David Hempleman-Adams
Encyclopedia
David Kim Hempleman-Adams, LVO
, OBE
, CStJ
, DL
(born 1956 in Swindon
, Wiltshire
) is a British
adventurer.
He is the first person in history to reach the Geographic and Magnetic North and South Poles as well as climb the highest peaks in all seven continents; the Adventurers' Grand Slam. In 1984, he successfully completed a solo expedition to the Magnetic North Pole without dogs, snow mobiles or air supplies. Also he led the first team in 1992 to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole.This was described in the book A Race Against Time. In 1996, he completed a solo unsupported expedition to the South Pole on January 5, sailed to the South Magnetic Pole
on February 19, and led a team of novices to ski to the Magnetic North Pole on May 15. The book Toughing it Out describes David's first 20 years of adventuring.
In 1998 he joined Norwegian Rune Gjeldnes
in an attempt to reach the Geographical North Pole, the final leg of his Grand Slam attempt, which he described in a book called Walking on Thin Ice. He also became the first man to fly a balloon over the North Pole in 2000, a trip that emulated the ill-fated attempt by Salomon August Andrée
, a Swede, to fly to the North Pole in the 19th century and which he also described in a book called At The Mercy of the Wind.
He has made thirty Arctic expeditions and has reached the various Poles a record 14 times.
On 22 September 2003 he became the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean
in an open wicker basket rozier balloon. The journey was from New Brunswick
, Canada
to north of Blackpool
, UK.
In July 2004 he and co-pilot Lorne White flew a single engine Cessna from Cape Columbia
in the north of Canada
to Cape Horn
at the southern tip of South America
, covering 11,060 miles and arriving on 23 July after 12 days. In June 2005, Hempleman-Adams staged the world's "highest" formal dinner party. Hempleman-Adams, Alan Veal, and fellow adventurer Bear Grylls
ascended to 24,262 feet in a hot air balloon
. Grylls and Veal, wearing formal attire, then climbed down to a dinner table suspended 40 feet below the balloon and dined on asparagus, salmon, and summer fruits, and finally parachuted down to earth. His daughter Alicia Hempleman Adams
became the youngest person to traverse Baffin Island
in April 2005. In January 2007, Hempleman-Adams broke the quarter-century old world small sized hot air balloon altitude record, by ascending to 9,906 meters over Alberta, Canada; beating the previous record of 9,537 metres set by Carol Davis
in New Mexico
.
In October 2004, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire.
In July 2007 Hempleman-Adams crossed the Atlantic in the smallest helium balloon to break the record for that particular class of balloon flying this distance. His aim was to land the balloon in Ireland but he was blown over to England by strong winds. This incident was captured on the Sky television program Road Wars. See Toshiba Challenge website.
On 10 October 2008 Hempleman-Adams, along with co-pilot Jon Mason won the 52nd Gordon Bennett Cup
, having flown a helium balloon from Albuquerque, New Mexico eventually landing over 1000 miles later near Madison, Wisconsin. They are the first British team to win the coveted prize in 102 years.
In September 2009 he broke the endurance record for a flight using the smallest man-carrying helium balloon. He flew 200 miles from Butler, Missouri, to Cherokee, Oklahoma, in 14 hours and 15 minutes using the class AA-01 balloon. The previous record was an eight hours and 12 minutes flight undertaken by American Coy Foster in March 1983.
To coincide with the 100th anniversary of Scotts expedition to the South Pole,The Heart of the Great Alone was published.It brings together a selection of the astonishing photographs taken by Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley with commentary and narration by David.
In September 2010 he competed in the Gordon Bennett 2010 balloon race held in the UK for the first time. .
In December 2010 he turned on the Christmas lights in Wootton Bassett
.
In 1992 David co-founded The Mitchemp Trust, a registered youth development charity working with vulnerable young people aged 11 to 14 years old from across Wiltshire who are suffering the effects of poverty and rural isolation. See The Mitchemp Trust website.
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
(born 1956 in Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
adventurer.
He is the first person in history to reach the Geographic and Magnetic North and South Poles as well as climb the highest peaks in all seven continents; the Adventurers' Grand Slam. In 1984, he successfully completed a solo expedition to the Magnetic North Pole without dogs, snow mobiles or air supplies. Also he led the first team in 1992 to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole.This was described in the book A Race Against Time. In 1996, he completed a solo unsupported expedition to the South Pole on January 5, sailed to the South Magnetic Pole
South Magnetic Pole
The Earth's South Magnetic Pole is the wandering point on the Earth's surface where the geomagnetic field lines are directed vertically upwards...
on February 19, and led a team of novices to ski to the Magnetic North Pole on May 15. The book Toughing it Out describes David's first 20 years of adventuring.
