January 2008

Jon Bradshaw was the Portal Partnership Commercial Director until Jan 2007 when he chose to take a 'career break' and rather than surround himself with sunny climates and Pina Colada’s, he decided to embark on something slightly more challenging.

Jon met up with a group of explorers on his earlier travels and committed to join them on their adventure to complete the first all-Irish expedition to the South Pole. The Beyond Endurance team led by adventurer Pat Falvey (50) also included Dr Clare O’Leary (35)and Shaun Menzies (42).

Portal Partnership provided some sponsorship to enable Jon to reach the pole and our team here have been following and supporting him all the way. After a grueling 58 days on the ice, the four reached the US Antarctic Research Station at the pole at 7.28pm, with just one day’s food rations left. The team set out on November 1, following closely in the footsteps of Irish explorers Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean, who attempted to reach the pole almost a century ago as part of the Terra Nova expedition but had to give up with just 180km to go because their food supplies were too low.

Describing his teammates on his blog just days ago, Jon Bradshaw compared them to “three nomads, zombies or skeletons all shuffling towards me, heads bowed, lost in their thoughts, on autopilot, one foot sliding in front of the other, straining against the weight of their sledges as they sink into the soft snow”.

Well done Jon!