Ben Saunders

summary

Ben Saunders is a record-breaking long-distance skier, with four North Pole expeditions under his belt. He is the youngest to ski solo to the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. Since 2001, Ben has skied more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) in the high Arctic, which he recently worked out equates to two percent of his entire life living in a tent. Ben is currently preparing for two groundbreaking polar expeditions in 2009: the first, starting late March, is an expedition to the geographic North Pole with the aim of setting a speed record. Unlike the current record holders (who used professional guides, dogsleds and multiple air drops of food), Ben aims to achieve this alone, unsupported and on foot.

biography

Ben Saunders is a record-breaking long-distance skier, with four North Pole expeditions under his belt. He is the youngest to ski solo to the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. Since 2001, Ben has skied more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) in the high Arctic, which he recently worked out equates to two percent of his entire life living in a tent. Ben is currently preparing for two groundbreaking polar expeditions in 2009: the first, starting late March, is an expedition to the geographic North Pole with the aim of setting a speed record. Unlike the current record holders (who used professional guides, dogsleds and multiple air drops of food), Ben aims to achieve this alone, unsupported and on foot.

The second project, SOUTH (starting late October) will be the first return journey to the South Pole on foot; from Berkner Island at the edge of Antarctica, to the South Pole, and back to the coast. At 1,800 miles (2,900km) and four months, SOUTH will be the longest unsupported polar journey in history.

Born in 1977, Ben grew up in Devon, was educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and lives in London. He is passionate about the great outdoors and spent four months walking and climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas aged 19, going on to work as an instructor at the John Ridgway School of Adventure in the Scottish Highlands (once billed as “the UK’s toughest management training school”). John has proved a role model and mentor of the highest calibre - in 1966 Ridgway (along with Chay Blyth) became the first to row across the Atlantic, and he went on to break records in non-stop round the world sailing.

Ben is a keen athlete - after an unpromising start (“I was the podgy kid at school that was always picked last for the football team”) he discovered mountain biking in his teens and went on to race bikes on and off-road at national level. He has run several marathons (New York is his favourite course and 3:32 3:02 2:55 is his best time to date), two ultramarathons, and aims to start competing in Ironman-distance triathlons before too long.

When he’s not pulling a sledge, Ben divides his time between planning and training for his next expedition, and earning a crust as one of the UK’s leading motivational speakers. He is an Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, an Honorary Vice-President of the Geographical Association, and supports the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the Orchid Cancer Appeal.

Ben in Print
In 2006 Ben wrote a chapter (and the introduction) for the Lonely Planet Guide to The Middle of Nowhere and contributed to Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century. His own book is due to come out in 2009.

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Testimonials

Brilliant. Dynamic, funny and self-deprecating - a very powerful combination. A natural presenter with an amazing story to tell. 10/10.
- Richmond Events

One of the best presentations I’ve experienced… Ben’s talk was absolutely brilliant. I was riveted to my seat just listening to him.
- Microsoft

Ben is a very down-to-earth pragmatic person who has overcome huge personal challenge, he is a natural presenter and what he conveys so strongly is his enthusiasm, excitement and his ability to articulate his story. His presentation resonated strongly as he gave the highs and lows of his story - the emotional journey. Our only regret is that he could not stay longer! It was a pleasure having him speak and I would not hesitate to have him present at future events. Clients who have attended previous events commented on how this was one of our best speakers ever.
- RLG International

I just had to write to you to congratulate and thank you for your excellent contribution to our two-day leadership event. Your colourful description of your exploits as well as your obvious passion for what you do just shone through your presentation and was a real inspiration to everyone listening. The delegate feedback has been tremendous and we are very grateful to you for your support of this event. Many, many thanks indeed!
- Margaret Thomas, Director, The Leadership Trust

Ben made such an impact on all who attended. Hugely inspirational.
- Liberty Life, South Africa

Ben’s talk was one of the best things about the whole event… it really was an inspiring talk. Ben is obviously an extraordinarily determined and capable individual - and a brilliant public speaker too.
- BT

Flippin’ fantastic!
- Mary Hughes, Director, Public Services management Wales

I wanted to thank you for recommending Ben to us. We were looking for a motivational speaker with a positive message, but we wanted upbeat and lighthearted. Ben was very well received by the whole audience, which consisted of a range of people from accountants to directors. He was truly inspirational and people went away feeling they could achieve more.
- IBM

