What's the nastiest injury I've sustained? Just a frostbitten toe... but thankfully it's still intact.

I don't think of myself as an explorer but as an athlete.

My Antarctic expedition is just about doable, just feasible and that's what is exciting to me. If I knew it was possible, if I knew I could do it without too much bother, I wouldn't be interested.

Environmental scientists in Canada said it was impossible for me to get to the Pole in 2004... I said 'no,' it's still OK, and I can still get there, and I did.

I'm not particularly gifted; I'm not genetically freakish in any sense; I'm absolutely average.

Expeditions are escapism. The stuff that we're normally concerned about just doesn't matter out there. Tax returns, gas bill, none of it. Life becomes very simple, it's about moving in a certain direction - north if you're going north - staying warm and not getting eaten. That's it.

I've diced with death the most cycling around London. Black cabs are far more dangerous than polar bears.

When I'm skiing, I listen to electronic music. It's repetitive and let's me get into a groove and crank out the miles.