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Demon United Review & Contest

Win two pieces of high-quality protective gear, valued at almost $200.

Courtesy of Demon United.

[youtube id=”WkGNrK0Pq_c” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Follow the instructions at the end of the video to score some complimentary protective gear swag. I’ve tried these items first hand..they’re insanely cool.

Best video wins.

Contest ends on November 30th, 2012.

About Demon United

Demon United is a boutique adventure company based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. For the last 10+ years, they have been making protective gear for extreme athletes. So, elbow pads and helmets, spine protective gear and knee pads. Great for mountain bikers, snowboarders, extreme roller derby’ers — you name it.

Demon United employs D30 technology into their protective gear. D30 is a non-newtonian liquid that looks and feels like a kind of putty. Upon impact, though, the molecules in the putty instantly bind together and form a solid block. This allows for lightweight gear that is incredibly strong. D30 is paving the way in impact-protection technology.

5 October, 2012
7 Ridiculous Adventures To Experience In Jordan

Jordan – the unofficial gut-wrenching adventure capital of the Middle East. As part of a partnership with the Jordan Tourism Board, Nerve Rush lead adventurer Joel Runyon just returned form a 7-day trip experiencing a whirlwind tour of the country’s adventure activities.

Hike and Explore Petra

The best known site in Jordan – Petra is absolutely incredible. While the canyon walls and rock faces will amaze you on your way up to the Treasury, you’ll also find the city has much, much more to it. There are multiple day-long hikes you can take through the city, whether you want to climb the 900 steps up to the monastery and possibly find some ancient Transformers or do the much longer trip to Aaron’s Tomb, you’re going to find yourself admist some amazing vistas and canyons. The only thing that would make it better? A zipline or some paragliding adventures to take you to the bottom once you reach the top. We know it’s a UNESCO protected area, but we still think you should think about it at least :).

ATV Through Wadi Rum

Ever wanted to be an astronaut, head off to space and drive a lunar rover across the moon? This is about as close as you can get. Wadi Rum is an adventure seeker’s paradise, sporting high rock faces and sand dunes from millions of years ago. What used to be underwater is now a desert – and an awesome one at that.

Grab your ATV and head out on a tour – flying through the desert, ramping off natural hills and bombing down sand dunes – this might be the most fun you can have with a trillion pounds of sand (approximately) and a gas tank. I mean, watch this video and tell me it doesn’t look incredible.

Skydive Wadi Rum

Yes, Wadi Rum IS that cool; we included it twice.

Skydive Jordan has partnered with Skydive Dubai to begin skydiving over Wadi Rum – an absolutely surreal experience

Due to some of the high winds in the reserve, the skydive operation only operates a few month

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in the summer out of the year. But, after a pilot testing in 2012 where they were operating at almost 100% capacity for the entire length of the operation – they’re planning on expanding it to more times throughout the year. If you get the chance – take it – it’s like skydiving on the moon. When’s the next time you’ll have a chance to do that?

The operation is top notch and the production values on some of the media you’ll get from your jump is incredible so be sure to reserve your spot beforehand and show up early.

Do a tandem jump w/ a friend or get your AFF certification – it’s as close as you’ll get skydiving the moon until NASA gets its act back together and starts realizing how awesome that would be.

[Wadi Rum is an adventure seeker’s paradise. We cover more adventure sports in Wadi Rum here]

Go Canyoning Through Wadi Mujib

Wadi Mujib is the world’s lowest reserve – located at about 400m (1200 feet) below sea level – just next to the Dead Sea. Sporting some incredible vistas and amazing waterfalls – this is an adventure hikers dream. You’ll start off dry, but that will change quickly – so be prepared to get WET.

As you start waking up the river, you’ll quickly find yourself in the river, climbing waterfalls, and even swimming at some points to get farther up river. On some of the longer hikes you can either choose to go abseiling or rappelling down the side of a waterfall so you can practice your Mission Imposible stunts. Yes, that’s as cool as it sounds.

Snorkel and Scuba in Aqaba

The Red Sea gets its name from the variety and abundance of coral in the stunningly clear deep blue water. As a result, this makes for some incredible snorkeling and scuba diving. Not only can you see four countries in one spot (Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia), but you’ll see some of the best snorkeling around, filled with colorful coral, amazing fish of all kinds.

