Explorers Grand Slam

Last updated
Sir David Hempleman-Adams standing in Antarctica in 2018. In 1998 he became the first person to complete an Explorer's Grand Slam. David Hempleman-Adams cropped 01.jpg
Sir David Hempleman-Adams standing in Antarctica in 2018. In 1998 he became the first person to complete an Explorer's Grand Slam.
Vanessa O'Brien skiing the last degree to the North Pole as part of the Explorer's Grand Slam in 2013. She was the first woman to complete the Last Degree in under one year. Vanessa O'Brien Approaches The Geographic North Pole To Complete The Explorers Grand Slam Last Degree.jpg
Vanessa O'Brien skiing the last degree to the North Pole as part of the Explorer's Grand Slam in 2013. She was the first woman to complete the Last Degree in under one year.

The Explorer's Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to reach the North Pole and South Pole, as well as climb the Seven Summits (Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson, and Puncak Jaya or Kosciuszko). Purists also include a submarine expedition to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, but this is not necessary by most popular accounts.

Contents

History

The original concept involved the polar trips starting from accepted coastal points, involving long sledging journeys. Over time the significantly shorter, easier, and less serious "Last Degree" polar trips – from 89 degrees to the pole (at 90 degrees) – have been claimed as the Explorer's Grand Slam (Last Degree). Currently, the climbing community and other leading organizations including the American Alpine Club, The Explorers Club, climbing companies such as International Mountain Guides, and the popular press all define the Explorer's Grand Slam as having accomplished the Seven Summits plus (at a minimum – the last degree of) the North and South Poles. There is some consensus that a True Explorer's Grand Slam means one will also have summitted all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) (14 + 7 + 2). Likewise, there is some consensus that a True Adventurer's Grand Slam is achieved by also visiting the magnetic north and south poles. [1] As of 2022, all terminology and guidelines regarding polar data records are being conducted under the Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme (PECS). [2]

In 1998, David Hempleman-Adams became the first person to complete an Explorer's Grand Slam. [3] [4]

In April 2005, Park Young-seok became the first person to complete a True Explorer's Grand Slam. [5]

In 2011, former Wales rugby union international Richard Parks became the first person ever to complete the (Last Degree) Grand Slam within a single calendar year, doing so within seven months. [6]

On April 16, 2013, Vanessa O'Brien became the first woman to complete the (Last Degree) Grand Slam under a single calendar year, doing so in eleven months. [7] [8] [4]

On April 22, 2013, Cheryl Bart became the first Australian woman and the 31st person worldwide to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam. [9] [10]

In 2014, Jing Wang became the fastest woman to complete the (Last Degree) Grand Slam in 142 days. [11]

In 2014, Ryan Waters became the first American to complete the True Adventurer's Grand Slam by skiing full-length, unsupported and unassisted North and South Pole expeditions and climbing the seven summits.

On April 21, 2015, Tashi Malik and Nungshi Malik became world's first twins and siblings as well as the first South Asians to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam (Last Degree).

On May 27, 2016, Colin O'Brady became the fastest person to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam (Last Degree), doing so in 139 days. He is the current world speed record holder for completing the Explorer's Grand Slam (Last Degree). [12] [13] [14] [15]

On April 12, 2017, Marin Minamiya became the youngest person to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam (Last Degree) at 20 years old. [16]

People who completed the quest

Full Grand Slam (both poles from an outer coastline/shore)

In chronological order:

Grand Slam (one pole from an inner coastline/shore and one pole from an outer coastline/shore or last degree)

In chronological order:

  1. Flag of Iceland.svg Haraldur Ólafsson (SP non-Coastal)
  2. Flag of Singapore.svg Khoo Swee Chiow (SP non-Coastal)
  3. Flag of the United States.svg Alison Levine (NP non-Coastal) [21]
  4. Flag of Jordan.svg Mostafa Salameh (NP non-Coastal) [22]
  5. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Newall Hunter (NP non-Coastal) [23]
  6. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhang Liang (SP non-Coastal) [24] [25]
  7. Flag of Poland.svg Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Grazyna Machnik (NP non-Coastal) [26]
  8. Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jaco Ottink (NP non-Coastal) [27] [28]
  9. Flag of France.svg Jérôme Brisebourg (NP non-Coastal) [29] [30]
  10. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Shuttleworth (NP non-Coastal) [31]

Last Degree Grand Slam (both poles from 89 degrees)

In chronological order:

