When seven-year-old Tom Avery first read about the adventures of the polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, he was spellbound. What had possessed these brave men to drag themselves through unimaginable dangers and suffering to reach this seemingly worthless spot on the map?

The seed was sown and less than twenty years later he was organising his own expedition to celebrate the centenary of his childhood hero’s first attempt to reach the South Pole on the Discovery expedition of 1901-04. On 28 December 2002, Tom walked into the record books himself by becoming the youngest Briton to complete the perilous journey to the South Pole, his team becoming the fastest in history to do so.

Based largely on his Antarctic journal, Pole Dance is Tom’s first book and was published in hardback September 2004.  It can be found in all good bookshops. His astonishing story is told with youthful enthusiasm as he shares the triumphs and near disasters of the team’s battle against the harshest conditions on the planet.

As well as illustrating the challenges of mounting an expedition of this kind, Tom also explores the changes in polar travel since the days of Scott and Shackleton. He draws attention to the achievements of the Discovery expedition, which has been largely overshadowed by the drama of Scott’s tragic final expedition.

You can read sample passages of Pole Dance on this site, with literary reviews coming soon

You can also order signed copies directly from the website. Alternatively, copies can be
pre-ordered on Amazon.