Jamie Clarke (adventurer)

Last updated

Jamie Clarke
Born1968
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
OccupationAdventurer
Known forEverest climber, public speaker and advocate for the outdoors

Jamie Clarke (born 1968) is a Canadian mountaineer, filmmaker, actor, and public speaker. [1] [2] [3] He has stood on top of Mount Everest twice in 1997 and 2010, climbed the Seven Summits, [4] and is one of the few westerners who have crossed The Empty Quarter on camels. [5] In 2019, Clarke crossed the Mongolian desert, travelling east to west, with his son Khobe. They travelled on motorbikes, then summited Khüiten Peak, the highest mountain in Mongolia. [6]

Contents

Clarke has developed a career as a public speaker and media personality, drawing on his adventure and business experiences. He is a regular contributor to CBC Calgary on hiking and camping. He has also coached mental toughness, helping the Canadian national hockey team in 2018 in PyeongChang, and working with the Washington Capitals on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018. [7] Until their closure in 2017, Clarke operated two outdoor equipment retail businesses, The Out There Adventure Centre and LiveOutThere.com. [8] [9]

Clarke lives in Calgary, AB, with his family.

Early life

Clarke was born in Calgary, Alberta, and as a child spent time hiking and skiing with his family in the Rocky Mountains. [10] As a teenager he started competitive cross-country skiing and enjoyed national success. [11] [12]

Mount Everest

Clarke's first attempt on Everest in 1991 was with the "Climb for Hope" expedition. The team of 21 climbers reached 25,000 ft on a north side ascent before bad weather turned them back. [13] [14]

Clarke's second attempt was in 1994 with the "Lungs Without Limits" expedition. Because the expedition was in support of the Alberta chapter of the Canadian Lung Association, the team climbed without bottled oxygen. Approaching from the north, the team of 14 made it within 150m of the summit before altitude sickness and bad weather forced them to descend. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Clarke summited Everest for the first time on 23 May 1997 on a south side approach. [19] [20] [21] In 2010 Clarke returned to Everest to summit a second time as part of the "Climb With Us" expedition. [22] The team of six summited 17 May 2010. [23] The expedition was designed to test the HanesBrands "Super Suit". [24]

The Seven Summits

Between 1993 and 2008 Clarke summited each of the Seven Summits: [25]

The Empty Quarter

Following his 1997 Mount Everest Summit, Clarke set out to cross The Empty Quarter, [27] by camel, a 1,126 km journey through Oman, Saudi Arabia, [28] and ending at Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. [29] Prior to embarking on the crossing of the desert, Clarke travelled to London to visit Sir Wilfred Thesiger KBE, DSO, FRAS, FRSL, FRGS. Clarke was accompanied by his brother Leigh, his friend Bruce, and three Bedouin guides. [30] [31] The expedition took 40 days. [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] During the trek, Clarke and his brother ate one of the camels they had been riding.

Public speaking, writing, and media

Clarke began public speaking in 1987, and began speaking professionally in 1992. [38] He speaks at schools, corporate conferences, meetings, and universities, and has spoken all over the world. [39] [40] [41] Clarke is represented by Keppler Speakers Bureau. [42]

Clarke co-authored The Power of Passion (re-published as Above All Else: The Everest Dream) with Alan Hobson after Clarke's 1997 Everest summit. [43] Following his expedition across The Empty Quarter, Clarke wrote and released From Everest to Arabia: The Making of an Adventuresome Life, chronicling the journey. [44] [45]

Clarke has been a regular columnist for CBC Radio Calgary's The Homestretch since July 2013. His weekly segment is called "Get Out There" and focuses on getting outside and being active. [46]

Clarke appeared in two 1986 motion pictures; Rad as Luke and Hyper Sapien as Leo. [47] [48]

Business ventures

In 2003 Clarke and George Achilleos opened the Out There Adventure Centre in Calgary. It is high-end outdoor apparel and gear store. [49] In 2009 Clarke and Achilleos expanded their outdoor business online, opening LiveOutThere.com, an online outdoor retailer serving the Canadian market. Initially, LiveOutThere.com was intended to be an online community for outdoor enthusiasts, but after two years the website was switched to a focus on e-commerce. [50] [51] LiveOutThere.com was listed as No. 39 on the 2013 Profit Magazine Hot 50. [52]