  1. Flag of South Africa.svg Sean Disney [32]
  2. Flag of South Africa.svg Vaughan de la Harpe
  3. Flag of South Africa.svg Sibusiso Vilane
  4. Flag of South Africa.svg Arthur Marsden
  5. Flag of South Africa.svg Andrew Van Der Velde
  6. Flag of the United States.svg Vernon Tejas
  7. Flag of the United States.svg Will Cross
  8. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Flag of the United States.svg Lei Wang
  9. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Neil Laughton [33]
  10. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jo Gambi
  11. Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rob Gambi
  12. Flag of the United States.svg Randall Peeters
  13. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wang Yongfeng
  14. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ci Luo
  15. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Jian
  16. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wang Shi
  17. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhong Jianmin
  18. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Jin Feibao [34]
  19. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wang Qiuyang
  20. Flag of the United States.svg Suzanne K Nance [35]
  21. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Parks
  22. Flag of Guatemala.svg Andrea Cardona
  23. Flag of the United States.svg John Dahlem
  24. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Matthew Holt
  25. Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Flag of Switzerland.svg Arnold Witzig
  26. Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Len Stanmore [36]
  27. Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cheryl Bart
  28. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of the United States.svg Vanessa O'Brien [7] [8]
  29. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sebastian Merriman [37]
  30. Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Jing Wang [11]
  31. Flag of India.svg Tashi Malik [38] [39]
  32. Flag of India.svg Nungshi Malik [38] [39]
  33. Flag of Egypt.svg Omar Samra [40]
  34. Flag of Russia.svg Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Maria (Masha) Gordon
  35. Flag of the United States.svg Colin O'Brady [12] [13] [14] [15]
  36. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Moorhouse
  37. Flag of the United States.svg Victor Vescovo [41]
  38. Flag of the United States.svg Sean Swarner [42]
  39. Flag of Japan.svg Marin Minamiya [16]
  40. Flag of the United States.svg Michael W. Grigsby [43] [44]
  41. Flag of Germany.svg Julia Elinor Schultz [45]
  42. Flag of Malaysia.svg Muhamad Muqharabbin Mokhtarrudin [46]
  43. Flag of the United States.svg Mike Gibbons [47] [48]
  44. Flag of Greece.svg Nikolaos Mangitsis [49] [50]
  45. Flag of Spain.svg Josu Feijoo [51] [52]
  46. Flag of the United States.svg James Holliday [53]
  47. Flag of the United States.svg Joel Schauer [54]
  48. Flag of the United States.svg Alexander Pancoe [55]
  49. Flag of Iceland.svg Leifur Svavarsson [56]
  50. Flag of the United States.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Khai Nguyen [57] [58] [59]
  51. Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Sweitzer [60] [61]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits and additionally reaching the North and South poles has been dubbed the Explorers Grand Slam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hempleman-Adams</span> British industrialist and adventurer

Sir David Kim Hempleman-Adams, is an English industrialist and adventurer.

Khoo Swee Chiow is a Singaporean adventurer, author, consultant, and motivational speaker. Khoo is the first Southeast Asian and the fourth person in the world to complete The Explorers Grand Slam, that is, the North Pole, the South Pole, and the Seven Summits.

The Three Poles is an adventurer’s challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, and the summit of Mount Everest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Uemura</span> Japanese adventurer

Naomi Uemura was a Japanese adventurer who was known particularly for his solo exploits. For example, he was the first person to reach the North Pole solo, the first person to raft the Amazon solo, and the first person to climb Denali solo. He disappeared a day after his 43rd birthday while attempting to climb Denali in the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ajeet Bajaj</span>

Ajeet Bajaj is the first Indian to ski to the North Pole and complete the polar trilogy which entails skiing to the North Pole, South Pole and across the Greenland icecap. Bajaj and his daughter Deeya Bajaj were the first Indian father daughter team to climb Mt. Everest. He completed the Explorer's Grand Slam on 05 June 2022 while completing the Seven Summits with his daughter Deeya.

Omar Samra is a British-born Egyptian adventurer, entrepreneur and speaker. He is the first Egyptian to climb Mount Everest, the 7 Summits and ski to both the Geographic South and North Pole. He is also the first Egyptian to complete the 7 Summits challenge on 31 May 2013, climbing the highest mountain on all seven continents. Samra is one of 40 known people to accomplish the "Explorers Grand Slam" challenge, which include climbing the highest mountain on every continent, the 7 summits, and skiing to both the South and North Poles. Samra has also been selected for Nasa's PoSSUM program along with 2 other Egyptians, Abdelraouf El Waqad and Ahmed Farid

Sibusiso Vilane is a South African adventurer and motivational speaker and the author of the book To the Top from Nowhere. An adventurer, marathon runner and mountaineer and expedition leader, he has also served as the Chief Scout of Scouts South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Falvey</span>

Pat Falvey is an Irish high-altitude mountaineer, polar explorer, expedition leader, author, corporate and motivational speaker. He works with individuals, companies and organisations throughout the world inspiring, mentoring and challenging them to be the best that they can be.

