Explorers Museum Gains Patron In Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Last week, representatives from the Explorers Museum announced that it had gained a patron in the form of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the British adventurer who has been called the "greatest living explorer" for his various exploits in the Arctic, Antarctic, and beyond. The museum, which was just announced this past January, will hold a gala event on September 6, at which Sir Ran will give the keynote address.

The Explorers Museum is a wonderful project being spearheaded by Lorie Karnath, the former President of the Explorers Club. Headquartered in Charleville Castle, located in Tullamore, Ireland, the museum looks to serve not only as a place to celebrate exploration throughout history, but also as a modern base of operations for explorers in the field today. There are plans afoot to create an explorers hall of fame, a world-class research library, and a base camp of sorts, outfitted with latest in modern technology. Exhibits are expected to open this summer.

If anyone deserves a spot in the Explorers Museum Hall of Fame, it is Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Over the years, his expeditions have taken him on unsupported journeys to both the North and South Pole, to the summit of Everest, and up the Nile by hovercraft. He was also instrumental in the discovery of the lost city of Ubar in Iran, and he once ran seven marathons, on seven continents, in seven days.

In speaking about the Explorers Museum, Fiennes said:

"The Explorers Museum is a commendable institution with the expressed aim of recognising our global – yet often overlooked – heritage of adventure and exploration, wherever these journeys may have taken place and by whatever means. It is great that at last there is a physical space by which the most-impressive undertakings of the exploring world can be showcased to the public and I am very privileged to become the museum's patron."

I'm happy to see this project coming to fruition. It sounds like it is going to be a wonderful place for those of us who are fans of adventure and exploration, while also offering some great resources to explorers across the globe. I hope to visit someday.

Video: Exploring Ireland's Donegal Region

Ireland's remote Donegal region, located in the remote northeast section of the country, is home to some amazing landscapes, including a series of impressive sea stacks just off the coastline. Over the past few years, climber Iain Miller has been exploring the region and climbing those stacks, while documenting his adventures online. He has even created a series of YouTube videos to better show off the area. The one below will give you sense of what Donegal has to offer, and I have to say, it looks like quite a destination.

Announcing The Explorers Museum

Earlier this week a new initiative dedicated to sharing the exploits of explorers and the importance of exploration was announced in the from of the Explorers Museum. The new project, which is spearheaded by former Explorers Club President Lorie Karnath and Tim Lavery, director of the World Explorers Bureau-The Global Adventure Speakers’ Agency, is a not-for-proft venture that seeks to celebrate exploration in all of its forms.


The museum will be housed in the famous Charleville Castle, located in Tullamore, Ireland. The castle once belonged to Charles Howard-Bury, an explorer and botanist who was instrumental in the first scouting expedition to Mt. Everest in 1921. The first exhibit of the new museum will highlight Howard-Bury's achievements, along with those of other famous explorers. That exhibit will open later this summer.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg for what the Explorers Museum has planned. The new organization hopes to hold its inaugural awards night later this year, during which it will provide recognition for groundbreaking expeditions and discoveries that are taking place around the world today. An exploration hall of fame will also be established, inducting prominent figures from exploration history. Future exhibits, lectures and events will also be held in the castle, which will also serve as a launching point for future expeditions too.

In the future, the museum, which came about due to a generous and anonymous donation, also hopes to establish a research library and an expedition base outfitted with the latest high tech equipment to support teams in the field.

To find out more about the museum, visit the official website. It look like I need to ay a visit to Tullamore, Ireland sometime in the future.

Adventurer To Attempt To Swim Around Ireland

In my opinion, there are very few tests of endurance as grueling as a long distance swim. Spending hours in the water, generally isolated and alone, even with a support team, can be a mentally and

physically exhausting experience. Long distance swimmers burn calories quickly and are usually hungry and bordering on dehydration most of the time. It is a very tough activity, even for the hardiest of individuals, which is why I have enormous respect for those who take on such a challenge. Later this year, adventurer Ripley Davenport will attempt just such an undertaking when he will try to become the first person to swim around Ireland, covering a distance of roughly 850 miles (1367 km) in the process. 

The circumnavigation swim isn't set to get underway until sometime this summer, but the official website for the round Ireland swim is now online. Ripley says that he'll be swimming clockwise around the island country, starting at Derrynane, County Kerry. His route will take him out into the Atlantic Ocean before moving around the crown of Northern Ireland, through the Northern Channel, and turning south into the Irish Sea. From there, he'll swim across the Saint George Channel and into the Celtic Channel, as he once again returns to the Atlantic, and back to his starting location.

A support team will shadow Ripley aboard a yacht while he makes his swim and a paddler in a kayak will be close at hand at all times. Davenport will be in a wetsuit to help protect him from the chilling waters he'll face along the way and he'll carry a GPS tracker so we can all follow along with his progress as well. In preparation for the full journey, he also plans to make a 30-mile (48 km) open water swim in May as a prelude to the start of the challenge. 

Ripley will undertake his swim around Ireland in an effort to raise funds and awareness for MS Ireland, an organization that supports those suffering with Multiple Sclerosis in that country. Davenport was diagnosed with the disease back in 2011 and yet he continues to seek adventure at every opportunity. Being able to complete this swim will be an epic undertaking and a way of demonstrating that those with MS can still accomplish great things.

Good luck to Ripley. We'll be following along later this year. 

Irish Adventurers Complete Epic Journey From Istanbul To Shanghai

There has been a lot of chatter lately about the overuse of the word "epic." If you want to know the true definition of that word, then look no further than this story about two Irish adventurers who made an incredible journey from Istanbul, Turkey to Shanghai, China – finishing up yesterday.

Maghnus Collins and David Burns set out on their long distance odyssey last March with a plan to cover the 14,000 km (8700 miles) on bike, foot and water. Their journey took them along the old Silk Road trade route between Europe and Asia, crossing over the Himalaya and rafting down one of the most iconic rivers in the world – the Yangtze. Along the way they helped raise nearly €25,000 ($33,450) for Self Help Africa, an organization dedicated to helping rural Africa gain economic strength.

Collins and Burns' called their expedition Sand2Snow Adventures. The duo rode their bikes across the first stage, covering 8000 km (4970 miles) from Istanbul to Kathmandu before transitioning to foot. They then proceeded to run an additional 1000 km (621 miles), at one point running 25 marathons in 27 days across the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau. Finally, they finished up their journey by rafting more than 6300 km (3914 miles) down the Yangtze, ending on the Bund in Shanghai. That was quite a contrast to earlier sections of the journey when they encountered no other living souls for days on end. At one point, while on the river, they actually traveled for 17 straight days without seeing another person. 

On this excursion the two men faced a host of challenges in addition to the physical, mental and geographical ones that you would expect. For instance, at one point they lost their raft that included much of their gear, including Collins' passport. While running through the Himalaya they also wore "appalling blisters" on their feet and after one particular run Collins was even pissing blood. In the end, they were even racing the clock, as their Chinese visas were set to expire in just a few days and it was important that they reach the finish line before they did.

Sounds like it was an amazing experience and I'm sorry I wasn't following it more closely when it was going on. Better late than never I suppose. Congratulations to Maghnus and David on a job well done.