As a bonus, you’ll find the water is filled with jellyfish – of the non-poisonous variety – but jellyfish none-the-less. So while they may sting you if you touch them, they’re nothing compared to the deadly ones out of Australia or other countries that your friends may have heard of. This is a great opportunity to pick one or two up and practice your jellyfish juggling skills, snap a photo and impress your friends without telling them that they’re non-poisonous.

Microlight

Ever wanted to drive a dune buggy? Okay, lets rephrase that – ever wanted to FLY a dune buggy? We thought so. Check out the microlight – a miniature flying machine that takes you back to the origins of flight and takes you above our favorite place in Jordan – that’s right – Wadi Rum. The views are incredible, the experience is one of a kind and by the way – you’re experiencing the miracle of flight. #BOOM. Did we mention this is in Wadi Rum? Man, we love that place.

Camel Racing

Think camels were just cool for Aladdin? Think again, next time you’re out in Disi, and want a more local version of horse track racing, check out the camel racing, place your bets and pick your camel.

To be honest, we have no idea how to actually tell which camels are faster than the others, but our current completely unscientific theory has our money on the camels with one hump being faster (more aerodynamic, right?).

Photos by Sean Ogle, king of HDR photography.

Note: If you’re really into camel racing or are a professional camel jockey – we’d love (and be astounded) to hear about any pro camel racing tips you’ve got)

—

Boom. But that’s not it. Jordan is teeming with adventure. Get out there, explore and stay adventurous.

Disclosure: Joel spent a sponsored week in Jordan with the Jordan Tourism Board experiencing many of these adventures first hand.

2 October, 2012
David Goggins Attempts 24 Hour Pull Up World Record
We love David Goggins.

The man is an absolute beast and may not be human (or at least a 2.0 version of most humans). Transforming himself from a 280lb overweight desk jockey to a ripped-to-shreds ultra-marathoner, this man takes athleticism and determination to a whole different level.

We know and love the man for his ridiculous running capabilities, insane mental toughness and feats of endurance. But David is giving us a whole new reason to be in awe of him. He’s working on endurance…with his arms.

Taking a break from running hundreds of miles at a time, David is trying something new: breaking the Guinness World Record for most consecutive pull-ups done within 24 hours. Yup that’s right, he’s going to do some endurance upper body activities from now on.

https://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251296545272635393

He started yesterday morning

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on the Today Show and he’s aiming to do more than 4,020 consecutive pull-ups. BOOM! That’s a whole lot of pull-ups.

Watch David Start The World Record Attempt For Pull-Ups on the Today Show

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBC for the full David Goggins World Record Video

Can David Goggins Complete The Most Consecutive Pull-Ups in 24 hours?

He plans on doing 10 pull-ups per minute while on his quest for the world record. That’s 402 total sets and if he keeps up the pace and does them back to back to back, that’s 6.7 hours of consecutive pull-ups (6 hours and 42 minutes)!

He’s doing this challenge, just like he runs his ultramarathons, to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project – a non-profit that raises money to give full-ride scholarships to children of soldiers killed in combat. To date, they’ve given over 900 full-ride scholarships. Wow!

Will David Goggins be able to pull off this pull-up challenge? We’ll find out soon!

Update #1:

As of publishing, David passed the halfway mark (2011 consecutive pull-ups) according to the Today Show Twitter account.

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251408177441153024

Update #2:

It looks like David had to stop before smashing the world record.

https://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251646341992816641

According to the Today Show, David completed 2,588 in 566 sets for a total of 4.6 pull-ups per set. 1,000 pull-ups in 2 hours 48 minutes and 2,000 pull-ups in 3 hours 34 minutes. But at 13.5 hours in, he felt something in his wrist snap and was not able to go on. An x-ray at 10:30pm confirmed a partial tear in his forearm.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The culprit: the portable pull-up bar David brought for the challenge was completely different than the one he trained on. It was poorly constructed and had a lot of sway that put an undue amount of stress on David’s body and required much more energy from him. Unfortunately, David didn’t’ realize this until the world record attempt.

