It all begins with an idea.

It all started in January 2019, deep in the Arctic wilderness of Norway’s Finnmark plateau. We were part of a ten-person expedition crossing the Finnmarksvidda with Ousland Explorers, each of us paired off to share tents and duties. By chance, or maybe fate, Darren and Nathan ended up in the same tent. From the first night, we clicked. Between digging snow shelters, melting snow for water, and learning how to survive in the Arctic, there was a lot of laughter, mutual respect, and a shared love of outdoor gear. That week in the wild sparked a friendship rooted in challenge, cold, and a good dose of chaos.

Fast forward to January 2021. The world was in lockdown. Life had hit pause. Both stuck at home, we found ourselves watching South Pole expedition talks from legends like Jenny Wordsworth and Molly Hughes. Hearing their stories, raw, inspiring, and brutally honest, lit something inside us. We’d also devoured every book on polar expeditions we could get our hands on. That night, after one of those talks, we jumped on the phone. We both had the same thought: When this lockdown ends… let’s go for it.

Darren had just finished reading Extreme South by James Castrission, chronicling his unsupported return journey to the South Pole with his friend Justin Jones. That book didn’t just inspire us, it gave us a direction. Why not take on that very same route? After all, no British or Irish person has ever completed that return journey unsupported.

The seed was planted.

And that’s where Frozen Horizons began: not just as an expedition, but as a shared dream, born in a tent in Norway and reignited during a global standstill.