lost
Schematic profile of the crossing — distances and heights as planned.
Stage by stage
Berkner Island · 0–300 kmStart on the outer coast near Gould Bay, then gentle climbing across the island — warm enough to overheat, deep snow underfoot.
Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf · 150 kmFlat, apart from the sastrugi fields, to the edge of the continent proper.
Support Force Glacier · 110 kmSea level to 1,050 m through heavily crevassed zones, on the route Eric Philips pioneered in 2022–23.
The plateau · 700 kmA constant climb to 2,800 m at the Pole: −40 °C and lower, katabatic winds, sastrugi up to two metres high.
South Pole · 90°SRoughly 1,260 km in, and the second of the two resupply drops.
Titan Dome · 3,100 mStill climbing beyond the Pole, now with the sun in their eyes — the highest, coldest ground of the crossing.
Leverett Glacier · from 1,800 mThe gateway down through the Transantarctic Mountains. One of the safer glaciers, but roped up all the same.
Ross Ice Shelf · 2,000 kmThe finish, at the glacier’s grounding zone, after up to four months on the ice.
Who’s going
One of them has skied to the Pole, solo.
The other had never cross-country skied before 2025.
Scotland · Polar explorer
Ben Weber
Skied 1,200 km solo to the South Pole in 2022–23, crossed Greenland by ski, and cycled and skied 2,000 km across Canada in winter. His first polar training was on the sea ice at Iqaluit, Arctic Canada, in 2014, and he has since been mentored by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Away from the ice he is doing a PhD in corporate sustainability at St Andrews, and speaks professionally.
England · Author and speaker
Erica Stanford
Award-winning bestselling author of Crypto Wars, international keynote and TEDx speaker, and technology-risk adviser. She began polar training in 2025 having never cross-country skied: six days of hut-to-hut touring in the polar night of Arctic Finland at −40 °C, two weeks of polar survival training in Norway with Hannah McKeand, eight days hauling a pulk across the Hardangervidda, and crevasse rescue below Mont Blanc. Her endurance background is long-distance cycling and walking — Land’s End to John o’ Groats, the North Coast 500 and the Camino de Santiago.
The road to November 2027
Fourteen months of cold, then the crossing
The training is paid for by the team themselves and is already under way. Every trip between now and departure is also a test bed: partners’ kit goes into the field in Svalbard, Arctic Canada and Greenland before it ever reaches Antarctica.
2025Erica’s polar training begins. Six days of hut-to-hut ski touring in the polar night of Arctic Finland at −40 °C, then two weeks of expedition training in Norway with ALE guide Hannah McKeand.
2026Hauling and hazards. Eight days pulling pulks across the Hardangervidda through whiteouts, a blizzard and a hailstorm; ski technique in Oslo; crevasse rescue training below Mont Blanc.
Jan 2027Svalbard. Ten days at −30 °C, with wilderness first responder training.
Mar 2027Arctic Canada. Twenty-eight days, unguided — the full rehearsal.
2027Greenland. A 30-day crossing of the ice sheet, subject to funding.
Oct 2027Departure. Leave the UK for Chile, then the ALE flight to Union Glacier and on to the start.
Nov 2027Day 1. The outer coast of Berkner Island.
~Feb 2028Day 120. The Ross Ice Shelf.
Also on the ice
72 Holes South
Ben plays golf as often as he can, so he will play 72 holes across the continent — the first tee and the last hole 2,000 km apart. Temporary holes in the snow, played only where terrain, visibility and weather make it safe, and every ball recovered: the logistics are being worked through with Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions alongside the environmental permits for the crossing.
It sits inside the wider expedition, so it can be part of a sponsorship, or a partner can take it on by itself — the flag, the clubs, the nineteenth hole poured at the Pole.
Partner with the expedition
Your name on the sledges.
The crossing costs about $650,000 — around £485,000 — across one or more partners, most of it ALE flights and logistics, including the flight out from the far side of the continent. In return, a multi-year platform: fourteen months of training in the cold, up to 120 days and 2,000 km on the ice, then a documentary, a photography book and a speaking programme.
Naming rights and category exclusivity. Your brand on the sledges, tent and outer kit, and your flag at the South Pole. Products tested at −50 °C with a written field report. Talks for your teams and clients, before and after. Photo, film and drone content from every stage — and 72 Holes South as a strand of its own.
Kit partner already on board: Tundra Electronics, whose heated cases will keep the phones, sat phones, drone, Starlink and batteries alive in the sledges.
Follow the expedition
Training updates now, and dispatches from the ice from November 2027, are posted on polardogs.uk — subscribe there for an email whenever there is news, or follow the expedition on LinkedIn.