The Onwards Expedition

In November 2026, Max Worsley and Martin Nesse will ski unsupported for 1,349 km across Antarctica.

Following in the footsteps of his explorer father, Max, along with his good friend Martin, will be taking on a personal challenge to trek across Antarctica, from Berkner Island to the Geographic South Pole.

Inspiration and aspiration

The drive behind this particular expedition has some fascinating roots and some very honourable intentions.

Firstly, it is inspired by explorers of the past, from Sir Ernest Shackleton, contemporary of Captain Scott, to Max’s own father Henry Worsley MBE who himself led several expeditions to the Antarctic but tragically died on his third solo trek. The seeds of fascination with Antarctic endeavours were sown early for Max, and he was drawn to the spirit of exploration – a timeless human drive to venture into the unknown, push past perceived limits, and expand our understanding of the world.

Planetary awareness

The second driver behind Max and Martin’s quest is a love for people and planet. They are keen to lead by example, “helping young people to feel curious and confident in nature” and, “encouraging a new generation to connect more deeply with the natural world.”

At the same time, they want to highlight research going on in Antarctica that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth, and our impact on it. “Antarctica provides a lens on planetary health: its changes ripple into sea levels, climate systems, and communities worldwide.”

With these two noble goals, the pair have been busy training for the eventualities of a trip to the extreme of extremes.

To boldly go…

In this day and age, it has become rarer to see an adventure of this nature, previously the domain of seasoned adventurers such as Ranulph Fiennes, or more recently popular figures such as Ben Fogle and Dan Cracknell, so it is exciting to see some fresh young explorers striking out.

Profeet was pleased to support the team in providing training footwear, hiking boots, custom insoles and custom fitted Zip Fit liners for their built-for-purpose Alfa ski boots. Whilst our customers mostly require ski boots for the slopes and backcountry skiing, we cannot resist the opportunity to utilise our skills to take products to their limits. It’s the perfect way to field test kit and continue to hone our boot fitting talents.

In the run-up

As Max and Martin now move into the run-up to their November departure, they have been training hard. Testing their tolerance in Norway, the pair explored the impact of extreme cold and how best to combat the effects to avoid frostbite and hypothermia. Then a Crevasse Training course added specific life-saving skills to their knowledge base. Next up is a suitably extreme First Aid course, to ensure that they can take care of each other in an emergency far from humankind.

The trip is fully unsupported, so Max and Martin must rely on their wits and personal resilience to make it through, their only fallback being a satellite phone should something go seriously amiss. An important piece of kit, hopefully never to be used.

The team are backed by British Exploring Society, a wonderful youth development charity that promotes the spirit of adventure and for which Max and Martin are raising funds. If you’d like to make a donation to this most worthy of causes, please click below:

make a donation

Expedition follow up

We will be following up on Max and Martin’s experience early next year when they return from the South Pole and share their post-expedition trials, tribulations and tales. Until then we wish them all the best – and be sure to look out for their reels on our social media channels.

Make sure to follow their preparations and journey through their Instagram account @onwards_expedition