Andrew Towne

Last updated
Andrew Towne
Andrew Towne speaking at Office of the Director of National Intelligence.jpg
Andrew Towne speaking at Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Nationality American
Education JD/MBA
Alma mater Yale University (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (JD/MBA)
Occupation(s)Adventurer, explorer
Employer Boston Consulting Group
Known forFirst row across Drake Passage

Andrew Towne is an American businessman, endurance athlete, adventurer, and motivational speaker. He is known for being part of the six-person rowing crew that completed the first-ever human-powered crossing of the Drake Passage between Cape Horn in South America and Antarctica in December 2019. He is currently a Principal for the Boston Consulting Group's Minneapolis office.

Contents

Early life and education

Towne grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota. His father was a professor of music at the University of North Dakota, [1] and his late mother was an Episcopal priest. [2] He attended Grand Forks Central High School, where he graduated as co-valedictorian in 2000. [1] While in high school, he participated in the Youth For Understanding exchange program, spending a year studying abroad in Germany. [2] He went on to attend Yale University. [3] During his studies at Yale, he also spent a year abroad at the University of Nairobi in Kenya [4] and won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship regatta as the four-seat on the Yale varsity lightweight crew. [5] He graduated with honors with a degree in political science. [6]

He attended the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, earning a JD/MBA in a joint program in 2015. [7] Towne was also a member of the University of Pennsylvania Running Club that won the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association national championship in the half marathon in 2013. [8]

Career

After completing his undergraduate degree at Yale, Towne joined the United States Intelligence Community, serving as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. He also worked for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and served as an analyst in Iraq during the Iraq War. [1] [9] In 2015, [7] he took a position as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group's Minneapolis office, where he remains employed. [1] Towne is the board chair of Youth For Understanding USA [10] and licensed to practice law in the state of Minnesota. [11]

Expeditions

Adventurers Fiann Paul (front), Andrew Towne (middle), and John Peterson (rear) during "The Impossible Row" in 2019. The Impossible Row Captain Fiann Paul, Andrew Towne, John Petersen.jpg
Adventurers Fiann Paul (front), Andrew Towne (middle), and John Peterson (rear) during "The Impossible Row" in 2019.

While studying abroad in Kenya in 2003, Towne climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. He would later scale each of the remaining Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each continent) in the following 14 years. In 2011, he climbed Aconcagua in South America and the Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania. The following year, he reached the peaks of Denali in North America and Mount Elbrus in Europe. In 2015, he completed Vinson Massif in Antarctica. [12] That year, he also made his first attempt to climb Mount Everest, but was forced to suspend the trip after surviving the 2015 Mount Everest avalanches caused by the 7.8-magnitude Gorkha earthquake. He also assisted in the treatment of injured climbers after the avalanche. [2] Towne ultimately completed the Seven Summits in 2017 after reaching the top of Mount Everest on his second attempt. [13]

In 2017, Towne was introduced to Icelandic ocean rower Fiann Paul, who discussed the idea of rowing the Drake Passage from the southern tip of South America (Cape Horn) to Antarctica. Paul recruited South African athlete Cameron Bellamy and Scottish rower Jamie Douglas-Hamilton. The three had previously set world records for rowing across the Indian Ocean in 2014. Towne recruited two fellow Yale alumni: swimmer and endurance athlete Colin O'Brady and former Yale rowing captain John Petersen. [3] [14] [15]

Between December 13 and 25, 2019, the six men rowed across the Drake Passage in a 29-foot vessel, enduring freezing temperatures, rain, snow, and waves up to 30 feet in height. The rowers worked in 90-minute shifts for 24 hours a day, traveling 665 land miles. [14] The expedition achieved nine different world records, according to Guinness World Records . [16] The trip was documented in real-time by the Discovery Channel in a multi-platform series documentary called The Impossible Row . [17]

World records

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Everest</span> Earths highest mountain

Mount Everest, known locally as Sagarmatha or Qomolangma, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drake Passage</span> Body of water between South America and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica

The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean. The passage is named after the 16th-century English explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)</span> British mountaineer (1902–1924)

Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine was a British mountaineer who took part in the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition, the third British expedition to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest.

Leo Houlding is a British rock climber and mountaineer.

Matt Dickinson is a film-maker and writer who is best known for his award-winning novels and his documentary work for National Geographic Television, Discovery Channel and the BBC. Dickinson was one of the climbers caught in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. In 2003 he was the co-writer and director of Cloud Cuckoo Land—an independent British movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sharp (mountaineer)</span> British mountain climber (1972–2006)

David Sharp was an English mountaineer who died near the summit of Mount Everest. His death caused controversy and debate because he was passed by several other climbers heading to and returning from the summit as he was dying, although several others tried to help him.

Russell Reginald Brice is a New Zealand mountaineer. He was the owner/manager of Himex, a climbing expedition company. He has summited Cho Oyu seven times, Himal Chuli and Mount Everest twice, as well as Manaslu in October 2010, which was his 14th summit of an 8000 m peak.

