What inspires you? That’s a big question and one that you might want to ponder for a while. Inspiration comes in many forms and today I’d like to share with you a video of one guy whom I find truly inspiring. His name is Ben Saunders, and he’s an Arctic explorer.
Anyone who enjoys listening to someone tell a good story will enjoy listening to Ben Saunders. The 30 year old British adventurer is the youngest person ever to ski solo to the North Pole, a challenge described by revered mountaineer, Reinhold Messner, as “ten times as dangerous as Everest”.
In this extraordinary 18 minute video recorded back in 2005, Ben modestly describes himself as being someone who “specialises in dragging heavy things around cold places.” However his achievement of skiing solo to the North Pole is quickly put into context when you learn that over 2000 people have climbed Everest, 12 people have stood on the moon, and yet only 4 people have skied solo to the North Pole.
“Unsupported polar expeditions are right at the edge of what’s humanly possible, both physically and psychologically.” Say Saunders when asked why he would choose to undertake a challenge like skiing to the north pole. He hopes that the journey inspires people to think about what they want to do with “the tiny amount of time we each have on this planet.”
Like all great explorers though, success in his last challenge has driven him to seek an even bigger one. In less than two months Saunders will set out on his next expedition, SOUTH, the first return journey to the South Pole on foot. This 1,800-mile expedition will be the longest unsupported polar journey in history. The current record stands at 1,350 miles, and most experts agree that going another 500 without assistance is practically impossible.
On an old school report that Saunders has since framed, his English teacher wrote of the then 13 year old, “Ben lacks sufficient impetus to achieve anything worthwhile.” Years later the boy who would never achieve anything worthwhile dedicated a day of his North Pole expedition to that teacher.
You can follow the build-up and progress of Ben Saunders SOUTH expedition on his blog.
Additional note : SOUTH was put on the backburner for a while. For more information about Ben’s upcoming adventures, and there will be more, see his blog.
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Ben Saunders
SOUTH : The next expedition
North pole webcams
[Movie] Exploring the place that time forgot
Wrote the following comment on Aug 20, 2007 at 3:11 am
Wow, what a humbling piece! I’ll have to spend the rest of the evening thinking of ways to explore my potential…must confess that skiing to the pole will not make the list. I wonder what his girlfriend is like – when your guy comes home from a trip like that, how do you top it?
His storytelling reminds me of you – I could have listened all night long.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 20, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Simon, you’re a star – thanks for the plug, and of course for your kind words! I had a quick flick through your blog – your post-Katrina photos are incredible. Keep it up!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 20, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Awww, he never said how he pees!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 21, 2007 at 1:11 am
Thanks for the post on Ben Saunders. At different times I’ve had subscriptions to The Men’s Journal, Outside, and National Geographic Adventure, and I generally gravitated to those articles that recounted various adventures where someone was pushing some kind of envelope in human possibilities or endurance. I can’t quite say how, but it seems to me that there is something about those threshold experiences that sheds light on the human condition. Shooting from the hip, I would say that we have an instinct toward transcendence that impels us in different ways to move beyond ourselves and the various limitations or constraints that we find ourselves in. Of course, some people embody this, or are driven by this instinct more than others, and fortunately we can all benefit from their accomplishments.
Is there any kind of adventure, or test of limits that you feel drawn to?
Wrote the following comment on Aug 22, 2007 at 11:40 am
Good question Anthony. Now I have to come up with some inspiring response don’t I? Damn you!
Truth is, most of us won’t do anything that will be remembered in history. It’s a little depressing put in those terms but that’s not how I view my life. I simply don’t have the desire to walk to the North Pole or climb Everset without ropes or something. These challenges are amazing and I can appreciate them, but in truth there just not things I find myself drawn to.
I’m more of a people person. Given the skill and opportunity I would better like to be someone who flies off to disaster zones around the planet setting up medical facilities, water stations, etc. History would likely know me as well it it knows me today, but just think of the stories you could tell!
Maybe when I’m 100 I’ll run a marathon, how about that? :-)
Wrote the following comment on Aug 23, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Hi Simon, I’m leaving you a message today!!! Wow… what a video. Hmm, definately stuff to think about. I think one reason people don’t comment on this article is that they feel inadequate and unable to measure up – or maybe i’m just speaking for myself??
Wrote the following comment on Aug 23, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Back again! Just to say i like the new photo of you at the train station in black and white at the top of the blog. I still prefer the pic of you at the station where you are in colour and all else is b&w – more effective.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 23, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Hi ‘Beansprout’. You know maybe you have a point about the inadequate thing. We can’t all walk to the North Pole, but that wasn’t what Ben said now was it. He just urged us to all think about what it is we actually do.
Anyway, re the picture. I’ve changed it just for you on the post pages but not on the front page :-) In truth, I like that picture too.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 23, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I think what constitutes an adventure or particularly testing one’s limits is a relative matter. For each person it is going to be different, and what is relatively easy for one is an extreme challenge for another. Each one of us has an area in life where we can be uniquely stretched. Also, these areas of challenge/limit testing don’t necessarily have to be physical in nature.
An area that seems particularly challenging and yet somehow attractive to me is solitude, as in cloistered monks/mystics who go off to the desert for a long, long period of time, all by themselves, to face down their demons and touch the face of God. Of course, if I went to do that I would be a deadbeat dad and absentee husband, so, it’s not really an option for me. But, there is probably other ways that I could pursue something like this without being neglectful. The point is, for me to spend even just a week without any social input, without T.V, without a phone, the net, without books, or any kind of input seems like profound deprivation, and yet I imagine that if I did something like this I would experience radical liberation and find new strength.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 23, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Solitude would be hard for me. I’m a people person, I’m all about connections, that’s what motivates my blog in fact! I couldn’t stand on the top of the world or anywhere amazing and not want to get on the phone and tell someone. Susan would attest to that fact after a call I made to her one night as I walked down Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I hadn’t expected to find myself in that fantastic city, and the fact that i was there was something I simply had to share. So imagine then how many people I would want to tell that I was somewhere like the North Pole!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 23, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Simon, if you called me from the North Pole I would be no more surprised than when you call me from Chicago, or Croatia, or England…and I suspect you would be no more/or less excited than when you call from those locations. You are just one of those people who finds joy and wonder in all new experiences. And its so nice that you pull all of us along with you in your adventures. Keep up the storytelling – we can choose to live vicariously through you; or perhaps, inspired by you, choose one of our own.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 24, 2007 at 11:58 am
Oh stop! LOL :-)