537 Days of Winter

What would you do if you were stranded in the coldest place on earth as the world you knew back home changed forever…?

As station leader at the Davis Research Station in Antarctica, David Knoff was leading 24 expeditioners in a standard six-month mission when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, international travel came to a standstill and their ride home was cancelled – indefinitely. What was supposed to be a routine mission became a high-pressure cauldron of uncertainty and anxiety where everyone was pushed to their mental limits. They’d have to draw on every ounce of resilience to ensure a safe return.

Facing unprecedented challenges, including a complex medical evacuation and a fire on board the ship meant to get them out, David would need all his experience as an infantry platoon commander and diplomat to keep the team safe and get them home, albeit to a world that was completely different to the one they’d left.

537 Days of Winter is a high-octane, sub-zero story unlike any other in modern Antarctic history.

About the Author

David Knoff is a speaker and specialist in remote leadership, management in isolation, Antarctic operations, resilience and mental-health strategies and practices. He has worked for 15 years as an officer in the Australian Army, in international relations with the Australian Government and as station and voyage leader for the Australian Antarctic Program. His toughest mission was one nobody saw coming: when COVID-19 hit, the world came to a virtual standstill and the team of expeditioners he was leading in Antarctica was stranded in one of the most isolated places on earth. David lives in Melbourne. 537 Days of Winter is his first book.