Ranulph Fiennes' expeditions and challenges
In 1967 Ranulph Fiennes took part in his first expedition, scaling the Jostedalsbreen Glacier in Norway. Since then he’s barely stopped, breaking world records, scaling the world’s hardest and tallest mountains and now taking on his Global Reach Challenge for Marie Curie.
Ranulph Fiennes’ Marie Curie challenges
We’re lucky enough to have Ranulph use a number of challenges to raise money for Marie Curie and to help us care for more people living with a terminal illness. So far he’s raised a spectacular £6.3 million pounds for us.
If you want to read more about Ranulph's amazing life and career, take a look at Ranulph Fiennes' Timeline.
2016-2017 - The Global Reach Challenge
Ranulph Fiennes is aiming to become the first person to have crossed both polar ice caps and climbed the highest mountain on every continent.
He’s taking on this record-setting challenge across the globe to raise vital funds for Marie Curie, a charity close to his heart.
The Global Reach Challenge in aid of Marie Curie will be the culmination of a lifetime of exploration and death-defying challenges for the 72-year-old adventurer.
2016 - Mount Vinson in Antarctica
Planned as the final mountain Ranulph would climb in 2016 before continuing his Global Reach Challenge into 2017, Ranulph finally summited the peak in the middle of December. The polar summer might have 24 hours of light, but the weather was still atrocious. The climb to the summit was delayed for days due to bad weather with incredibly strong winds - temperatures plummeted to -40°C.
2016 - Mount Elbrus
The highest mountain in Europe, Ranulph needed to summit this peak in July to keep him on track to complete the Global Reach Challenge. The successful attempt involved near-darkness climbs thanks to early starts. These were needed to make sure Ranulph had enough time to reach the safety of camps on the mountain route.
2015 – Marathon des Sables
Ranulph completed the ‘toughest footrace on earth’ in aid of Marie Curie. The race itself is 156 miles (251km) long, takes place in the Saharan Desert, and lasts six days. Temperatures reach 50°C in the desert, and Ranulph will had to carried all his personal equipment. The toughest part of the challenge was the double marathon day – he ran two marathons back to back in the searing heart. By completing the challenge he became the oldest Briton ever to do so.
Take a look at our Marahon des Sables gallery for photos of this challenge.
2009 - Everest Nepal Summit
This was the year, with Thundu Sherpa, Ranulph Fiennes conquered Mount Everest, becoming the first person to summit Everest and cross both polar ice caps. He became, and still is, the oldest Briton to successfully climb Mount Everest. The climb also raised £2 million for Marie Curie. Have a look at our Ranulph Fiennes gallery for some more photos.
2008 - Everest Nepal summit attempt
A second attempt to get to the top of Everest sees Ranulph get to within 400 metres of the summit. Bad timing and bad weather stopped the expedition, but it didn’t stop him raising £2.5 million for Marie Curie. The expedition was generously funded by Paul Sykes. We've got more photos in our Ranulph Fiennes gallery.
2007 - North Face of the Eiger
Ranulph Fiennes succeeded in climbing the notorious North Face of the Eiger, in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, along with Kenton Cool and Ian Parnell. The climb was made harder for Ranulph due to the frost bite on his left hand. Without the ends of his fingers to get grip, the sheer rock was particularly difficult, often having to rely on axes to climb. The challenge raised £1.8 million for Marie Curie and was possible thanks to generous funding by Paul Sykes.
There are more photos of this challenge in our Ranulph Fiennes gallery.
Ranulph Fiennes’ other expeditions and challenges
2014 - The Coldest Journey
Ranulph and the team attempted to cross the Antarctic Plateau in the polar winter. It would be one of the hardest expeditions ever attempted because of the weather conditions. Temperatures would drop to -90°C and it would be almost permanently dark. Ranulph had to turn back after a skiing accident. Trying to fix his ski binding he was forced to remove his gloves in temperatures around -30°C. While the gloves were off for a short amount of time, the temperature gave one of his hands severe frostbite. After a medical check-up when he returned home, diabetes may have been a contributing factor.
2005 - Everest Tibet attempt
Ranulph’s first attempt to get to the summit of the world’s highest mountain almost ended in disaster. Just 300m from the top he suffered severe chest pains caused by a heart attack. He survived only by taking heart drugs which had been prescribed after his double heart bypass surgery in 2003. Despite this, Ranulph made his own way slowly down the mountain.
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2004 - Mount Kilimanjaro
As preparation to summit Everest, Ranulph climbs the tallest free standing mountain in the world, Mount Kilimanjaro. It was no easy task, the explorer getting angina pains 500ft from the summit. It was to be a sign of the dangers ahead in his attempt on Everest.
