ben saunders - adventurer

among the many extraordinary people i have come across in my travels through books, films, and especially through the internet, ben saunders surely ranks among the most incredible of them all. ben is not exactly a household name and yet his achievements are so “out there” that he really deserves even more recognition than he currently receives.

here’s his bio as documented here.

“on may 11th 2004 he became the youngest person ever to reach the north pole. ben’s experience of those weather conditions described by nasa and environment canada as ‘the worst on record’, has raised international awareness regarding the extent to which climate change is affecting the arctic. he experienced conditions that were up to 15 degrees warmer than recorded in 2000, negotiating vast, unprecedented areas of thinning ice and open water.

in april 2003 at 25 years of age, ben saunders made a round trip to the north pole from the russian ‘ice station borneo’, skiing solo over 140 miles in just two weeks. he used pioneering new technology to send the first ever real-time video clips from the pole to continuously update the award-winning northpole2003.com live from the ice. not only did ben achieve a world first but his expedition raised over £10,000 for the orchid cancer appeal.

in the spring of 2001, ben became the youngest person ever (then 23) to attempt an unsupported "all the way" north pole expedition, along with fellow brit - pen hadow – a challenge described by reinhold messner as "ten times as hard as everest". the worst conditions in 17 years forced the pair to stop just days from the pole. enduring 8 weeks of skiing nearly 400 miles through icy headwinds and temperatures below -40ºC. suffering frostbite and surviving polar bear attacks.

born in plymouth, ben’s childhood was mostly spent in rural devon where his love of the great outdoors took root. He went on to attend the chaucer school in canterbury and later the royal military academy, sandhurst, where he completed the renowned rowallan company course – the most challenging ten-week course in the british army. At 19 years of age he spent four months walking and climbing in the nepalese himalayas. a keen athlete – as a cyclist he has raced on and off road at national level. completed both the london and the new york marathons in less than three and a half hours. he joined the john ridgway school in scotland (known as the uk’s toughest management training establishment). ben taught groups of under privileged youths at the school and now enjoys encouraging young people as an ambassador for the duke of edinburgh’s award scheme. he is a qualified personal trainer with a star list of clients. interestingly, as ben himself says: "i was never sporty at school. i was always the last kid picked for the football team. one of my school reports reads: ben lacks sufficient impetus to achieve anything worthwhile". at just 26 years of age, ben is considered to be one of the leading new adventurers.”

here you will get to see an eighteen minute presentation by ben in which he discusses his journey complete with beautiful pictures, and most importantly his extraordinary talk in which he provides all sorts of details including how you go to the toilet in a fourty below zero environment in which you have one minute before your skin freezes.

you will find that in addition to being a very brave person he also has a razor sharp wit.
i hope that you enjoy this extraordinary man’s stories.