Ranulph Fiennes
First to reach both poles by surface and cross Antarctica on foot.
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, was born on 7 March 1944 in Windsor, Berkshire. His father, a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Scots Greys, had died of wounds from a German mine in Italy the previous November, and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Fiennes inherited the baronetcy at birth. His mother moved the family to South Africa, where he attended school in Cape Town until age 12, then returned to England for Sandroyd School and Eton College.
After failing to get into Sandhurst, Fiennes trained at Mons Officer Cadet School and was commissioned into his father’s old regiment in July 1963. He later joined the Special Air Service, specialising in demolitions. In 1967, offended by a film set dam built in Castle Combe, he plotted to blow it up; police foiled the plan, and he was fined £300 for conspiracy and £200 for possessing explosives. Dismissed from the SAS, he was eventually allowed back into the Royal Scots Greys. His last two years in the army were spent seconded to the Sultan of Oman’s forces during the Dhofar War, where he led raids and was decorated for bravery. He left the army in July 1971.
Fiennes led expeditions from the 1960s onward, including a hovercraft trip up the White Nile in 1969 and a trek on Norway’s Jostedalsbreen Glacier in 1970. His most famous was the Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982), during which he and two SAS colleagues circled the world on its polar axis using only surface transport—a feat no one else has matched. As part of that journey, he and Charles Burton made the first open-boat west-to-east transit of the Northwest Passage, covering about 3,000 miles in an 18-foot Boston Whaler, then trekking 150 miles to Alert for winter camp.
In 1992 he led an expedition that may have found an outpost of the lost city of Iram in Oman. The next year, with Mike Stroud, he became the first to cross Antarctica unsupported, taking 93 days. A 1996 solo attempt to the South Pole failed due to a kidney stone attack. In 2000, a solo unsupported North Pole attempt ended when his sleds fell through weak ice; severe frostbite on his left hand led to amputation of the fingertips, which he performed himself with a fretsaw. Despite a heart attack and double bypass surgery four months earlier, he ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days in 2003 for the British Heart Foundation. In May 2009, a
- born
- 7 March 1944, Windsor, Berkshire, England
- field
- Exploration, writing
- nationality
- English
- known_for
- First to visit both poles by surface; first to cross Antarctica on foot; oldest British person to climb Everest (2009)
Lore & Background
Fiennes was born nearly four months after his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, died of wounds from a German mine in Italy. He inherited the baronetcy at birth. After early years in South Africa, he attended Sandroyd School and Eton College. He served eight years in the British Army, including a period on counter-insurgency service with the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces, and was decorated for bravery. He was dismissed from the SAS after plotting to blow up a film set dam, fined, and later returned to his regiment.
As an expedition leader, Fiennes led the Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982), the first surface journey around the world on its polar axis. He and Charles R. Burton completed the first open-boat transit of the Northwest Passage from west to east. In 1992 he led an expedition that discovered what may be an outpost of the lost city of Iram in Oman. The following year, with Mike Stroud, he became the first to cross the Antarctic continent unsupported in 93 days.
In 2000, a solo attempt to walk to the North Pole failed when his sleds fell through weak ice; he suffered severe frostbite and later amputated his own fingertips with a fretsaw. In 2003, four months after a heart attack and double bypass surgery, he completed seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. He reached the summit of Mount Everest on 20 May 2009, becoming the oldest British person to do so and the first to achieve both polar crossings and Everest.
Reader's Guide
Ranulph Fiennes is significant as a record-setting explorer who achieved multiple firsts in polar and high-altitude travel. His Transglobe Expedition remains the only surface circumnavigation of the world along its polar axis. His unsupported crossing of Antarctica with Mike Stroud set a benchmark for endurance. Fiennes also demonstrated remarkable resilience, recovering from a heart attack to complete seven marathons in seven days and from severe frostbite to continue expeditions. His later ascent of Everest at age 65 further cemented his reputation. Guinness Book of Records founding editor Norris McWhirter named him the greatest living explorer in 1984. Fiennes has written numerous books about his army service, expeditions, and explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. His legacy lies in pushing the limits of human endurance and exploration, often in extreme conditions, and in inspiring subsequent generations of adventurers.
Did You Know?
- Fiennes was born nearly four months after his father died of wounds from a German anti-personnel mine in Italy.
- He was dismissed from the SAS for conspiring to blow up a film set dam and later fined for possessing explosives.
- After severe frostbite, he amputated his own fingertips with an electric fretsaw.
- He completed seven marathons on seven continents in seven days in 2003, four months after a heart attack and double bypass surgery.
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