Ben Saunders

Ben Saunders is a record-breaking long-distance skier, and leading polar explorer. He was the youngest person ever to ski solo to the North Pole and has trekked over 7,000km across Polar regions. Amongst other achievements he led The Scott Expedition, the longest polar journey in history powered only by humans.

Raised in Devon and educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Ben is passionate about the great outdoors and spent four months walking and climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas whilst still a teenager, 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'). He also discovered mountain biking in his teens and went on to race bikes on and off-road at national level.

Ben is only the third person ever to ski solo to both pole and holds the British record for the longest Arctic journey. He has run several marathons, ultramarathons, and triathlons. He is the author of the Ladybird Expert Book Shackleton and cited in the titles as diverse as ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever, The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, and Chris Anderson’s TED Talks: The official TED guide to public speaking.