When it was all said and done, David Goggins’ world record pull-up attempt by the numbers looked something like this:
- David did 2,588 pull-ups in 566 TOTAL sets. That’s 4.6 pull-ups PER set.
- David did 216 sets on the minute before taking his first break longer than 60 seconds (12:02 pm).
- David did 2.9 pull-ups EVERY minute for 15 hours when he officially ended. That’s INCLUDING the 3 hours at the end, when he did ZERO..
- David did AT LEAST 6 pull-ups in his first 111 sets.
- David got to 1,000 pull-ups in 2 hrs 48 minutes and 2,000 pull-ups in 3 hrs 34 minutes.
He might have fallen short this time, but that won’t stop him. If we know David, he’ll be back to give the consecutive pull-up world record another shot:

“You can fail, as long as you get back up again. I’ve failed plenty of times, but I just keep going. I’m just an ordinary man. I’m David Goggins, a guy who never gives up, who believes that any man or woman can push beyond their own limits with the right combination of will, focus, determination and discipline.” – David Goggins

Today Show Updates on David Goggins Pull-Up Attempt via Twitter

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251296545272635393

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251353209669558273

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251408177441153024

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251473788674387968

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251501099788427264

http://twitter.com/todayshow/status/251646341992816641

Non-Official David Goggins Pull-Up Updates

http://twitter.com/ian_sager/status/251373389531467776

http://twitter.com/LeshneAgency/status/251482359323582464
28 September, 2012
Coloured Sky [Serious Parachute Control]

Marvin Ogger & Lino Oehl dominate the 2011 Vice Acro World Cup. This is some serious parachute control. Beautiful film.

27 September, 2012
How to Hack a Boston Qualifying Marathon

The following is guest post by Jason Fitzgerald. Jason runs Strength Running, a website that helps runners crush their goals. Just this week, Jason launched Run Your BQ — I’ll let him tell you more.

For most runners, running a Boston Qualifying (BQ) marathon time is a bucket list goal and comes with a lot of bragging rights. And with good reason: only a tiny fraction of marathoners will qualify and earn their spot on the starting line in Hopkinton.

Dubbed “the world’s most prestigious marathon,” Boston is unlike any other road race. It’s over 115 years old and has the fastest average finish time of any marathon anywhere.

Marathoners dream of being part of this history; feeling the thrill of seeing the Prudential tower rise on the horizon as they make their way past roaring crowds toward the famous finish line on Boylston Street.

I know what it’s like to qualify for Boston – I’ve done it twice and have a 2:39:32 marathon PR. But even more rewarding, I help runners qualify for Boston and run faster marathons through a special community called Run Your BQ.

RYBQ is a group of nearly 300 marathoners who are passionate about improving their time over 26.2 miles – even if they’re far from qualifying. More than just a library of training plans, 45+ articles on nutrition, pacing, and motivation (though we have those!), Run Your BQ is an interactive community that helps each other reach big goals like qualifying for the world’s most prestigious marathon.

What’s your background as a runner and coach?

I’ve been running competitively for over 14 years and ran 2:39 at the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon. I’m also the author of 101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner and have been featured in media like Yahoo, The Huffington Post, Health Magazine, Shape, and Active.

I’ve been coaching for over two years and I’m proud that I’ve helped hundreds of runners get faster, prevent more injuries, and yes, even qualify for Boston! Slow or fast, there’s always a better way to train.

Why did you create Run Your BQ?

First, I found that a lot of the marathon training advice on the web was simply garbage. Suggestions like, “run on a track!” and “do intervals!” are unfortunately all too common. What’s a runner supposed to do – search the entire internet for a good marathon training plan?

Runners also can’t train in a vacuum all by themselves. You can achieve more and run faster (not to mention stay more consistent) when you have a support group pushing you to stay motivated. RYBQ gives runners a community of supportive runners to lean on with a thriving forum, regular live video chats where they get their personal questions answered, and a Feed to post race pictures, quotes, and status updates (like Facebook).

What’s next for Run Your BQ?

RYBQ is a growing group and we only accept new members a few times per year. We’re actually accepting new members right now – but only until Friday, 9/28. Click here and let us show you a video tour of the website, including many of our new features.

As we keep getting bigger, we’re always adding new tools to help our runners. We just added smart phone capabilities so you can view your workouts anywhere and we’re planning a map of our members for meet-ups at races and for workouts.

To see the video tour and learn more about Run Your BQ, check out the details here!

26 September, 2012
JLAB GO 4GB Mp3 Player Review
In our constant effort to bring you the best gut-wrenching videos and articles on the Internet superhighway, we’re always looking for ways to help you augment your adventures and create the best possible experience. That’s why we’re bringing you N

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erve Rush gear reviews. Products and gear we love that will make your next adventure even more gut-wrenching.

First up: JLab GO 4GB MP3 Player.

