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Patrick Woodhead

Patrick John Stuart Woodhead (born 20 November 1975 in Huntingon, Cambridgeshire) is an English writer, adventurer and owner of White Desert Ltd, the world's only luxury camp on the Antarctic continent.

Personal Life

Woodhead grew up in Huntingdon, Cambridgshire. He is the son of pharmaceutical publishers Stuart and Jennifer Woodhead. He was educated at Uppingham School in Leicestershire, followed by the University of Bristol where he graduated with a degree in Ancient History.

From an early age he learned to climb and developed a love for adventure, especially within the polar regions.

Woodhead speaks English and French, and has two sisters.

Woodhead married South African, Robyn Elizabeth Garratt in 2008. They have two children together, aged 5 and 3, and divide their time between their homes in London, Cape Town and Antarctica.

Career

Writing

Woodhead's first book, Misadventures in a White Desert (published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2003) detailed his first ever polar expedition. Exactly 100 years on from Scott and Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole, he travelled 1100km into the forbidding interior of Antarctica and, in doing so, became part of the youngest and fastest team to ever reach 90 degrees South - all with the help of some very large kites.

Following the success of his first book, Woodhead was offered a three-book deal with Random House. His first adventure thriller was published in 2010, entitled The Forbidden Temple. This has been translated into ten languages worldwide. The book sees two ambitious young climbers stumble upon a great secret hidden in the depths of the Himalayas, who then find themselves on the run from the Chinese Secret Police. Woodhead led a two-month expedition into the restricted border areas of Eastern Tibet in 2003 where he climbed two previously unclimbed mountains. This experience became the inspiration for The Forbidden Temple.

Woodhead's second novel, The Secret Chamber published in 2011, is set in the impenetrable forests of Northern Congo and follows the hero from The Forbidden Temple on a journey which leads him to uncover a secret so simple yet startling that it could rock the foundations of the civilised world.

Woodhead's most recent novel, Beneath The Ice, is a murder mystery set beneath the frozen ice of Antarctica and is based on many of his own experiences on the Seventh Continent. Luca Matthews, the hero from his previous two books, has only eight days to work out who he can trust before Antarctica shuts down for the winter and he is left there to perish. The release date for Beneath The Ice is January 1, 2015.

Expeditions

Kyrgyzstan In this remote republic of Central Asia, with three close friends, Woodhead summitted nine previously unclimbed mountains, naming one after their patron Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

The South Pole - 2002 He and his three teammates became the youngest and fastest British team to ever reach the South Pole. Woodhead then published “Misadventures in a White Desert.”

Tibet - 2003 Woodhead led a two-month expedition into the restricted border areas of Eastern Tibet climbing two previously unclimbed mountains. This expedition was to become the inspiration for his thriller novel The Forbidden Temple.

The Atlantic - 2005 Woodhead sailed across the Atlantic in the ARC Race, where he and the team managed to break the record for the fastest time for the southern route.

Expedition Trans-Antarctica - 2004/5 Woodhead led a team of four men who successfully crossed 1,850 km of the Antarctic continent, a traverse only 12 men have ever accomplished. The 75-day expedition in temperatures dropping to as low as –75 degrees Celsius (with wind chill), saw them pioneering a new route across the continent and the use of kites to power them across.

The Surinamese Amazon - 2006 Using collapsible kayaks, Woodhead and the team explored the unchartered tributaries of the Lucie River in the Amazon. Due to piranha bites, electric eels and destroying two of their three boats, the team only just made it out. Woodhead wrote an eight page article for the New York Times upon his return.

Democratic Republic of Congo 2009 Woodhead and another teammate spent 5 weeks living in Congo and part of the time with the Mubuti pymgies living in the Ituri forest. His time in Congo was spent researching the clandestine sale of a mineral called 'coltan' that formed the basis of his second thriller novel "The Secret Chamber".

Business

Woodhead, along with his wife Robyn, set up White Desert Ltd in 2005 and they have run the luxury travel company together for the last nine years. Having developed a unique camp in Antarctica, Patrick and Robyn offer flights to the South Pole, visits to a nearby Emperor Penguin colony and bespoke Antarctic programmes.

Charities and Clubs

Woodhead is a Prince's Trust ambassador, and a founding member of the Cordon Rouge Club with the likes of Bear Grylls, Dame Ellen MacArthur and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

He is a member of the Geographical Club (an elite part of the Royal Geographical Society) and an honorary member of The Travellers Club.

Woodhead has worked extensively with Save The Rhino International in Namibia, even running the New York Marathon dressed in a rhino suit to raise money for the charity.