The South Pole explorers from Devon and Cornwall trekking Antartica alone this Christmas

Cat from Penzance and Jonny from Kingsbridge have been training for years for their extreme South Pole challenge. Credit: Cat Burford (left) and Jonny Huntington.

Two West Country adventurers are over half way through their solo challenges of crossing Antartica.Jonny Huntington from Kingsbridge is hoping to be the first disabled person to ski solo to the South Pole and Cat Burford from Penzance is looking to be one of the few women to do the same.

Both are travelling separately and totally unsupported - meaning they are also carrying with them everything they need for approximately 50 days.

They've been updating followers with voice messages from their satellite phones - including what it has been like to be alone at Christmas.

Cat, a dentist from Cornwall travelling under the moniker The Molar Explorer, said she tried to make the 25th December feel more Christmassy by "decorating" her tent and having a festive tipple.

"I've got a little Christmas tree", she said. "When I say little just imagine cake decoration sized Christmas tree.

"I've just made my Christmas margarita and used my multitool for the first time to cut up the lime I brought with me that's just defrosted in the tent."

Jonny suffered a stroke in 2014 which left him unable to walk - but after years of rehab he has embarked on his biggest challenge yet - which includes skiing distances of 22.5km a day and dragging over 100kg of kit.

The two explorers have also been enduring temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees celsius and wind speeds of up to 60mph - Jonny says this is all while the sun stays up 24 hours a day.

He said: “Sleeping here is a weird one because it is 24 hour sunlight so I have to wear a sleep mask.

"Learning to sleep has been weird but the sun creates a greenhouse effect in the tent.

"So although it may be -10, -20 degrees when I put up the tent, it swiftly warms up and gets really hot. My tent was actually 23 degrees the other day!"

The harsh conditions mean the explorers need to consume several thousand calories a day and Jonny says what he eats is one of his most frequently asked questions.

"It is some form of freeze dried porridge or muesli or something for breakfast - that's about a thousand calories.

"During the day I snack on basically a mixture of nuts, cheese and salami.

"Dinner is normally a of a thousand calories worth or some form of freeze dried food, and then to cap everything off will have a little bar of chocolate, normally my sleeping bag. Pretty good for morale."

Both explorers hope to reach their goal in the new year.