I don’t usually race with audio, but these look solid, so I plugged ’em in, loaded it up and gave ’em a shot.

The JLAB GO Overview

The Go is a 4GB MP3 player (2GB option) and while you’ll have to trade in your iDevice for this one, it’s much simpler and lighter than a traditional mp3 player.

It has no touch screen, no scrollwheel, no cords, no moving parts and nothing to break.

How do they manage that feat of wizardry?

Since it’s designed for adventure sports, there’s no actual MP3 player. The entire system is designed around the headset. I’ll explain.

The JLAB GO Experience

The Go is like one wireless headphone set. Everything is contained within the headset. This removes cords, screens, and a lot of breakable items from the equation.

So what is it actually like to use the GO in the field? Well I tried it during some of my recent triathlon and ultramarathon training. Here’s some of the pros and cons of the JLAB GO.

Pros

Hands-free. You’re not going to have to worry about u’re not going to have to worry about a screen or changing songs, holding a device or messing with cords. It’s simple. You just put it on and go. No messing with cords/cases/covers. Just go.

Durable. There are no screens to break or devices to drop. It’s submersible in water and stays put pretty well once you have it in.

Cordless. Messing with cords can be a pain when you’re carving up the snow, jumping on a bike or even having them bounce with you while you run. The Go’s compact form has zero cords.

Cons

The charging mechanism is hidden. It took me a bit to find it actually and this is somthing where you’ll have to consult the manual for. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but with the limited space, they had to work with what they had.

There’s no specialized software. This is a pro and con as software like iTunes has gotten bloated. But there’s no special way to organize music on this device. You simply drag and drop the songs you want into the folder. Not difficult, but not necessarily an elegant method of implementation.

While it does have controls to skip and change songs, I found the mechanism to do so a little awkward and wouldn’t do it in practice. It’s really meant to take a favorite playlist or two, throw them on, and then rock out your workout adventure. It’s comprable to the iPod shuffle in this regard.

2 or 4 GB seems like an awfully small storage capacity with some devices hodling 16gb- or 32gb easily these days, but it’s not meant to hold librarys of songs as it is to hold enough to hold you through the adventure.

The JLAB GO Specs

For all you techno-files out there, here is the full list of specs.
- 100% Fully Submersible, Waterproof and Sweatproof 4GB MP3 Player Headphones
- Ideal for swimmers, cyclists, runners, triathletes, walkers, hikers, water and snow sports, and any kind of workout
- Noise-isolating in-ear style cushions with ergonomic cord free design
- Rechargeable lithium ion battery provides up to 10 hours of play time
- Includes 7 pairs of soft silicone tips for water and land use, USB 2.0 mini cable, user manual and 1 year limited warranty
It also comes in four different colors: Black/Grey, Black/Yellow, Blue/Silver, and white. We used the black/grey.

The Verdict

JLab Go is not your average MP3 player – but it’s not meant to be either.

It’s lightweight, different form factor

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and focus on the elements makes it a completely different animal than your average MP3 player you’d take with you on your morning jog.

There’s a lot of tradeoffs the device makes in search of portability and durability. The GO strips out a lot of the features most people are used to, but those are also the exact same features that make most mp3 players so prone to being damaged – not a fun situation when you’re out adventuring.

If you’re looking for something that will let you take a playlist while leaving your hands free to focus on running, swimming through water or screaming down a mountain on your next adventure, and durable enough to last throughout it without breaking a screen or dropping it, the GO gets the green light. Quite simply, it just lets you go. And, checking in at just $59,99, you can give it a test drive without too much commitment.

Pick up the JLAB GO on Amazon for your next adventure.
25 September, 2012
Damiano Cunego Attacks the Tour de Suisse

Just, hold on to your seats, everybody, because this could be a little bit nasty. Let’s just wish them all the very best, shall we.

If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to race a bicycle professionally, check out this gut-wrenching descent. The turns are so hairy, the descent so steep, that the motorcycle-powered camera man has a hard time keeping up.

Pro tip: fast-forward to 2:30 to watch the descent.

20 September, 2012
5 Gnarly Places To Go Scuba Diving

Maybe you’ve jumped out of airplanes all over the globe, bungee-jumped the tallest bridges known to man or participated in some of the most insane adventure races. You’ve tapped into your inner adrenaline junkie on both land and air…but what about sea?

