Hannah McKeand is an English polar explorer. In 2006 she set the record for the fastest journey (man or woman) to 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 ...

a journey she completed solo and in just 39 days, 9 hours and 33 minutes. The record was broken in 2008 by

Todd Carmichael Todd Carmichael is an American entrepreneur, adventure traveler, philanthropist, television personality, author, inventor, and producer. Carmichael is the CEO and co-founder for Philadelphia-based La Colombe. He is the first American to complete ...

of Spokane, Washington, United States. In March 2008 she attempted 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 rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

alone and unsupported but had to abandon the trip after falling through the ice and badly damaging her shoulder and back. McKeand is a public speaker and polar consultant.

Early life

McKeand was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Her mother Julian Burbury was an actress and her father Ian McKeand was a theatre director and now teaches at Newark College. Until she was 6 the family lived in St Andrews, Scotland where her father ran the

Byre Theatre The Byre Theatre is a theatre in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was founded in 1933 by Charles Marford, an actor (found in the '' Who's Who'' of 1921) and Alexander B. Paterson, a local journalist and playwright, with help from a theatre group ...

. Next the family moved to the north coast of Somerset where she spent the rest of her childhood. She attended St Audries School, and the Richard Huish College and took two years out before university to work with FEI carriage horses. She attended the

University of Wales Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest Academic degree, degree awarding institution in Wale ...

and achieved a degree in Classics.

Early career

Her first job was a statistician for the Automobile Association, which she left after 3 years to pursue a career in theatre. She was the Marketing Manager then Head of Touring for the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, Berkshire and the all-male Shakespeare company Propeller for nearly 10 years. In 2004 she first skied to the South Pole and in 2005 gave up her job in theatre to sail around the world in the

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a biennial race that takes paying amateur crews on one or more legs of a circumnavigation of the globe in 11 specially-designed identical yachts owned by Clipper Ventures. Professional skippers and addi ...

and ski solo to the South Pole.

Achievements

*2006 Guinness World Record, fastest person to ski solo and unsupported from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. Held for four years, the fastest woman until 2016.SISTER SKIING SOLO FOR THE SOUTH POLE
/ref> *2007 Sue Ryder Foundation Woman of the Year *2007

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...

Adventurer of the Year Award, nominee *2007 ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine Woman of Achievement Award *2007 The Best of Explorersweb Awards *2008 Became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society *2009 Invited to present the Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards at St James' Palace and meet His Royal Highness Prince Philip *2010 Invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street for the Mark Evison Foundation with Prime Minister Gordon Brown *2010 Completed more South Pole expeditions than anyone in history *2010 Invited to join the

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

*2018 AITO Travel Writer of the Yea
AITO Travel Writer Awards

References

External links

*
Polar Expedition Training
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeand, Hannah English explorers Explorers of the Arctic Living people English polar explorers Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter 1973 births Fellows of the Explorers Club