Fiona Thornewill (born 10 July 1966) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

who reached the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

solo and unaided in a record 42 days in 2004, walking and skiing over 700 miles in the process.

Background

Born in Upton, Nottinghamshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Fiona was into sports as a child, especially gymnastics, horse-racing and ice-skating. She attended Lowes Wong Junior School in nearby Southwell before going to The Rodney School in Kirklington. Later, Fiona worked as an administrator for the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

where she able to gain experience in flying and gliding. She also opened her own gymnasium, but tragedy struck when her husband, Bill, was killed in a road accident. In 1992, Fiona met her present husband, Mike, who introduced her to outdoor sports such as mountaineering. Mike also had ambitions to cross the South Pole overland, and these plans encouraged Fiona to follow suit.

Expeditions

In 2000, Michael and Fiona became the first married couple to reach the South Pole, along with Catherine Hartley. In 2001, Mike and Fiona set up an expedition to reach the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

, raising money for charity in the process. Guiding them was

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

mountaineer and

arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

adventurer Paul Landry. They reached their destination in 56 days. Fiona's greatest feat came in 2004 though, when from the edge of the continent at Hercules Inlet, she reached the South Pole in 41 days on 10 January, beating her rival

Rosie Stancer Rose Cecilia "Rosie" Stancer (née Clayton; born 25 January 1960) is a British explorer and polar adventurer. Youth, education, family Rosie Stancer attended Butterstone House School in Scotland and then Heathfield School, Ascot. She holds ...

in the process. The previous record was 44 days, and the previous best for a woman was 50 days - by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

Liv Arneson. Walking 22 miles a day, Fiona had to pull a sledge weighing 285 pounds, and her success is perhaps even more remarkable considering she lost her satellite navigation system 10 days in. Base camp then had to follow Fiona's mandatory emergency beacon, which showed location, and temperature only, via satellite link. As news reached home she was congratulated by friends and family, and husband Mike was part of a party racing to meet her on

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

External links

Polar Challenge
- information about Fiona Thornewill's record-breaking walk to the South Pole. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornewill, Fiona 1966 births Living people People from Upton, Newark and Sherwood Members of the Order of the British Empire Female polar explorers