Goggle up Scuba Steve. Here are 5 of the world’s gnarliest places to go scuba diving.

Barrier Reef (Great Blue Hole), Belize

Located off the northeast coast of Central America, what sets this dive spot apart is the Great Blue Hole, believed to be the largest sink-hole in the world. Checking in at roughly 1,000 feet wide and 400 feet deep, the Great Blue Hole formed out of a limestone cave that collapsed during the last ice age. Today, it is a hot spot for many divers that come for the unique marine life, stalactites, dripstone sheets, columns and warm waters that make diving year round a possibility. Jacques-Yves Cousteau himself declared it one of the best diving spots in the world. Who am I to argue with Cousteau?

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

It would be blasphemy to leave The Great Barrier Reef of Australia off this list. Plus, I don’t want to piss off the Aussie’s. They’re the raddest people I know. The Great Barrier Reef extends 1,430 miles along the northeastern coast of Australia. It is so large that you can actually see if from outer space. Many elements attract divers – 1,500 shipwrecks, 6 species of turtles and the chance to see dolphins, whales, and porpoises. But if you are really looking for a rush, The Great Barrier Reef is home to over 125 species of sharks. Experienced divers will recommend the Osprey Reef which provides beautiful scenery. If you’ve got kiddo’s diving with you, make sure to let them know they might find Nemo. The Great Barrier Reef is where this little guy lives.

Strait of Gubal, Egypt

The Strait of Gubal is located in the Red Sea just off the coast of Egypt. It is home to what many consider the top wreck dive site in the world, the SS Thistlegorm, a World War II British transport ship that was sunk by the Germans. What is so unique about this dive is that the sea has maintained unbelievable conditions of the wreck. Tanks, locomotives, army trucks, rifles, bikes and army gear is all completely visible. However, this is not the only visible ship wreck that can be found in the strait. There are dozens of others waiting to be explored.

Farallon Islands, San Francisco

Raise your hand if you’ve seen Jaws. Now raise your hand if you want to go swimming with him. Scuba diving in Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco is sure to give you that experience. The large Elephant Seal population attracts the car-sized Great Whites. This is the only place in the United States that you can cage dive with JAWS. This can cost you up to $770 for a one-day dive but could quite possibly be one of the more intense experiences you have ever had. If you’re concerned about not seeing one of the Great White beasts there are plenty of other shark breed including Hammerheads, Tiger sharks, and the Bull shark.

(Multiple Destinations), Thailand

If you want a smorgasbord of dive spots to tickle your fancy, look no further than Thailand, home to some of the most beautiful dive spots in the world. If gnarly scenery is your thing, then this is it! Thailand offers up some amazing spots in Phuket, Similan Islands, Hin Daeng, Khao Lak, Phi Phi Islands, Krabi, and Burma.

If danger is your middle name, one spot you might want to check out is Samaesan Hole, known as a “black, silty hole of death.” At 90-meters deep, it is the deepest dive in the Gulf of Thailand – sun rarely permeates its depths. The Samaesan Hole is a former military ammunitions dump ground that actually contains unexploded bombs. In case you didn’t catch that… UNEXPLODED BOMBS. There are not a ton of photos of this place due to the lack of sunlight that it gets. That just adds to the scary in my opinion.

Bonus: Nemo 33

Because Nerve Rush loves ya, lets hit you off with one more. Enter Nemo 33, the world’s largest diving pool. This is THE scuba diving center located in Uccle, Belgium. The diving structure contains 2.5 million liters of non-chlorinated spring water that houses caves, platforms, and windows so that visitors can scope the scene and view divers on the inside. Nemo 33 was built as a training center and is often used for film production. Cool fact about this dive spot – if you have the balls to take off your mask while underwater, you could actually drink the water. Don’t worry about having to hold you bladder either… plenty of places to go. Hmm, better not to drink the water, then.

photo credits: Dix_pics1 | pterantula | Eric Burgers | alfonsator | DrJohnBullas

18 September, 2012
World’s Highest Swing is a 300 Meter Arc

Queenstown, New Zealand is one of the world’s most notable adventure capitals. In this clip featuring the Nevis Swing, you’ll see what it’s like to experience a 70 meter free fall followed by a 300 meter arc. The world’s highest (and certainly most gut-wrenching) swing.

13 September, 2012
Tackling Adventure with Tim Moss

Ladies and gentlemen, Tim Moss is a beast.

