Climb Your Mountain: Everyday lessons from an extraordinary life

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October - Race 2: Falkland Islands, representing the ‘Antarctica’ leg (bad weather and plane engine trouble prevented him getting to the King George Island Marathon) Sir Ranulph is attempting to become the first person to have crossed both polar ice caps (by traversing the Arctic Ocean and crossing the Antarctic continent) and climb the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. He was, in 2009, the first person to cross both ice caps and summit Everest. In 1982 Sir Ranulph circumnavigated the world on its polar axis during a three year trans-globe expedition travelling solely by sea and land on a route that has never been repeated, with Charles Burton. We were both in the same sort of place and we fought similar wars,” he tells me over the telephone from his home in Cheshire. “I’ve really been fascinated with him since then. It was 1967 and 1968,” he goes on. “I was on secondment to the Sultan of Oman’s army. There were Marxists in Aden – that is what Yemen used to be called – and they were heavily supported by the Russians.” Awarded a bar to his Polar Medal, amounting to winning it twice. The same year he’s given an Hon Dr: from UCE, now known as Birmingham City University. 1992-1993 For more information on Marie Curie and Sir Ranulph’s support visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/ranulph .

Breaks the world record for unsupported (without new supplies or assistance) northerly polar travel, with Mike Stroud in The Unsupported North Pole Russian Expedition. Ranulph also wins ITV’s Award for Event of the Decade. 1986 Again unsupported and so without new supplies or assistance, Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud broke the existing world record for unsupported north travel. After serving in the Royal Scots Greys regiment of the army, he’s seconded in 1965 and 1966 to the SAS, becoming the youngest captain in the British Army. 1956 Sir Ranulph has also previously climbed Mount Kosciuszko in Australasia, which is included on some lists of each continent’s highest mountains in place of Carstensz Pyramid.In 1969 Fiennes led his first expedition: a journey by hovercraft up the White Nile River that began in eastern Sudan and ended at Lake Victoria in southern Uganda. The following year he left the military and married Virginia (“Ginny”) Pepper, whom he had met as a child and who, until her death in 2004, would be the collaborator on many of his subsequent expeditions and adventures. A trip to Jostedals Glacier in Norway (1970) was followed by the first north-south traverse of British Columbia, Canada, via water (1971) and by a northward trek into the Arctic (1977) in preparation for his circumpolar expedition. 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.

Sir Ranulph is using his pursuit of this landmark achievement to raise vital funds for the charity Marie Curie. The money raised will help Marie Curie provide vital care and support to people living with a terminal illness and their families in the UK. This has all been made possible by sponsorship from long-time benefactor Paul Sykes and TMF Group. Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes is setting off to climb Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, in his pursuit to become the first person to have crossed both polar ice caps and climb the highest mountain on each continent to raise money for Marie Curie. Paul Sykes, long time benefactor of Sir Ranulph, is sponsoring the Global Reach Challenge, in aid of Marie Curie.

I have sponsored him to raise funds for Marie Cure before which included the Everest, Eiger and Marathon des Sables challenges. The money Sir Ranulph will raise will help Marie Curie reach many more people living with a terminal illness as well as providing vital emotional support for their families.” LEAR Fitness offers a new, unique approach to health and well-being. Its aim is to support clients to achieve their own personal lifestyle goals, following on from major surgery, training for specific sports events, or maintaining their level of health and fitness in a welcoming, supportive environment with fully qualified team. Offering a range of services from physiotherapy and physio-led reformer and mat classes, personal training, nutritional advice, fitness classes, indoor cycling studio, LEAR Fitness clients have access to professionals to help them restore and maintain the level of fitness they need.Currently with two purpose-built centres in Leamington Spa and Harrogate, LEAR Fitness has plans to open its third centre within the next 12 months. Paul Sykes, long-time benefactor of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, said: “Sir Ranulph proves with enormous willpower what can be physically achieved. He is a friend and hero to me and I am proud to support his latest endurance challenge. I suggest that this might describe Fiennes himself. “I mean it does sound a bit like it,” he concedes. “Lawrence didn’t always play by the rules, but he got by through a mixture of grit, talent and charm. People liked him, and he was worshipped by his men, but he was also very haunted, very troubled at the end. He was also very much involved with tanks, and of course my father was in tanks in the war. Dad was a sort of hero to me and so this was another way to be in touch with him.” 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.