<i>Everest: Beyond the Limit</i> 2006 American TV series or program

Everest: Beyond the Limit is a Discovery Channel reality television series about yearly attempts to summit Mount Everest organized and led by New Zealander Russell Brice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Chin</span> American mountain climber, film director, and skier (born 1973)

Jimmy Chin is an American professional mountain athlete, photographer, skier, film director, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxime Chaya</span> Lebanese mountaineer

Maxime Chaya is a Lebanese mountaineer and explorer. On May 15, 2006, he was the first Lebanese to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits. On December 28, 2007, Max also became the first from the Middle East to reach the South Pole on foot from the Antarctic coast, after an unsupported and unassisted journey that lasted 47 days. Then, on April 25, 2009, he reached the North Pole also on foot, all the way from Canada.

Andrew James Lock OAM is an Australian mountaineer. He became the first, and still remains the only, Australian to climb all 14 "eight-thousanders" on 2 October 2009, and is the 18th person to ever complete this feat. He climbed 13 of the 14 without bottled oxygen, only using it on Mount Everest, which he has summited three times. He retired from eight-thousander climbing in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergey Kofanov</span> Russian mountaineer

Sergey Anatolyevich Kofanov is a Russian mountaineer.

Andrew David "Andy" Tyson was an American businessman, writer, and mountaineer. Tyson was known for his first ascents of Gamlang Razi and for climbing new routes on China's Genyen Massif. Over the course of Tyson's mountaineering career, he would go on to climb some of the world's most notable peaks, including Everest, Cho Oyu, Nanda Devi, Denali, Aconcagua in Argentina; the Vinson Massif in Antarctica; and Mount Blanc in the Alps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin O'Brady</span> American adventurer

Colin Timothy O'Brady is an American professional endurance athlete, motivational speaker and adventurer. He is a former professional triathlete, representing the United States on the ITU Triathlon World Cup circuit, racing in 25 countries on six continents from 2009 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiann Paul</span> Icelandic explorer, athlete and artist

Fiann Paul is a Polish-Icelandic explorer known for his exploits in ocean rowing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean Explorers Grand Slam</span> Adventurer goal to complete open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessel

The Ocean Explorers Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to complete open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessel.

<i>The Impossible Row</i> 2020 documentary film

The Impossible Row is a documentary from the Discovery Channel. It follows explorers as they row across the Drake Passage and become the first in history to do so. The journey took 12 days and ended on December 25, 2019 with the six crew members reaching Antarctica. They were the first to accomplish three feats, including the first to row across the Drake Passage, the first to row to the Antarctic, and the first to row in the Southern Ocean.

Cameron Bellamy is an endurance athlete from South Africa. He has broken numerous records including being one of six men on a team to row across the Drake Passage in 2019. He also broke the record for the longest ocean channel swim previously held by Chloe McCardel.

Jamie Douglas-Hamilton is an adventurer who is a world record holder for being part of the team completing the first man-powered crossing of Drake Passage, a feat that was made into the 2020 documentary The Impossible Row.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Knudson, Pamela D. (17 September 2018). "Towne named to Grand Forks Central's Distinguished Alumni group". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Pheifer, Pat (6 April 2017). "Spurned by calamity, Minneapolis climber will take another crack at the highest peak". Star Tribune. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 Schlossman, Brad Elliott (26 December 2019). "Grand Forks Central grad Andrew Towne completes 'The Impossible Row' and sets world record". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Baumann, Nick (April 20, 2004). "YHAPP plans to fundraise by scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro". Yale Daily News. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Yale Wins National Championship". Yale University. June 4, 2005. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Andrew Towne". Discovery Channel. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Melamed, Samantha (17 May 2015). "Penn law grad and Mt. Everest climber tells of surviving Nepal quake". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Half Marathon, Track & Field Nationals". National Intercollegiate Running Club Association. April 7, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Office of the Director of National Intelligence Fifth Year Anniversary Celebration" (PDF). Office of the Director of National Intelligence. April 21, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Andrew Towne: crossing the Drake Passage from Chile to Antarctica in a rowboat". Northstar Unplugged. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Lawyer Details". Minnesota Judicial Branch. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  12. ↑ Schlossman, Brad E. (November 27, 2019). "Discovery Channel to follow former North Dakota, current Minnesota resident's attempt to be first to row across Drake Passage to Antarctica". Duluth News-Tribune. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ Pheifer, Pat (May 29, 2017). "Minneapolis climber summits Everest on second try, despite flashbacks to 2015 tragedy". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  14. 1 2 Schlossman, Brad Elliott (25 January 2020). "Central grad Andrew Towne on finishing The Impossible Row: 'We all looked like zombies'". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Morton, Rosie (5 December 2019). "EDINBURGH ENTREPRENEUR SETS OFF ON WORLD'S 'IMPOSSIBLE ROW'". Scottish Field. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Glenday, Craig (27 December 2019). "Impossible Row team achieve first ever row across the Drake Passage". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  17. ↑ Alcini, Daniele (20 January 2020). "Discovery Channel to examine first rowing voyage across the Drake Passage". Real Screen. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.