Many people consider David Hempleman-Adams to be one of the best explorers in the World today.

David's interest in expedition began with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, for which he holds a Gold medal. He is an accomplished mountaineer, having climbed the seven highest peaks of the seven continents, i.e. Everest (Asia), Mt Vinson (Antarctica), Aconcagua (South America), Mt McKinley (North America), Carstenz Pyramid (Australasia), Elbrus (Europe) and Kilimanjaro (Africa) and to reach the North and South Geographic and Magnetic Poles.

He was a member of the team which in 1981 achieved one of the fastest ascents of Mt McKinley (Alaska). In 1983 he attempted a solo expedition to the Geographical North Pole. The attempt failed when, after 230 miles, he cracked several ribs and had to watch his food supplies dwindle whilst sitting out a severe ten-day storm.
In 1984 he was the first person to successfully complete a solo expedition to the Magnetic North Pole without the support of dogs, snowmobiles or air supplies. Then in 1992 he led the first team to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole.

On January 5 1996 he became the first Briton to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole. And later, on February 19, he sailed to the South Magnetic Pole, becoming the first person to achieve both South Poles in the same year.

On May 15 1996 he led the Ultimate Challenge, a team of novices, to ski to the Magnetic North Pole, gaining some notable firsts. Thus, he became the only person ever to reach both North and South Magnetic Poles in one year.

In early March 1998 David set off on a 600 mile journey which would place him in the record books as one of the most successful all-round adventurers the world has ever seen. Facing wind-chill down to minus 90 centigrade, he man-hauled his sledge to the North Pole across the constantly shifting ice of the frozen Arctic Ocean.

His success ended a 15-year odyssey and placed him in the history record books as the first person to complete the Explorers' Grand Slam, a challenge which has seen him conquer the North and South Magnetic Poles, become the first Briton to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole; and walk to the North Geographic Pole and scale the highest mountain in each of the seven continents, including Everest.

In 1998 David Hempleman-Adams turned to ballooning. In December, with only 30 hours of flying experience, David flew across the Andes. He took off in the Typhoo Challenger hot air balloon, with open wicker basket, from a polo field in Chile. The balloon rose to more than 32,000 ft before catching westerly winds that blew it across the inhospitable craggy peaks into Argentina - the total journey lasted 5 hours.

On June 1 2000 David became the only pilot to fly a balloon to the North Pole. He set a number of ballooning records, including longest solo flight by a British balloonist at 132 hours; distance record for the Arctic at 1400 kms to the North Pole ring and 2451 km total; first balloonist to fly solo to the North Pole and first balloonist to fly solo across the Arctic Ocean.

An attempt had been made in 1897 to reach the North Pole by the Swedish explorer Salomon André but it ended in disaster when the balloon was forced to crash land on the ice. After his own terrifying experience of landing on the ice, David said "In a lifetime of adventure, I've never known such an experience. If I had known what I was going to put myself through before embarking on this trip, I might have thought twice about it."

On April 6 2003, David became the first person to ski, solo and unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole. The daring journey involved dragging a Kevlar sledge, weighed down with over 100 lbs of equipment and supplies, for nearly 300 miles. David had to use all his mountaineering skills to climb and abseil the hazardous icy terrain. With this, his latest success in a long line of record achievements, he marked the 20th Anniversary of his exploring career. ‘As far as solo Arctic expeditions are concerned, I think I have reached the age where I should hand over to the younger generation’ David announced on completion.

On September 29 2003 battling against cold, sleep deprivation, the shock of Concorde’s sonic boom severely jilting the basket and snow and hail storms at14,500 feet over the Irish Sea, David became the first person to fly a balloon solo with an open wicker-basket across the Atlantic from Canada to the United Kingdom. The daring feat was his third attempt (his first two attempts were thwarted by technical glitches and poor weather conditions) to achieve his dream of a low-tech ‘Jules Verne’ style Atlantic balloon crossing.

In recognition of this great feat, The Explorers Club of New York awarded David ‘The Explorers Medal’, the club’s highest honour, at their Centennial Dinner on March 20 2004.

At 6.36 on March 23 2004, David took off from Denver, Colorado in the same balloon he had used to cross the Atlantic, this time in an attempt to beat the altitude record. Three and a half hours later he landed in a field 100 miles away having reached a height of 41,198 feet, smashing the existing record by 6000 feet. David was, again, in his open basket, breathing through an oxygen mask and bundled up against temperatures as low as minus 75 degrees.

In 2006, David broke the altitude record in an AX-6 hot air balloon when he reached 40,000 ft (minus 60) after his fifth attempt over three years. Afterwards, David said, “There must be an easier way to kill yourself!”

