Ranulph Fiennes

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Lore & Background

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, is an English explorer and writer recognized for multiple endurance records. He served eight years in the British Army, including counter-insurgency duty with the Sultanate of Oman’s forces. Fiennes was the first person to reach both the North Pole and South Pole by surface travel and the first to cross Antarctica entirely on foot. At age 65, he summited Mount Everest. Norris McWhirter, founding editor of the Guinness Book of Records, named him the greatest living explorer in 1984. Fiennes has authored books on his military service, expeditions, and explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. Born in Windsor, Berkshire, in March 1944, he inherited his father’s baronetcy at birth. After his father’s death in combat, his mother moved the family to South Africa until he was twelve, then he attended Sandroyd School and Eton College. Denied entry to Sandhurst, he trained at Mons Officer Cadet School and joined the Royal Scots Greys. He was seconded to the SAS, specializing in demolitions, but was dismissed after a plot to blow up a film set dam. He later served in the Dhofar War, commanding a reconnaissance platoon and leading raids into rebel territory, earning a bravery decoration. After eight years, he left the army in 1971. As an expedition leader, he led the Transglobe Expedition from 1979 to 1982, circumnavigating the world on its polar axis using only surface transport—a feat never repeated. During this, he and Charles Burton completed the first open-boat west-to-east transit of the Northwest Passage. In 1992, he led an expedition that discovered a possible outpost of the lost city of Iram in Oman. With Mike Stroud, he made the first unsupported Antarctic crossing in 93 days. A 1996 solo South Pole attempt failed due to a kidney stone. In 2000, a solo North Pole attempt failed when sleds broke through ice; severe frostbite led him to amputate his own fingertips with a fretsaw. In 2003, four months after a heart attack and bypass surgery, he completed seven marathons on seven continents in seven days with Stroud for the British Heart Foundation.

Reader's Guide

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, a British explorer and writer, served eight years in the British Army, including a period attached to the Sultanate of Oman’s forces during the Dhofar War, where he commanded a reconnaissance platoon and led raids into rebel territory. After his military service, he became an expedition leader. His most notable achievement was the Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982), during which he and two companions traveled around the world on its polar axis using only surface transport, a feat never repeated. As part of this journey, he completed the first open-boat transit of the Northwest Passage from west to east, covering roughly 3,000 miles. In 1992, he led an expedition in Oman that discovered what may be a remnant of the lost city of Iram. The following year, with Mike Stroud, he became the first person to cross Antarctica on foot without support, a trek lasting 93 days. A 1996 solo attempt to reach the South Pole failed due to a kidney stone. In 2000, an unsupported solo attempt to walk to the North Pole failed when his sleds broke through weak ice; severe frostbite led him to amputate his own fingertips with a fretsaw. In 2003, despite a recent heart attack and double bypass surgery, he completed seven marathons on seven continents in seven days with Stroud. In 2009, at age 65, he summited Mount Everest. The founding editor of the Guinness Book of Records named him the greatest living explorer in 1984. Fiennes has written extensively about his army service, expeditions, and the explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

Did You Know?

• Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his crew wore Henri Lloyd foul weather gear on their Transglobe Expedition.
• The Transglobe Expedition was a surface-only circumnavigation around the world's polar axis.
• Henri Lloyd's foul weather gear was chosen for this extreme polar journey.