Honors and awards

See also

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">Ed Viesturs</span> American mountain climber

Edmund Viesturs is an American high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He was the first American to climb all 14 of the eight-thousander mountains, and the 5th person to do so without supplemental oxygen. Along with Apa Sherpa, he has summitted eight-thousanders on 21 occasions, including Mount Everest seven times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Hall</span> New Zealand mountaineer (1961–1996)

Robert Edwin Hall was a New Zealand mountaineer. He was the head guide of a 1996 Mount Everest expedition during which he, a fellow guide, and two clients died. A best-selling account of the expedition was given in Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air and the expedition was dramatised in the 2015 film Everest. At the time of his death, Hall had just completed his fifth ascent to the summit of Everest, more at that time than any other non-Sherpa mountaineer.

<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.

Bruce Kirkby is a Canadian adventurer, photographer, and writer. Recognized for expeditions to remote wilderness areas, his achievements include a 40-day, 1000-kilometre crossing of Arabia's Empty Quarter by camel (1999) and the first contiguous descent of Ethiopia's Blue Nile Gorge from source to the Sudanese border. The author of three best-selling books, Kirkby's writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic and The New York Times. National Geographic Channel featured his photography in the documentary Through the Lens (2003). An Ambassador for Mountain Equipment Co-op and member of the Starboard SUP Dream Team, Kirkby makes his home in Kimberley, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohan Singh Kohli</span> Indian mountaineer

Captain Mohan Singh Kohli, is an Indian Navy officer and mountaineer, who led the 1965 Indian Everest Expedition, which saw nine men reach the summit of Everest, a world record for 17 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Philippine Mount Everest expedition</span>

The 2006 Philippine Mount Everest expedition is a Filipino mountaineering expedition that made a successful attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest via the traditional southeast ridge route in May 2006 during the spring climbing season in the Himalayas. It was the first national expedition organized by the Philippines to reach the summit of world's highest mountain.

David Anthony Rodney is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Lougheed, first as a Progressive Conservative and then the United Conservative Party when it was formed in July 2017 by the merger of the PC Party merged with the Wildrose Party. He was first elected in the 2004 provincial election and re-elected three times. He resigned on November 1, 2017, in order to open a seat for new United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney. He was the first Canadian to ascend to the summit of Mount Everest twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Borger</span> Canadian accountant

Bill Borger Jr. is a Canadian businessman, adventurer, and Canadian Chartered Accountant. On September 9, 2000 Borger became the first Calgarian to successfully swim the English Channel. As a part of the English Channel swim Borger raised $100,000 for the Canadian Mental Health Association. On May 11, 2011 Borger became the first Canadian to have both swum the English Channel and to have climbed Mount Everest. The Mount Everest climb was used to raise funds for the Calgary Handibus Association; for this charity Borger raised $400,000. Borger's website states, as of June 6, 2011 that monies raised for the Calgary Handibus Association are $502,350. The combined efforts of climbing Mount Everest and swimming the English Channel placed Borger as the fifth person ever to do so; these combined events are known as Peak and Pond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premlata Agrawal</span> Indian mountaineer

Premlata Agrawal is the first Indian woman to scale the Seven Summits, the seven highest continental peaks of the world. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013 and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2017 for her achievements in the field of mountaineering. On 17 May 2011, she became the oldest Indian woman to have scaled the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest (29,032 ft.); at the age of 48 years at that time while Sangeeta Sindhi Bahl hailing from Jammu and Kashmir broke Premlata's record on 19 May 2018 and became the oldest Indian woman to climb Mount Everest at the age of 53.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Dorje Sherpa</span> Nepalese sherpa (born 1970)

Ang Dorje (Chhuldim) Sherpa is a Nepalese sherpa mountaineering guide, climber, and porter from Pangboche, Nepal, who has reached the summit of Mount Everest 23 times. He was the climbing Sirdar for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to Everest in spring 1996, when a freak storm led to the deaths of eight climbers from several expeditions, considered one of the worst disasters in the history of Everest mountaineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudarshan Gautam</span> Canadian Actor & Mountain Climber