In 1998 he joined Norwegian Rune Gjeldnes
Rune Gjeldnes
Rune Gjeldnes is a Norwegian adventurer. He completed his military education in 1992, where he met fellow adventurer-to-be Torry Larsen, also of Møre og Romsdal. Gjeldnes served in the Norwegian Naval Special Operations Command until 1997.-Expeditions:Together with Torry Larsen, Rune Gjeldnes...
in an attempt to reach the Geographical North Pole, the final leg of his Grand Slam attempt, which he described in a book called Walking on Thin Ice. He also became the first man to fly a balloon over the North Pole in 2000, a trip that emulated the ill-fated attempt by Salomon August Andrée
Salomon August Andrée
Salomon August Andrée , during his lifetime most often known as S. A. Andrée, was a Swedish engineer, physicist, aeronaut and polar explorer who died while leading an attempt to reach the Geographic North Pole by hydrogen balloon...
, a Swede, to fly to the North Pole in the 19th century and which he also described in a book called At The Mercy of the Wind.
He has made thirty Arctic expeditions and has reached the various Poles a record 14 times.
On 22 September 2003 he became the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in an open wicker basket rozier balloon. The journey was from New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to north of Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, UK.
In July 2004 he and co-pilot Lorne White flew a single engine Cessna from Cape Columbia
Cape Columbia
Cape Columbia is the northernmost point of land of Canada, located on Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut. It marks the westernmost coastal point of Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean...
in the north of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
at the southern tip of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, covering 11,060 miles and arriving on 23 July after 12 days. In June 2005, Hempleman-Adams staged the world's "highest" formal dinner party. Hempleman-Adams, Alan Veal, and fellow adventurer Bear Grylls
Bear Grylls
Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls is an English adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor in the United Kingdom...
ascended to 24,262 feet in a hot air balloon
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
. Grylls and Veal, wearing formal attire, then climbed down to a dinner table suspended 40 feet below the balloon and dined on asparagus, salmon, and summer fruits, and finally parachuted down to earth. His daughter Alicia Hempleman Adams
Alicia Hempleman-Adams
Alicia Hempleman Adams is the daughter of British explorer David Hempleman-Adams. She holds the record for the youngest person to have reached the North Pole when she was flown there to meet her father at the age of eight. On 13 April 2009 she became the youngest person to treck to the North Pole,...
became the youngest person to traverse Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
in April 2005. In January 2007, Hempleman-Adams broke the quarter-century old world small sized hot air balloon altitude record, by ascending to 9,906 meters over Alberta, Canada; beating the previous record of 9,537 metres set by Carol Davis
Carol Davis
Carol Davis is the widow of former Raiders owner Al Davis. Al was the principal owner and managing general partner of the Oakland Raiders from 1972 until his death on October 8, 2011...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
In October 2004, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire.
In July 2007 Hempleman-Adams crossed the Atlantic in the smallest helium balloon to break the record for that particular class of balloon flying this distance. His aim was to land the balloon in Ireland but he was blown over to England by strong winds. This incident was captured on the Sky television program Road Wars. See Toshiba Challenge website.
On 10 October 2008 Hempleman-Adams, along with co-pilot Jon Mason won the 52nd Gordon Bennett Cup
Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning
The Gordon Bennett Cup is the world's oldest gas balloon race, and is "regarded as the premier event of world balloon racing" according to the Los Angeles Times. Referred to as the "Blue Ribbon" of aeronautics, the first race started from Paris, France, on September 30, 1906...
, having flown a helium balloon from Albuquerque, New Mexico eventually landing over 1000 miles later near Madison, Wisconsin. They are the first British team to win the coveted prize in 102 years.
In September 2009 he broke the endurance record for a flight using the smallest man-carrying helium balloon. He flew 200 miles from Butler, Missouri, to Cherokee, Oklahoma, in 14 hours and 15 minutes using the class AA-01 balloon. The previous record was an eight hours and 12 minutes flight undertaken by American Coy Foster in March 1983.
To coincide with the 100th anniversary of Scotts expedition to the South Pole,The Heart of the Great Alone was published.It brings together a selection of the astonishing photographs taken by Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley with commentary and narration by David.
In September 2010 he competed in the Gordon Bennett 2010 balloon race held in the UK for the first time. .
In December 2010 he turned on the Christmas lights in Wootton Bassett
Wootton Bassett
Royal Wootton Bassett , informally known as Wootton Bassett, is a small market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001...
.
In 1992 David co-founded The Mitchemp Trust, a registered youth development charity working with vulnerable young people aged 11 to 14 years old from across Wiltshire who are suffering the effects of poverty and rural isolation. See The Mitchemp Trust website.