Living Dangerously: The Autobiography of Ranulph Fiennes

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Originally Fiennes had planned to run the first marathon on King George Island, Antarctica. The second marathon would then have taken place in Santiago, Chile. However, bad weather and aeroplane engine trouble caused him to change his plans, running the South American segment in southern Patagonia first and then hopping to the Falklands as a substitute for the Antarctic leg. Top 100 living geniuses". The Daily Telegraph. London. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020 . Retrieved 30 July 2009. It’s called the Global Reach Challenge and I’m the only person to ever have done it. There are two other people who have nearly done it, a Norwegian and a Belgian, both of whom I am friends with now. But the record I would like to have broken is to cross all the ice caps and climb all seven of the highest mountains. Since that controversy, he has become the first person to cross Antarctica by foot, climbed Mount Everest at the age of 65 and gained the title of “World’s Greatest Living Explorer”. Earlier in his life, he was considered for the coveted role of James Bond and made it to the final six contenders, but was eventually rejected by producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli for having “hands too big and a face like a farmer.” Sir Ranulph Fiennes heads to Antarctica". Top Gear. 9 January 2013. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015 . Retrieved 9 January 2015.

In 2000 he attempted to walk solo and unsupported to the North Pole. The expedition failed when his sleds fell through weak ice and Fiennes was forced to pull them out by hand. He sustained severe frostbite to the tips of all the fingers on his left hand, forcing him to abandon the attempt. On returning home, his surgeon insisted the necrotic fingertips be retained for several months before amputation, to allow regrowth of the remaining healthy tissue. Impatient at the pain the dying fingertips caused, Fiennes cut them off himself with an electric fretsaw, [15] just above where the blood and the soreness was. [8] [16] Countdown, 19 November 2013. When he recounted this story, Fiennes initially confused Frazer with another Carry On actress, Barbara Windsor, excusing himself on the grounds that they were both "big up top". Named by the Guinness Book of Records as ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’, Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent his life in pursuit of extreme adventure, risking life and limb in some of the most ambitious private expeditions ever undertaken. He added: “There is one thing I wish I had tried doing earlier. At the moment, I still hold the world record of being the only person to have crossed the whole of the Antarctica ice cap, the whole of the northern ice cap and to climb the highest mountain. Lady Virginia Fiennes Wife of explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and first woman to receive the Polar Medal". Herald Scotland. 25 February 2004. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022 . Retrieved 31 December 2022.

And, if the whole of the motor industry had to switch to electric vehicles, that would be good – because then we would be heading in the right direction.” To the Ends of the Earth: The Transglobe Expedition, the First Pole-to-pole Circumnavigation of the Globe (1983). ISBN 978-0877954903. Brew, Simon (2020). "5 real examples of deliberate sabotage on the set of movies". Film Stories. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022 . Retrieved 18 December 2022. Clarke, Cath (13 July 2022). "Explorer review – Ranulph Fiennes on frostbite, family and James Bond". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022 . Retrieved 4 September 2022.

In September 2012 it was announced that Fiennes was to lead the first attempt to cross Antarctica during the southern winter, in aid of the charity Seeing is Believing, an initiative to prevent avoidable blindness. The six-man team was dropped off by ship at Crown Bay in Queen Maud Land in January 2013, and waited until the Southern Hemisphere's autumnal equinox on 21 March 2013 before embarking across the ice shelf. The team would ascend 10,000 feet (3,000m) onto the inland plateau, and head to the South Pole. The intention was for Fiennes and his skiing partner, Dr Mike Stroud, [20] to lead on foot and be followed by two bulldozers dragging industrial sledges. [21] Jardine, Cassandra (16 April 2007). "Of course I am an evil, evil woman". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014 . Retrieved 16 August 2013. Price, Matthew (17 September 2012). "Sir Ranulph Fiennes to attempt record Antarctica trek". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013 . Retrieved 16 August 2013. When I did the north face of the Eiger, I was being led by this guy who had done Everest 11 times. Just don’t look down…So many elements of his adventures would seem more at home in a storybook (a tribe made up of descendants from the Queen of Sheba, encounters with polar bears and lands so remote they have yet to be mapped, for example) yet in contrast to this, Sir Ranulph’s delivery is dry and understated. He explains away his two-man team’s world record of being the first to descend a particular 9000 foot glacier without crampons, with a simple, ‘because we’d lost them’. Moods of Future Joys (2007), Adlibbed Ltd. ISBN 978-1-897312-38-4 (by Alastair Humphreys, foreword by Ranulph Fiennes). Home of the Blizzard: A True Story of Antarctic Survival, Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84158-077-7 (by Sir Douglas Mawson, foreword by Ranulph Fiennes).

After failing to gain entry into the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Fiennes attended Mons Officer Cadet School. [6] After completing several months' training, on 27 July 1963 he was granted a short service commission in his late father's former regiment, the Royal Scots Greys. He was later seconded to the Special Air Service where he specialised in demolitions. [7]Welsh stars join the list of generous celebrities who raise charity funds". Wales Online. 10 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022 . Retrieved 31 December 2022. a b Day, Alan (3 January 2006). Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Northwest Passage. Scarecrow Press. pp.91–93. ISBN 9780810865198. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023 . Retrieved 19 November 2020. Extreme Running (2007), Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1-86205-756-2 (by Dave Horsley and Kym McConnell, foreword by Ranulph Fiennes).

Amongst his many record-breaking achievements, he was the first to reach both Poles, the first to cross the Antarctic and Arctic Ocean, and the first to circumnavigate the world along its polar axis. Both light-hearted and strikingly poignant, Living Dangerously offers a personal journey through Sir Ranulph’s life, spanning his early childhood and school misdemeanours, his army life, the Transglobe Expedition and his current Global Reach Challenge; making him a pioneer of exploration with an unparalleled story to tell. There was an air of genuine excitement in Scarborough Spa’s Grand Hall as the house lights dimmed to signal the start of our evening with Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Named ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’ by the Guinness Book of Records, a short film showed some of his accomplishments before the man himself strode onto the stage to a very warm reception.

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In Living Dangerously, Sir Ranulph offers a personal journey through his life, from his early years to the present day. Both light-hearted and strikingly poignant, Living Dangerously spans Sir Ranulph’s childhood and school misdemeanours, his army life and early expeditions, right through the Transglobe Expedition to his current Global Reach Challenge – his goal to become the first person in the world to cross both polar ice caps and climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Face to Face: Polar Portraits (2008), The Scott Polar Research Institute with Polarworld, ISBN 978-0-901021-07-6 (with Huw Lewis-Jones, Hugh Brody and Martin Hartley (photographer)). Mad Dogs and Englishmen: An Expedition Round My Family (2010), Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-92504-1.