2003 - Seven marathons in seven days on seven continents
Four months before completing this challenge, Ranulph Fiennes had a heart attack, spent three days in a coma and had double heart bypass surgery. His heart surgeon only approved the runs if his heart rate didn’t go over 130 beats per minute during, but he forgot his heart rate monitor!
The marathons, run alongside Mike Stroud, were:
26 October - Race 1: Patagonia, South America
27 October - Race 2: Falkland Islands, representing the ‘Antarctica’ leg (bad weather and plane engine trouble prevented him getting to the King George Island Marathon)
28 October - Race 3: Sydney, Australasia
29 October - Race 4: Singapore, Asia
31 October - Race 5: London, Europe
31 October - Race 6: Cairo, Africa
1 November - Race 7: New York, North America
2000 - The Arctic Solo Expedition
This is one of Ranulph’s most famous expeditions, although not for the reasons he would have hoped. The trip, aiming to walk solo and unsupported (without outside help or new supplies) to the North Pole was unsuccessful when Ranulph’s sled fell through weak ice. His hands got wet when he was freeing it, resulting in severe frostbite, forcing him to abandon the attempt.
When he returned home Doctors insisted he wait five months before the frostbitten parts of the fingers could be removed. Ranulph, irritated by the pain and waiting, decided to remove them himself. He spent a couple of days on each finger using an electric fretsaw to take off the top third of his fingers and thumb in his garden shed.
1992 – 1993 - The Unsupported Antarctic Continent Expedition
Ranulph and Mike Stroud became the first people to completely cross the Antarctic continent on foot unsupported. At the time, and for years after, this was the longest unsupported (with no assistance of resupplying) polar journey, totalling 97 days.
1991 - The Discovery of the Lost City of Ubar
It’s not just adventuring that makes Ranulph Fiennes’ the World’s Greatest Living Explorer according to the Guinness Book of Records. He co-led an expedition in 1991 to discover the lost trading city of Ubar, locating it in the Rub al Khali desert of Oman near Ash Shisr and the Yemeni border. The city was famous for being the world centre for frankincense in antiquity, described by Ancient geographer Ptolemy as the ‘Atlantis of the Sands’.
1990 - The Unsupported North Pole Russian Expedition
Again unsupported and so without new supplies or assistance, Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud broke the existing world record for unsupported north travel.
1986 – 90 - The Unsupported North Pole (Canadian) Expedition
This was Ranulph’s first ‘unsupported’ trip, meaning it was made without outside contact or resupply. With British physician and adventurer Mike Stroud, they travelled on foot to get to the North Pole, achieving the furthest north unsupported record at that time.
1979 – 82 - The Transglobe Expedition
Taking seven years to plan, this was one of Ranulph Fiennes’ most epic journeys. The team, led by Ranulph, circumnavigated the world on its polar axis, using only surface transport. In total, they covered 52,000 miles over three years. Along with his expedition partner, Charles Burton, Ranulph became the first person to visit both North and South poles travelling only on the surface and to cross the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans. It was such a huge challenge no one has ever repeated the route.
1976 – 78 - Greenland: Hayes Peninsula Expedition
The peninsula is on the shore in north-west Greenland, in the Qaasuitsap municipality. As a tidewater glacier, the Hayes Peninsula changes in size and shape fairly rapidly, shrinking or enlarging every few decades.
1971 - The Headless Valley Expedition
This was the first crossing north to south of Canada, inland, over water. Ranulph was again leader of the expedition. The Headless Valley is also known as the Nahanni Valley of Canada’s north-west territories. The only way to get there is by water, air, or a long trek on land from Tungsten village. Even now, much of the area is unexplored. To get there, the team travelled some 290 miles in small rubber boats against the rapids of the South Nahanni River up to the Virginia Falls. For comparison, these rapids are about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
1970 - Second Jostedalsbreen Glacier Expedition
His team completed the first recorded descent of the notorious avalanche-riven Jorstedalsbre glacier.
1969 - The Nile Hovercraft Expedition
Travelling from Alexandria on the Mediterranean to the Nile’s source at Lake Victoria, Ranulph Fiennes led the White Nile Hovercraft Expedition which ascended the longest river in the world at 4,000 miles. Using a Hoverhawk Mk1 and Hoverhawk MK2, nicknamed Baker and Burton, these were some of the earliest crafts ever built. Only one, Burton, made it home. The other is still in Lake Victoria.
1967 - Jostedalsbreen Glacier Expedition
One of Ranulph Fiennes’ early adventures was to lead an expedition up the largest glacier in continental Europe, the Jostedalsbreen, in western Norway. In places an almost sheer cliff of ice, the glacier’s highest point is 1,957 metres, with ice up to 600m thick.