In 2007 David got a bit bored and decided to fly the smallest gas balloon across the Atlantic from St John’s Newfoundland to Nolay on the Swiss-French border. He broke five records and told The Sunday Times, “If you see me in a balloon basket floating over the Atlantic you have my permission to shoot me!”

In April 2008, David took his daughter, Camilla, aged 15, on an Arctic expedition when she became the youngest British female to ski to the North Pole. David said, “It’s embarrassing when you can’t keep up with your teenage daughter, but at least I can still drink more than her!”

Alan began his mountaineering career whilst at Northallerton Grammar School, North Yorkshire. He progressed to the Alps with ascents of many difficult mountains, including the notorious North Face of the Eiger, eventually graduating to the Himalaya.

He currently works as an outdoor equipment technical consultant, writes for magazines such as Trail and lectures on his exploits. He is an accomplished cameraman (filming 11 documentaries), photographer, motivational speaker, environmentalist and mountain guide.

Alan was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year's Honours. He is an Honorary Citizen of his home town, Northallerton; Yorkshireman of the Year 2005; an Honorary Fellow of the University of Sunderland; Honorary Doctor of the University of York, Honorary Doctor of Professional Studies, University of Teesside and has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Royal Institute of Navigation and the President’s Award for Outstanding Voluntary Contribution to Water Aid. He is involved in charitable work for Water Aid; the Cystic Fibrosis Trust; Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Mountain Rescue. He works closely with the British Mountaineering Council.

Alan lives in North Yorkshire and enjoys being in the hills, rock climbing and fellwalking. He can regularly be found in the Lake District and Yorkshire tramping the fells and moors or clinging to a rock face.

Malcolm Walker is the founder and CEO of Iceland Foods, and an entrepreneur to his fingertips. Born in Yorkshire in 1946, his first venture was as a dance promoter while he was still at grammar school. Leaving without conspicuous academic qualifications, he immediately identified retailing as the way to make his fortune, and began work as a trainee manager at Woolworths. Iceland was founded as a sideline in 1970 with a single small shop in Oswestry selling loose frozen food, and a starting capital of just £30.

Malcolm has only ever had three paid jobs, and so far he’s been fired from two of them. Discovery of his extracurricular interest in frozen food prompted his dismissal by Woolworths in 1971, but luckily this provided the catalyst for a rapid expansion of Iceland into a national chain which by 2000 had £2 billion of sales, 22,000 employees and over 700 shops. Malcolm was Chairman and Chief Executive through 30 years of continuous sales growth, in all but one of which the company also increased its profits.

Following the acquisition of the Booker cash and carry business in April 2000, Iceland became a food group with sales of £5.5 billion. Malcolm was fired for the second time in his life in January 2001, and responded by founding his second new frozen food retail business, Cooltrader. Meanwhile Iceland, renamed The Big Food Group, floundered under its new management for four painful years, losing focus, sales and market share to become one of those companies that cannot be mentioned in the press without the adjective ‘troubled’.

The Big Food Group was rescued from severe financial difficulties by a takeover in February 2005, when Malcolm returned to Iceland as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the consortium that took the company private. Under his leadership the morale and performance of the business have been transformed to make Iceland once again one of the most remarkable success stories in UK food retailing.

In the five years since Malcolm’s return, Iceland’s like-for-like sales have grown by almost 50% and the company’s profitability has been restored, with EBITDA in the financial year to March 2010 increasing by 11.0% to £184.2m. Iceland also opened 74 new stores that year, creating over 2,500 new jobs, and was recognised by the Sunday Times in both 2009 and 2010 as one of the Best Big Companies to Work For in the UK. Iceland celebrated its 40th anniversary on 18 November 2010 with a grand charity ball that helped to raise a total of £1.5 million for the company’s Charity of the Year for 2010/11, Help for Heroes.

Malcolm was awarded the CBE in 1994. He has been married to Rhianydd for 41 years, and still can’t pronounce her name. They have three grown-up children and five grandchildren, and live near Chester. Malcolm has many other business interests ranging from food manufacturing and distribution to property. Outside work, his greatest enthusiasms are for his home, garden and family, good food and wine, ski-ing, sailing and shooting. He first met David Hempleman-Adams on a trip to the North Pole with friend and fellow retail entrepreneur Lord Kirkham in April 2010, which inspired him to take up the Everest challenge. He has since undertaken practice climbs in the Alps and a successful ascent of Kilimanjaro in January 2011.

