A York property developer is about to set off to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica, as part of his attempt to conquer the highest peak on each of the seven continents. 

Earlier this year Steve Davis, Managing Director of Grantside, successfully climbed Mount Everest, which followed summitting the highest peaks above sea level in Europe, Africa and South America previously. 

The month-long expedition to summit Mount Vinson, which is 4,892 metres (16,050 feet) high, will also include a sled-trek to the South Pole before departure back to the UK from Chile in January. 

His mission is to try and complete the Seven Summits by the end of next year with Denali (formerly known as Mt McKinley), North America and Cartenz Pyramid, Oceania left to attempt after Antarctica. 

As well as personal achievement, Steve is attempting this epic feat to raise the issue of climate change and how it is impacting the most fragile environments on earth and to see first-hand the effect of this.  

Grantside says this fits in with company philosophy following the relaunch of the company last year to focus on sustainability, integrity, and wellbeing in all its developments and investments looking at the effects of carbon emissions on the environment.

The developer says it aims to deliver only carbon neutral developments by 2030 as part of its aspirations for the social and natural environment.  

Grantside was established in 1993 and has delivered more than £750 million worth of real estate across the UK.

The company is currently working on major city centre developments in York and Sheffield, including building student flats on the site of the now-demolished Mecca Bingo Hall in Fishergate, with various other commercial and residential schemes in the pipeline.

Steve, who only started climbing in late 2018, has been undergoing specialised training to get him ready for his epic challenge including weighted backpack training, practicing pulling a sled and hours in the gym to prepare him for the -40 temperatures that await him. 

He commented: “This is a massive challenge and will require new skills to deal with the extreme conditions.  The cold and windchill factor make the mountaineering very difficult and skiing the last degree to the South Pole will be a new experience, but I have a great team around me to help me succeed and fantastic support from family and friends.”

Steve jets off on Friday December 2 and is due to fly back in early January 2023 after successfully standing on the top of the bottom of the world.  

Progress of his epic adventures can be followed on his Instagram account - @stevedavis72 and webpage at www.stevedaviseverest.com