The Nerve Rush team has spent hundreds of hours culling together extreme videos, amazing athletes and adventurers, so when we came across Tim and started poking around his site, we took a deep breath and asked, WHY HAVE WE NOT TALKED TO THIS GUY BEFORE?

I’ll let Tim tell you more about himself, but the short story is that he runs an online portal called The Next Challenge, where he encourages people to step outside their comfort zone and to dive into adventure travel. His site is chock full of articles, helpful resources and stories

Tim is the epitome of the Nerve Rush community, and we were thrilled to connect with him.

Take it away, sir.

Who is Tim Moss, and what does he do?

I am a person who enjoys physical challenges and trying new things. This has led me to climb new mountains, run long distances, travel around the world and so forth.

More importantly, it put me in a position where others would approach me for help with their own plans: How do I start fundraising? What training do I need to do? How do you write a press release? I built on this and started a website – The Next Challenge – to write about my experiences, provide resources and offer support and encourage to other people.

You broke a Guinness World Record in a rickshaw? Could you elaborate?

In 2005, I was on an around-the-world challenge using as many different transport methods as possible. Before the trip was up, I was already brainstorming new ideas from a carriage on the Trans-Siberian Railway. A few weeks earlier I’d hitched a lift in a rickshaw in Berlin and came up with a plan to travel around the UK on one of them.

It was 5 years before it came to fruition but, after doing some research on forums about the possibility of riding a rickshaw long distance, and signing up as a rider with a London-based rickshaw-taxi company (Bug Bugs – who later gave me the rickshaw I would use), I set off from Scotland to make my way back home.

During planning I discovered that a couple had only recently set a world record for the longest distance cycled in a rickshaw. I realised it wouldn’t take much effort to go further and, although initially sceptical, a survey on my website indicated a strong preference for me to attempt it. As they say, the rest is history!

Care to share one hilarious (and one terrifying) story from your challenges?

I spent about 6 months in Oman last year with my wife where we undertook all sorts of fantastic adventures. They often seemed to go comically wrong though. Our first venture into the desert almost ended prematurely when we got our car stuck in sand before we’d even managed to park and start walking. We spent about an hour digging it out with some Tupperware and the lid of our cool box.

On a subsequent trip we cycled 90-miles around a desert island on Christmas Day, nearly dying of dehydration by the end. We drove off to celebrate afterwards but when we tried to return to our campsite in the dark, we realised we had no idea where it was and spent several hours driving the circumference of this island, parking every few hundred yards to run onto the beach with a torch.

My scariest moments come from my earliest expedition which was a mountaineering trip in Kyrgyzstan. On one memorable occasion we found ourselves descending what felt like a vertical ice wall. Struggling to cling to the ice with our axes and the front points of our crampons, my teammate below, Thom, shouted “I don’t think I can hold on any longer” and slipped. He was, of course, tied to me and the added weight pulled me off the ice too. Ben, tied above us on the top of the rope, looked down to see where the added drag had come from and was met with the spectacle of the two of us dangling from the rope that was tied to his harness. Not a good moment.

Tell us about your first book! How’d that go?

I recently had the marvellous pleasure of seeing something that I’d written printed and displayed in bookshops. The book is called ‘How to Get to the North Pole: and Other Iconic Adventures‘. It’s a balance of armchair explorer and practical guide to classic challenges like cycling around the world or crossing a desert.

I wrote a couple of short articles on similar topics for my website like ‘How to Climb an Unclimbed Mountain‘. They were enjoyable to write and seemed to be useful and popular. So I decided to expand them into full blown chapters to combine into a book.

It was a very painful process to write at times. Unlike telling your own story, with a practical guide book like this, I couldn’t just rely on knowledge that was in my head. Every single sentence had to be checked and cross-referenced for fear of making a casual mistake or incorrect assumption. It was quite tough going towards the end but very satisfying. Researching it also meant getting emails in my inbox from legends like Sir Chris Bonnington, Borge Ousland and Ran Fiennes which was cool.

Given your site title, I must ask, What’s the next challenge?

The current challenge has been to swim the length of the River Thames. My wife and I started last year and aimed to carry on this summer. Unfortunately, I had an operation on my shoulder which has stopped me from even the gentlest of breast strokes. That, combined with some health issues over the last few months have sadly meant challenges have rather been on hold.

Hopefully we’ll be back in action soon.

##

You can read more about Tim on his website, The Next Challenge.

11 September, 2012