Sudarshan Gautam is a Canadian mountain climber and actor. He is the first person without arms to have reached the summit of Mount Everest without the use of prosthetics, and did this on May 20, 2013. Gautam lost his arms as a result of an accident in his childhood. In 2014, he appeared in the Nepalese movie Himmatwali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adventure Consultants</span> Adventure travel company

Adventure Consultants, formerly Hall and Ball Adventure Consultants, is a New Zealand-based adventure company that brings trekking and climbing groups to various locations. Founded by Rob Hall and Gary Ball in 1991, it is known for its pioneering role in the commercialisation of Mount Everest and the 1996 Mount Everest climb during which eight people died, including Hall, a guide, and two Adventure Consultant clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian Trekking</span> Adventure travel company

Asian Trekking is a Nepal-based adventure company, specializing in mountaineering expeditions and trekking in the Himalayas. Started in 1982 by UIAA Honorary Member Ang Tshering Sherpa, it is Nepal's oldest mountaineering and trekking company still in operation. In 2008, Tshering's son Dawa Steven Sherpa, an environmentalist and mountaineer, took leadership of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain Madness</span> American mountaineering and adventure travel company

Mountain Madness is a Seattle-based mountaineering and trekking company. The company specializes in mountain adventure travel and has a training school for mountain and rock climbing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Everest in 2016</span>

Mount Everest in 2016 covers events about Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth located in Nepal and Chinese Tibet in Asia. It is a popular climbing destination for extreme high altitude climbers, with several hundred climbing each year despite various dangers.