Richard Walker (30) is the founder and managing director of Bywater Properties, a private company investing in the UK and Polish commercial property markets.

After graduating from Durham University in 2001 he joined Jones Lang LaSalle’s Graduate Recruitment programme and qualified as a chartered surveyor. He worked for the company in London and Warsaw, and moved to Poland full-time in early 2006 to set up Bywater Properties.

Richard has always loved adventure and travel. His more notable trips include an overland epic from Moscow to Lhasa, via Vladivostok... travelling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express, then on through China and Tibet via local trains and buses. Richard has spent time studying in India for several months and backpacked through South America, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

He has had numerous expedition experiences, starting at school when he obtained his Bronze, Silver & Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Richard also spent three months on Raleigh International’s debt expedition to Mongolia in the Gobi Desert and along the Siberian borders. To fund the expedition Richard raised money by walking across England from coast to coast. Richard has also completed the 56-mile Caledonian Challenge in under 24 hours, trekked parts of the Great Wall of China and mountains in Peru. Despite numerous alpine training trips, Richard is still a newcomer to high level mountaineering, completing a successful ascent of Kilimanjaro in January 2011.

Richard’s other interests include surfing to destinations all over the world, sailing (having recently crossed the Atlantic) and flamenco guitar.

Richard is married to his childhood sweetheart Rebecca, and they have a beautiful daughter called Sophie. They divide their time between London and Warsaw.

Graham Duff (also known as Duffy) attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith, Cumbria. On his 13th birthday he joined 1247 (Penrith) Squadron Air Training Corps. He studied Aeronautical Engineering at Bristol University where he was a member of the University’s Air Squadron.

Graham joined the Royal Air Force in 1996 and was a member of the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Team for 18 months whilst waiting to begin flying training. His operational flying career started with the ground-attack Jaguar GR3A aircraft and he gained extensive experience defending the No Fly Zone in Northern Iraq. He also took part in exercises in the USA, Europe and the Middle East. During OP TELIC, Graham spent four months in a ground role before, during and after the initial invasion in 2003.

After a tour as a Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) on the Hawk aircraft, teaching both students and instructors, Graham was posted to the Empire Test Pilots’ School at MoD Boscombe Down. Whilst there he instructed on the Alpha Jet, Hawk and Tucano aircraft, and flew over 30 types, including multi-engine aeroplanes and helicopters. Duffy has recently completed his third and final year with the Red Arrows.

Graham is married to Katie a nurse and has an English Springer Spaniel named Lucy. He has continued, when postings allowed, working with the RAF Mountain Rescue Team. Graham has climbed the highest mountains in North America, Europe and Africa and is looking forward to reaching the summit of Everest as the next stage in completing the Seven Summits challenge of climbing the highest peak on every Continent.

Click here to read Graham's blog

Born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1966, Rod developed a boyhood love for the outdoors. Leaving Zimbabwe in 1979 to reside in South Africa along with his parents and two brothers saw the start of his teenage outdoor adventures and sporting achievements. After leaving school in 1984 with sporting colours in Rugby, Cricket and Athletics, he was conscripted into the South African Defence Force and joined the elite Parachute Regiment, gaining his wings in July 1985.

On leaving the army at the end of 1986 Rod found a passion for triathlons and kayaking. With the help of his sponsors he went on to compete in the 1987 SA Triathlon Championships and in the following years completed two Iron Man triathlons, two Duzi canoe marathons, and several running marathons including the Comrades ultra marathon of 97km.

After touring to Spain in 1989 as a member of the University of Witwatersrand canoe team, Rod travelled through Europe finally settling in London in 1990. It was not until 2004 when he first experienced the thrills of rock climbing in the Lake District and from there his passion for climbing and mountaineering grew.

Rod is a devoted father of three children and has a keen interest in bee keeping, with several hives located in Richmond Park, the largest of London’s Royal Parks. He is a member of the Thames Valley Climbing Club and is currently undertaking a Mountain Leader qualification. Climbing predominantly in Scotland, Wales and the Alps over the last six years.

Adventure, sports and travel are an important feature to his life. Justin has travelled extensively; having ridden horses across Mongolia, driven a motorbike through East Africa, skydived, skied and climbed widely. In 1990 he represented Britain in the Whitbread Round-the-World Yacht race. In 2005 he and Christina Franco took part and won a 450 mile un-supported man-hauling race to the Magnetic North Pole. In 2008 he went to the Geographic North Pole with David Hempleman-Adams and Rune Gjeldnes.

He is married to the fashion designer Tamsin de Roemer and they have two children. His is passionate about the environment, youth and supporting our service personnel especially the injured.