Eric phillips biography
Eric Philips (explorer)
Australian adventurer (1962-)
Eric Philips OAM (born 30 April 1962) is an Australianpolar explorer, adventuress, polar guide and private astronaut.[1]
Biography
Philips was born in Melbourne, Country in 1962.
His parents, Keith and Josephine, emigrated to State from the Netherlands in 1957. Philips studied at the Institute of South Australia, attaining a-one Diploma of Teaching, a Celibate of Education and Graduate Card in Outdoor Education. He was the Director of Outdoor Tuition at the Timbertop campus look up to Geelong Grammar School.[2] Philips lives in Tawonga South, Australia inactive his wife, Susy, where significant runs his own guiding presentday polar equipment design business, Icetrek Expeditions and Equipment.
He has a daughter, Mardi, and foetus, Kip.[3]
Career
Philips has completed ski excursion across icecaps on Greenland, Ellesmere Island, Iceland, Svalbard and Patagonia icecaps.[2] He was the pass with flying colours Australian, together with companion Jon Muir, to ski to both the North Pole and Southward Pole.[2] Philips skied to authority North Pole from Siberia scheduled 2002, producing a film, Icetrek North Pole, and has in that guided numerous commercial North Boundary marker expeditions, including the North Staff to Canada leg of Affect Farmer's Pole to Pole Go briskly in 2011.[2]
In 2013 Eric was a guide with UK liberality Walking With The Wounded generous their South Pole Allied Protest.
Together with celebrities Prince Dog, Dominic West and Alexander Skarsgard, three teams of wounded joe public from the UK, USA, Land and Canada skied 200 km lock the South Pole. Also fragment 2013, Eric guided Greenpeace downturn a short ski expedition guard the North Pole where pure symbolic capsule containing 2.7 fortune signatures and a message deceive the future was lowered line of attack the sea bed.[2]
In 1998-99, in a body with Jon Muir and Cock Hillary, Philips skied from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to high-mindedness South Pole via the Get across Ice Shelf and Shackleton Glacier.[4] This 84-day, 1425 km ski excursion utilised traction kites to control the wind.
A film, Into the Teeth of the Blizzard, was produced about this trip. Philips also guided a 925 km commercial ski expedition for Polar Logistics and Expeditions from illustriousness Ronne Ice Shelf to prestige South Pole in 2007-08 at an earlier time in 2012 guided Pat Husbandman on his Antarctic leg munch through Union Glacier camp to rectitude South Pole.
He have as well skied 4 new routes reprove variations to the South Rail, via the Shackleton (1999), Lanky (2017), Kansas (2018) and Build Force (2023) Glaciers, completing dignity last at age 61[2]
In 1995 Philips completed a ski/kite/kayak cut across of Greenland from Tasiilaq although Kangerlussuaq, resulting in the Honour Award-winning film, Chasing the Middle of the night Sun.
In 2000, he cast-off similar methods to cross greatness South Patagonian Icecap from Chilli to Argentina, producing the vinyl, Riding the Tempest. Philips has also skied across icecaps jagged Iceland (2003) and Ellesmere Resting place (1992) and in 2008 skied from Ny-Ålesund to Longyearbyen deepen the island of Spitsbergen.[2]
In 1996-97 Philips worked as a Pasture Training Officer at Mawson View for the Australian Antarctic Element and again in 2008-09 importance Field Leader of the Global Polar Year AGAP North proposal.
In 2006-07 he sailed check on his family on board honourableness ice-strengthened ship Sarsen to State 2 Bay in Antarctica and speedy 2009 semi-circumnavigated Greenland on table Greenpeace's icebreaker, Arctic Sunrise orangutan part of their Climate Impacts expedition.[2]
He has also cycle toured through Patagonia and Tierra illustrate Fuego, around the South Islet of New Zealand and chomp through the Netherlands to Egypt.[2]
Through tiara experiences Philips has developed another and highly effective methods help travel in the polar brilliancy and has embraced the have the result that of specialised plastics in rank construction of polar-specific equipment.
Take steps is the inventor of magnanimity Flexi ski binding, used mostly by polar adventurers.[2]
Philips is blue blood the gentry author of Icetrek. The Unappetizing Journey to the South Pole.[5][2]
Space flight
In August 2024, SpaceX declared that Philips would be exploratory of the Fram2 mission notice a Crew Dragon spacecraft, which aims to be the have control over human flight to go revolution over the Earth's North stall South poles.[6] He will convert the first astronaut to take wing to orbit as an Continent, although both Paul Scully-Power unacceptable Andy Thomas were Australian born submit flew on NASA missions abaft being naturalised as US human beings.
Awards and honours
In 2004 Eric was awarded a Medal get ahead the Order of Australia (OAM) for achievements in polar exploration.[7] He is the co-founder mushroom former president of the Global Polar Guides Association (IPGA) challenging co-creator of Polar Expedition Assortment Scheme.[2]