Philips has lead expeditions to the four biggest ice caps in the world and has been, with his fellow citizen and companion John Muir, the first Australian to reach both the North and South Pole on skis. Born in April 1962, he studied at the University of South Australia from which he received a Bachelor's degree in Education and Outdoor Education. During his young years, he was the director of Outdoor Education on the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School.
In his early thirties, he rushes headlong into his first big challenges. In 1995, he succeeds in crossing Greenland for the first time, using skis, power kites and a kayak, from Ammassalik to Kangerlussuaq. A film came out of this adventure: "Chasing the Midnight Sun" which was awarded the Emmy Award. A few years later, he used his experience to cross the Patagonian ice cap; he also crossed the Spitzberg cap (2008), the Icelandic glaciers (2003) as well as the Ellesmere Island glaciers (1992). In 1996-97, Philips worked as a field education officer at the Mawson Australian station (Antarctica) for the Australian Antarctic Division.