Ben was absolutely brilliant - utterly charming and a born storyteller.
- Katie Simmons, ICBI Conferences

Ben was just great ! Our people loved him. He has a lot of maturity in his way of presenting for a young man of 28. I must say that I was very much impressed.
- Scarlett Vandermeulen, NCR Teradata

As a company we have come across many inspirational and entertaining storytellers and Ben Saunders is among the best. Adventure, humour, thrills, despair, achievement and success all packaged into a highly compelling and very well delivered speech.
- Tom Armstrong, Discovery Channel

Thank you for doing such a great job on Friday, you are a great presenter and have such a good story to tell. Everyone in the team enjoyed your talk enormously and many were moved to tears watching your video footage. The mixture of entertainment and inspiration you provided was great.
- Janet Cooper, Partner, Linklaters

Thank you for contributing brilliantly, to what turned out to be one of the best GA Conferences people can remember. If setting the tone is important, and I think that it is, then you helped set up the Conference perfectly with your enthusiasm, commitment and ability to put across a clear and engaging message. Thank you so much.
- The Geographical Association

Thank you for your phenomenal performance at the Energy Awards. The feedback leaves us all in no doubt that you were the best possible choice of speaker.
- The Major Energy Users Council

Thank you so much for this morning. The children loved your presentation and would happily have talked to you all morning. The staff commented on how much they enjoyed it and how well you embraced such a diverse age range. I have never seen 3-5 year olds sit and listen so well; they usually give two minutes attention, if I am lucky!
- Roberta Linehan, Headmistress The Unicorn School

Personally I was completely absorbed, but more importantly, I have rarely seen this audience so captivated by a speaker before. When we booked you I was a little apprehensive about how you would be received by our rather diverse, demanding audience (ranging from early 20s to late 40s and all a little “jaded” after the night before) but my doubts were immediately allayed by both the content and the delivery. Your material resonates particularly well with the gap year generation who like to think they have travelled a bit… Your talk was the highlight of our event and you also met my personal objective of, if only fleetingly, reminding some people what “difficult” really means.
- Andrew Starrs, Partner, Accenture

Our aim is to expand children’s minds and help them think beyond the horizons of their school lives. You more than achieved this objective and, as I hope you could tell, had a profound effect on your audience. All of us were left contemplating issues of courage, fear, success, failure, and, of course, our own mortality. You have a great gift for getting your adventures across to an audience and I am extremely grateful to you for giving us the opportunity to hear them.
- Thomas’s London Day Schools

I met Ben as part of my research for the BBC TV film ‘Home’. I found him to be a very eloquent and inspiring speaker with a terrific sense of humour. Listening to him I gained an intensely vivid impression of an expedition to the North Pole and indeed it’s as close as I’m ever going to get! He is a remarkable man!
- Sir Antony Sher KBE

I honestly never believed that anything could have topped meeting Prince Philip at St. James’s Palace on Wednesday. As days go that one was pretty much guaranteed to be a once in a lifetime, incredible and memorable one regardless… Little did I know I was about to be hit with the Ben Saunders experience AS WELL! You really made my day (don’t tell the Prince!) and I couldn’t have imagined a better suited, more interesting or more awe-inspiring person to present my certificate.
- Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Winner ( July 2004 )

Your presentation to our sixth formers went down extremely well - it was their favourite talk of the year! Students found the talk inspirational and it set a good tone for the start of their studies. I was wondering if you would be prepared to come and give the talk again to our new Y12 intake?
- Cherwell School, Oxford

A big thank you! It’s a difficult task to get presenters that are well received AND that the young people and the parents approve of… but succeed you did! Lots of good reports and excited young people. It was a pleasure to meet you again, and well done for an inspirational presentation.
- The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

We have had excellent feedback from our clients. Ben is an extremely accomplished speaker and his talk was an inspiration to us all.
- Close Brothers Private Equity

Thank you for coming to our award ceremony and for giving such an inspirational presentation. Talking to the youngsters at tea time it was quite obvious that you had made a great impression. Who knows you may be getting letters from those who want to emulate your feats someday.
- Terry Hayward, Chairman, Royal Institute of Navigation

Inspirational… your delivery was so engaging that I lost all track of time. On the day, ages ranged from 14 years old to 80 plus and you presented the material in a way that everyone could understand and enjoy. Your visit made our day sparkle.
- Sir James Smith’s School, Cornwall