Law School alumna Jenny Davis completes solo ski to South Pole

On 10 January 2020, athlete Jenny Davis completed a solo ski to the South Pole, becoming the 8th woman in history to have done so.

Jenny's first attempt to reach the South Pole in 2018 was interrupted after 21 days when she had to be medically evacuated. This second attempt saw Jenny successfully ski the 715 miles to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet, Antarctica in just 42 days, skiing between 14-16 hours per day and transporting all 80kg of her equipment with her. During a journey that brought challenges such as a broken stove and a severe case of 'polar thigh' injury – which has required two operations including a skin graft since her return to the UK – Jenny pushed on to the Pole with updates on her progress being shared on social media by her father.

Jenny graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an LLB (Hons) in 2008 before completing her Diploma in 2009. Prior to embarking on her career as a professional athlete, Jenny worked in corporate law specialising in energy. In 2016, Jenny also had the opportunity to coach the first Iranian women's running team. She is a proud ambassador of charities Children in Need and Women in Sport, as well as a Polar Ambassador for the STEM initiative.

On achieving her goal of reaching the South Pole, Jenny said: “I feel hugely privileged to have been able to return to Antarctica for a second attempt to reach the South Pole and can’t thank my sponsors Atkins and The North Face. It wasn’t easy to recover from the disappointment of last year, so I was determined to push through the pain of my injury and make it to the finish line this time. With polar expeditions, the balance between success or failure is on a knife’s edge at all times, so that moment when the Pole came into sight and I knew that I would achieve what I set out to do was huge for me personally.

“I want to thank the Mr. Alex Woollard and his team at the Royal Free Hospital in London for their excellent care and the medical team in Antarctica for all their help and support throughout the expedition. There are some amazing people in the medical profession around the world, all of whom deserve our praise.”