Jim McNeill

Jim has clocked up over 30 years of polar travelling and 35 years of expeditioning; thousands of miles mostly on nothing but skis and dragging his world behind him. Few, if any, have that breadth and depth of experience in extreme environments. His guiding, safety and survival expertise is employed by BBC TV and Hollywood film crews on location all over the world – hot as well as cold.

With a career spanning environmental science, military, commerce and fire & rescue Jim has selected, trained and led highly successful teams from top-level corporations, through high risk polar expeditions, to critical lifesaving situations where effective leadership and hands-on teamwork are paramount. He has a passion for leadership and getting the very best performance out of individuals and teams, at any level and has regular input to the UK's Senior Police Training College at Bramshill, Hampshire (NPIA).

In 2001 Jim founded the highly successful "Ice Warrior Project" an organisation which gives "ordinary" people the opportunity to become polar explorers and achieve extraordinary feats of endurance and endeavour. Through Ice Warrior, his aim is to develop people, discover change and deliver it to global audiences in a way we can all understand, fostering a much better understanding of the world we live in and on.

In 2006 he was ITV News' own "Ice Warrior", reporting the reality of climate change directly from the Arctic Ocean to international audiences. The story will continue next year as he attempts the last, so far unattained, World First in polar expeditioning - to be the first person to reach the very centre of the Arctic Ocean - the Arctic Pole or Northern Pole of Inaccessibility. This expedition will mark the start of an eight year programme of purposeful, worthwhile, extreme expeditions, culminating in 2020.