Ben Saunders Polar Explorer
	Ben Saunders is a pioneer in one of the most challenging fields on earth. A record-breaking polar explorer with four North Pole expeditions under his belt, he is the third in history to ski solo to the North Pole, the youngest to do so by more than ten years, and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. Since 2001, Ben has skied more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) in the high Arctic, spending two percent of his entire life living in a tent nside the Arctic Circle. His most recent expedition, in spring 2008, was an attempt to set a new world speed record to the Geographic North Pole. The current record was set in 2005 by a guided team using dog sleds and five re-supplies in a time of 36 days 22 hours. Ben’s expedition was solo, unsupported and on foot. After nine days battling through the worst ice conditions ever recorded, the expedition was forced to a halt through equipment failure. In spring 2004 Ben skied solo to the North Geographic Pole from the Russian side of the Arctic Ocean, a challenge described by Reinhold Messner as “ten times as dangerous as Everest”. Four solo expeditions set out that year. Within 24 hours, one was dead and another had been rescued with frostbite in every finger and toe. Six weeks later, the third was airlifted out with a fractured ankle. Ben was the only one of the four to reach the Pole. He spent 72 days alone and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. On May 11th 2004, he became the youngest person ever (at 26) to reach the North Pole on foot. After experiencing first hand conditions described by NASA and Environment Canada as ‘the worst since records began’, Ben has raised international awareness of the extent to which climate change is affecting the Arctic. He noticed conditions up to 15°c. warmer than in 2000, and had to negotiate vast areas of thin ice and open water. In 2001, Ben became the youngest ever (at 23) to attempt an unsupported North Pole expedition, along with fellow Brit Pen Hadow. The pair were forced to abort just days from the Pole, after surviving polar bear attack, frostbite and eight weeks of skiing nearly 400 miles through icy headwinds and temperatures below -40ºC. Ben has a passion for the outdoors, and for challenge. He grew up in rural Devon, spent four months walking and climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas aged nineteen, and went on to work as an instructor at the John Ridgway Adventure School in Scotland (known as ‘the UK’s toughest management training school’). John has been a mentor and role model for much of Ben’s career; in 1966 John rowed the Atlantic single-handed and has broken records in round the world sailing. Born in Plymouth, Ben attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Ben is a keen athlete - after an unpromising start ('I was the podgy kid at school that was always picked last for the football team') he has gone on to run a 2’55” marathon and was selected in 2004 to become a Nike-sponsored “outdoor athlete”. National Geographic Adventure magazine ranked his 2004 expedition the “second-toughest challenge on the planet” (Burt Rutan’s SpacheShipOne was first) and Prince Philip awarded Ben the Royal Institute of Navigation’s Certificate of Achievement. In 2005, Ben spoke at the prestigious TED conference in California, where he was consequently described as “a master storyteller”. Out of 40 speakers (including U2’s Bono and Noble Laureate James Watson) Ben’s presentation was chosen to pilot a televised series of TED talks in the US. He is an Ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, Honorary Vice President of the Geographical Association, an Ambassador for Global Angels and a Patron of the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES). At only 30 years old, Ben is a figurehead for a new generation of adventurers. He is currently training for SOUTH – the first return journey to the South Pole on foot, and the longest unsupported polar journey in history. This epic four-month, 1,800-mile trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back begins late October 2008.