Wang Lei is the first Chinese woman and the first Asian American who have climbed the Seven Summits and skied to both the North Pole and South Pole, the so-called Explorers Grand Slam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Levine</span>

Alison Levine is an American mountain climber, motivational speaker and leadership consultant. She is the author of On the Edge: The Art of High Impact Leadership and the executive producer of a documentary, The Glass Ceiling. She has ascended the highest peaks on every continent and also skied to both the North and South Poles. In 2010, she completed the Adventure Grand Slam by reaching the summit of Mount Everest. She served as an adjunct instructor at the U.S. Military Academy.

Harry Taylor is a British mountaineer, security advisor and former SAS member. He founded ‘High Adventure’ with Loel Guinness, an extreme sports company specifically designed to set records in climbing, paragliding, and skydiving. His team set a world distance flight record for a paraglider at 150.6 km in Namibia. In 1991, with close friend Charles "Nish" Bruce he made a tandem skydive with oxygen from 27,000 feet over Badajoz in Spain. Taylor did a tandem paraglider flight from Cho Oyu 8,201m Tibet and was also the 1st British paraglider pilot to fly from Denali, Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tashi and Nungshi Malik</span> Indian mountain climbers (born 1991)

Tashi and Nungshi Malik are the first siblings and twins to climb the Seven Summits and reach the North and South Poles and complete the Adventurers Grand Slam and Three Poles Challenge.

Ryan Waters is an American mountaineer, mountaineering guide, and polar skiing guide.

<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.

Masha Gordon is a British businesswoman, explorer and mountain climber. Gordon spent 16 years working in finance and capital markets. She was managing director of Goldman Sachs and most recently led the emerging markets portfolio management team at PIMCO.

Vernon "Vern" Tejas is an American mountain climber and mountain guide. He is the current world record holder in the amount of time taken to summit all of the Seven Summits consecutively, having also previously held the same record. He was also the first person to solo summit several of the world's tallest peaks. Tejas was named one of the top fifty Alaskan athletes of the twentieth century by Sports Illustrated in 2002. In 2012, he was elected to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. Tejas plays the harmonica and guitar. He currently resides in Greenwich Village, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wang Jing (mountaineer)</span>

Wang Jing is a Chinese mountaineer, author, entrepreneur and member of The Explorers Club in the United States. Wang Jing is best known for her feat in becoming the fastest woman in the world to complete the Explorers Grand Slam in 143 days and the fastest woman to climb Seven Summits with an assist from helicopters. The Explorers Grand Slam involves reaching the highest peak on every continent plus at a minimum of skiing the last degree (111 km) to the North and South poles. Wang Jing recorded this adventure in her book Silence of the Summit, which was published in English in December 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Laughton</span>

Neil Adrian Denis Laughton is a former army officer, entrepreneur and adventurer. He has completed the Explorers Grand Slam of climbing the highest mountains on all seven continents and reaching both the North and South Poles. He holds a number of records for his activities on land, sea and air.

The Four Poles is an adventurer's challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, the summit of Mount Everest, and the Challenger Deep.