References

  1. Pulfer, Rachel (March 2001). "Climb every podium". Explore. p. 16.
  2. Creighton, Jayne (September 1999). "High achiever". Alberta Venture. p. 24.
  3. Murray, Diana (30 March 2003). "I am man, hear my speakers roar". The Calgary Herald. Calgary. p. F3.
  4. Pearson, Stephanie (January 2011). "Higher Love". O, The Oprah Magazine. USA. p. 106.
  5. Stewart, Monte; Dempster, Mark (13 March 1999). "Calgary trio conquer desert". The Calgary Herald. Calgary.
  6. Levinson-King, Robin (2 January 2020). "Dad travels 2,200km to get his son off his phone". BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  7. "Lesson's from Mt. Everest help The Capitals reach the NHL Summit". The Speaker Experts. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  8. Toneguzzi, Mario (23 August 2010). "Entrepreneurs reach for the top of retail; Adventure in the downtown". The Calgary Herald. p. B6.
  9. Aarts, Deborah "The Art of the Pivot", Profit Magazine, 4 September 2013, retrieved 4 September 2013
  10. Creighton, Jayne (September 1999). "High achiever". Alberta Venture. p. 24.
  11. "Jamie Clarke". Alberta Human Rights. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  12. Mitchell, Alex (6 March 1987). "Sports column". The Sault Star. Sault Ste. Marie. p. A8.
  13. Damaskie, Kevin (10 December 1991). "Climber broadcasts from Everest". The Journal. Calgary. p. 12.
  14. Creighton, Jayne (September 1999). "High achiever". Alberta Venture. p. 24.
  15. Nemeth, Mary (18 July 1994). "Alluring Everest". Maclean's. Canada. p. 44.
  16. Stratton, Jackie (July 1994). "Peak Performance: The Emergo Everest Expedition". Impact Magazine. Calgary, Canada.
  17. Beierbach, Don (16 January 1994). "Asthmatic climber undeterred by Everest statistics". The Calgary Herald. Calgary, Canada.
  18. Bronstein, Richard (February 1994). "Mount Everest–The ultimate quest". Business in Calgary. Calgary, Canada.
  19. Creighton, Jayne (September 1999). "High achiever". Alberta Venture. p. 24.
  20. Nagy, Sasha (10 June 1997). "Returning climbers on top of the world". The Calgary Herald. p. B2.
  21. Andreeff, Monica (22 May 1997). "Calgarians mount assault on Everest summit". The Calgary Herald. p. A1.
  22. "Jamie Clarke's Expedition Hanesbrands Everest; March 27– May 31, 2010". Bergadventures.com. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  23. http://gearjunkie.com/mount-everest-summit. Expedition Hanesbrands: "Summit!". GearJunkie. 17 May 2010. Accessed 5 June 2013
  24. Mansueto Ventures (February 2010). "Death to the Puffy Coat". Fast Company.
  25. "Clarke summits Everest – again". CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
  26. "Take a peak: Building legs that can tackle Everest". Men's Health. October 1999. p. 29.
  27. DeSouza, Fermin (19 March 1999). "Trek across the Empty Quarter". Weekend. Canada. p. 20.
  28. Kirkby, Bryce (July 2000). "Across the sands of Arabia". Outpost: The Traveller's Journal. p. 32.
  29. "Video: Penetrating Arabia's Empty Quarter". National Geographic.
  30. Curren, Reg (10 February 1999). "Humping it across the desert". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Canada. p. A2.
  31. Williams, Juliet (24 February 1999). "Empty Quarter Adventure: Calgarians push into desert despite odds". The Calgary Herald. Calgary, Canada. p. B3.
  32. Graham, Patrick; Robertson, Grant (February 1999). "Desert trek takes turn for worse". The National Post. Toronto, Canada.
  33. Williams, Juliet (20 March 1999). "Calgarians show true grit with broiling desert trek". The Calgary Herald. Calgary, Canada. p. A1.
  34. Maxwell, Cameron (15 March 1999). "Forty days in desert "fantastic"". The Calgary Sun. Calgary, Canada.
  35. "Zayed lauds adventurers". The Gulf Today. 14 May 1999.
  36. Stewart, Monte; Dempster, Mark (13 March 1999). "Calgary trio conquer desert". The Calgary Herald. Calgary.
  37. Daniszewski, John (April 1999). "Desert trek battle of man versus himself". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, USA.
  38. Creighton, Jayne (September 1999). "High achiever". Alberta Venture. p. 24.
  39. Yager, Doyle; Clarke, Jamie (March 2001). "The power of passion". The Business Owner.
  40. "Today @ Colorado State University – International mountaineer Jamie Clarke will speak". Today.colostate.edu. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  41. "Life in the fast lane: Highlights from our annual Inc. 500 conference". Inc. September 1999. p. 9.
  42. "Jamie Clarke | Keppler Speakers". www.kepplerspeakers.com. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  43. "The Extremist". WHERE Calgary. Calgary. December 2002. p. 18.
  44. Yager, Doyle; Clarke, Jamie (March 2001). "The power of passion". The Business Owner.
  45. Mark, Michelle (1 April 2001). "Desert crossing chronicled". The Calgary Sun. Calgary. p. 16.
  46. http://www.cbc.ca/homestretch/columnists/getoutthere/. CBC.ca. 2013. Accessed 29 August 2013
  47. Mitchell, Alex (6 March 1987). "Sports column". The Sault Star. Sault Ste. Marie. p. A8.
  48. Volmers, Eric (21 January 2011). "Rad, man! BMX cult hit shot in Cochrane turns 25; Panned on release, bike film has found its niche". The Calgary Herald. Calgary. p. D2.
  49. Toneguzzi, Mario (23 August 2010). "Entrepreneurs reach for the top of retail; Adventure in the downtown". The Calgary Herald. p. B6.
  50. http://www.va-angels.com/portfolio-items/live-out-there/. VA Angels. 2 April 2013. Accessed 29 August 2013
  51. Aarts, Deborah "The Art of the Pivot", Profit Magazine, 4 September 2013, retrieved 4 September 2013
  52. http://www.profitguide.com/microsite/profithot50/2013/ranking/39-liveoutthere-com. #39: LiveOutThere.com. 4 September 2013. Accessed 4 September 2013.
  53. www.cccski.com http://www.cccski.com/About/History/Canadian-Junior-Championships/Canadian-Junior-Championships--Historical-Resu-%281%29.aspx#.UiEb3byoXYQ . Retrieved 30 August 2013.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[ title missing ]