Ranulph's quest for adventure

Now he's a man with another mission as he attempts to take on a biography of one of history's greatest explorers, Scott of the Antarctic and put the record straight!

Sir Ranulph walked in Captain Scott's footsteps during a 97-day crossing of Antarctica in 1993 when he set world records for both the longest unsupported polar journey and the first unsupported crossing of the continent with Dr Mike Stroud. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, they man-hauled some 1,350 miles!

He plans to talk about this great episode, and others in his long and distinguished career as an explorer, at a Royal Geographical Society Lecture, entitled "Living Dangerously" at Huntingdon Hall, CrownGate, Worcester on Tuesday, June 11,

The story of this remarkable man and his achievements will be bound to attract young and old from their armchairs to hear of a man who has pushed himself, as his erudite book suggests, "Beyond the Limits".

But it's his admiration for Captain Scott which is currently engaging his remarkable energies. Scott's name is inextricably linked to the continent of Antarctica which rises to about 4200m (13,800 ft) above sea level and spreads over an area of 12.5 million sq kms (4.8 million sq miles).

It's also Sir Ranulph's desire to correct what he considers is a great wrong to Scott by biographers who he describes as "blatantly hostile".

"I have signed a contract in the last few weeks or so to write a biography of Captain Scott. It's very overdue. A number of the previous biographers have not had the experience of man-hauling. If lies are told about someone then they should be put right," said Sir Ranulph.

His passionate defence of the ill-fated Scott expedition is fuelled by his own experiences during the 1993 expedition - an amazing feat of endurance.

"A lot of that journey ended on the same route especially some of the big features that finally killed off the Scott expedition including the Beardmore Glacier," he said.

His talk in Worcester, next week, will include slides recording his remarkable journeys as well as vivid descriptions of his adventures.

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born in 1944 and educated at Eton. He served with the Royal Scots Greys before joining the SAS. In 1968 he joined the Army of the Sultan of Oman and in 1970 was awarded the Sultan's Bravery Medal. In the same year he married his wife Virginia who in 1987 was the first woman to be awarded the Polar Medal.

He is described by the Guinness Book of Records as the World's Greatest Living Explorer and is, no doubt, thankful for that accolade, literally, putting survival down as one of life's most important lessons. It's one he has learned the hard way during a life which saw him lead the first surface journey around the world's polar axis (Transglobe) 1979-82. He has also had his fair share of critics of his style of leadership yet his book counters any suggestion of an inflated ego. He comes across as a rare breed of pragmatist who believes utterly in his abilities and is wary of his limitations. But he also possesses an indomitable single-mindedness which led him to saw his own dead and blackened finger-ends off with a fret saw after suffering from frostbite during a solo attempt on the North Pole in 2000. This was to help the healing process in readiness for final surgery. Not a man to trifle with or waste time.

But what of today's explorers? Did he find time to watch the current trend of lifestyle/reality television programmes like Survivor.

"There have been a lot of this type of production, particularly in America. The one that I've watched is the Survivor that's just concluded and I have to say that it was extremely well done. Big Brother is totally different but I found Survivor, from a personality point of view, very interesting."

This from a man who has had to learn his Man-management skills as a matter of life or death and punctuates his book Beyond the Limits, with practical psychological, motivational, and training advice.

So the man who has dragged himself and his team across continents, set world records, raised more than £4.2 million for Multiple Sclerosis Society and £1.9 million for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, is modest enough to continue his education. Anyone who attends his lecture next week will considerably add to theirs...