References

  1. "First person to complete the Adventurers Grand Slam". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  2. "The Language of Polar Adventure". Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  3. "North Pole party for 'Grand Slam' Briton". BBC. 1998-04-30.
  4. 1 2 Van Den Broek, Alex. "Can the Explorer's Grand Slam Be Saved?". The Explorers Web. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Mr. Park completes the Grand Slam". EverestNews.com. April 2005.
  6. "Parks completes epic challenge". ESPN Scrum. 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  7. 1 2 "Boston's Vanessa O'Brien Completes 'Explorer's Grand Slam' in Record Time". Boston.com. April 2013.
  8. 1 2 "Boston's Vanessa O'Brien Becomes First Woman to Climb Seven Summits". Grind TV. May 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  9. "Historic feat for Australian woman conquering Explorer's Grand Slam".
  10. "Icy grand slam success". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. 1 2 "An Awesome Adventure of Wang Jing". Gantabya Nepal News. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Setting an epic world record" . Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  13. 1 2 "Meet the Triathlete Who Broke Two Mountaineering World Records and Snapchatted Everest | VICE Sports". VICE Sports. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  14. 1 2 "Behind-the-Scenes of Colin O'Brady's Record-Shattering Expedition". Men's Journal. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  15. 1 2 "Portland endurance athlete brings home two world records, makes us all look lazy". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  16. 1 2 NHK. "最年少20歳で冒険家グランドスラム達成 南谷さんが会見". NHK News. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  17. Roy-Sole, Monique. "Gold Medal 2000 Winner – Bernard Voyer". The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  18. Stonich, Avery. "What It Takes to Complete the Adventurers Grand Slam Unsupported". National Geographic. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  19. Stats, Adventure. "Three Poles – NP, SP, Everest (excluding motorized)". Adventure Stats. Adventure Stats. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  20. "Adventure Stats". Adventure Stats. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  21. Associated Press, Climber Conquers Everest and Records Grand Slam https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/sports/15climb.html New York Times. Aug 14, 2000.
  22. Coetzer, Correne. "Interview with Mostafa Salameh: Islam, Palestine, Peace and the South Pole". The Explorers Web. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  23. Hynes, Justin. "NEWALL HUNTER: HOW A 53-YEAR-OLD IT ENGINEER JOINED THE EXPLORING ELITE". Nightjar Travel. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  24. Pokhrel, Rajan. "Four Chinese climbers complete all 14 peaks above 8,000 m this autumn". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  25. van den Broek, Alex. "Can the Explorer's Grand Slam Be Saved?". Explorers Web. Retrieved 22 Aug 2018.
  26. Walsh, Martin. "Antarctica 2018–2019: Final Recap". Explorers Web. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  27. Kikstra, Harry. "Editor". The 7 Summits. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  28. Ottink, Jaco. "Owner & Managing Director". Beyond Summits. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  29. "liveXplorer". Expeditions Unlimited. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  30. "2019 Expedition Updates. Who Reached the Pole". Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions LLC. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  31. "South Pole Expedition- 2021/22". The Shutts. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  32. Seemela, Masego (29 August 2016). "Father and son take on Mount Kilimanjaro". Fourways Review. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  33. Laughton, Neil (2012-12-12). "Neil Laughton: the adventure interview". Telegraph Media Group. London.
  34. Scally, Patrick. "YUNNAN'S NATIVE SON, JIN FEIBAO, COMPLETES 100 MARATHONS IN 100 DAYS". Go Kunming. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  35. "Trek For Hope (The Himalayan Panoramas) – Sharing by Mr Khoo Swee Chiow". Meetup. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  36. Lovitt, Rob. "Adventure traveler Len Stanmore is not your average retiree". Today Travel. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  37. "Seb 2 Poles and 7 Summits". Explorer's Grand Slam. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  38. 1 2 Trivedi, Anupam. "Doon twins set to make history, once again". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  39. 1 2 Trivedi, Anupam. "Tashi, Nungshi conquer North Pole" . Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  40. Nourhan, Magdi. "Omar Samra becomes 1st Egyptian to reach North Pole". The Cairo Post. YOUM7. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  41. http://7summits.com/ +SP:Jan 2016/Guide S. Robertson(ALE); NP:Apr 2017/Guide E. Larsen
  42. WINFIELD, ALETTE. "Sean Swarner Becomes First Cancer Survivor To Complete Explorer's Grand Slam". PR Web. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  43. Hendrick, Bill. "Cobb man's quest to conquer the Seven Summits". The Marietta Daily Journal (MDJ). Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  44. Davis, Mark. "The thrill-seeker" . Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  45. "Julia Schultz Certificate". Explorers Grand Slam. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  46. "Family, Country Leader Inspired National Explorer Qobin to Create History". The Malay Mail Online. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  47. "2017 South Pole and Mount Vinson Blogs". Polar Explorers. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  48. "2016 North Pole Last Degree Ski Blog". Polar Explorers. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  49. "The 7summits statistics: the Carstensz Pyramid list". The Seven Summits. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  50. Kalfas, Efthimis. "Who is Nikos Maggisis, the first Greek to reach the South Pole". LIFOCITY. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  51. ALCUTÉN, JACOBO. "Josu Feijoo, el primer astronauta diabético". 20 Minutos. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  52. "Josu Feijoo recibe la Insignia Olímpica del Comité Olímpico Español". ABC. Diario ABC. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  53. "Facts & figures of all 7summiteers!". The 7 Summits. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  54. Placek, Christopher. "How Hawthorn Woods businessman vanquished Mount Everest". Daily Herald Chicago. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  55. CBS 2 News Morning. "Northwestern Grad Alex Pancoe Climbs Denali". CBS Chicago. CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  56. "Positions of the Expeditions" (PDF). Explorer Grand Slam Official Website. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  57. http://7summits.com/ +SP:Dec 30 2009/Guide David Hamilton (ALE); NP:Apr 10 2008/Guide Christoph Hobenreich
  58. Simonson, Eric. "IMG Denali Teams 5 and 6 on the way". International Mountain Guide. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  59. Simonson, Eric. "Denali Teams 6 and 7 on top". International Mountain Guides. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  60. Chiarito, Bob. "Teenager scales heights in South Pole". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  61. "Wilmette teen youngest to reach North Pole". ABC. Retrieved 27 April 2010.