Robert Swan is the first person in history to reach both the North and South Poles on foot, and undertook both of these pioneering expeditions in an era before GPS or satellite phones. He has gone on to dedicate his life to protecting Antarctica, and to preserving it as a unique natural reserve for science and peace. In Episode 061, Robert shares his extraordinary experiences of the polar regions, the promise he made to Jacques Cousteau 26 years ago, and how he appears to have a knack for staying alive against all the odds.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cal Flyn is a writer and journalist who lives on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. Her latest book tells the story of a dozen abandoned places around the world, from Chernobyl to the volcanic Caribbean, and particularly at how nature reclaims and rebounds after humans leave.Cal’s conversation with Matt explores the peculiar connection humans have to abandoned spaces, as well as the concept of ‘jolie laid’ – or ‘ugly beautiful’ – and how awe and wonder can be found in the bleakest and most desolate of landscapes. We apologise for the audio quality in this episode, recorded remotely via an online app. The conversation is extraordinary, but the sound quality leaves a little to be desired at times. We’re already working on improving this for future episodes that we’re unable to record in the same room.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acclaimed journalist and author Ed Ceasar has written on subjects as varied as gorillas in the Congo, an imprisoned Russian billionaire and the world’s longest tennis match. Most recently, his book 'The Moth and the Mountain' tells the extraordinary tale of Maurice Wilson's 1935 attempt on Everest. In Episode 059, Ed shares his stories – and his love of stories – from the quirkier and less conventional corners of the world.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are many reasons to venture into the mountains. Matt Sharman is the antithesis of the ‘conqueror’. A gentle but accomplished mountaineer, this episode of the podcast details Matt’s life as a mountain guide, and the formative experiences he’s had at high altitude, and how they’ve changed him. He also tells the story of his personal attempt at Mount Everest and his views on the ever-changing mountain.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Explorer, endurance athlete and renowned speaker, Ben Saunders holds the record for the longest polar journey on foot, and has skied more than 7,000km in the polar regions. In this episode he tells the story of these vast journeys on foot, and of the parallel journey of internal exploration over two decades. Ben shares what inspired him at the outset of his career, and what continues to motivate him now.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, cold water swimmer, rock climber, and deep thinker, Gilly shares her unique, heart-warming and enlightening perspective on the world. Her story takes us through a diverse career path (including stints in a knitting shop in Edinburgh and a fashion brand in NYC) and face-to-face with profound loss and grief that changed her, and how she now sees the world.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hunter describes himself as a ‘fencing contractor, deerstalker, turner of stones and walker of paths’. Brought up in the woodlands of Gloucestershire, Hunter lives with his hands in the earth. Heavily influenced by the poetry and prose of those who have wandered the countryside before him, Hunter took it upon himself to canoe the length of the Yukon river with no past experience, and entirely on his own.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Randall used his student loan to trade the stock market and pay his way through university, before moving to London and dividing his time between a brake-neck-paced stockbroking career and more than a dozen climbing trips to Yosemite. Deciding to turn his back on the City, Tom moved to Sheffield to focus on rock climbing full-time, and is now both an accomplished professional athlete and an entrepreneur with multiple climbing-based businesses on his roster. In this episode we explore Tom’s past, as well as hearing about his attempt to combine two of the Lake District’s hardest endurance challenges, and his struggle to stitch together a life at the extremes.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Turek has been taking photographs since he was eight years old. In this conversation with Matt Pycroft - that ranges from a close encounter with a Siberian tiger to a lifelong affection for the Yorkshire Dales - he makes an eloquent case for photography being one of the closest things we have to teleportation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a fourteen year career in the British Army, Jay Morton found himself catapulted from clandestine special forces secrecy to household-name celebrity. In this conversation with Matt Pycroft, Jay talks about growing up on active military service in Afghanistan in his early twenties, as well as the roles that both commitment and suffering have to play in a life well lived.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.