Benjamin Saunders

Benjamin John Saunders was born on 5 August 1977 in Plymouth, Devon, a boy who grew up scanning the pages of National Geographic for the men he would one day follow into the ice. After his parents divorced, he was raised in Devon and Kent by his mother, a secretary, and his stepfather — from whom he inherited his accent and, perhaps, his quiet tenacity. His biological father, a bricklayer, remained a distant figure; instead, Saunders found his role models in the great polar explorers: Shackleton, Scott, Nansen, Hillary, Bonington, and Swan. He spent four months at nineteen climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas — an early sign of the restless energy that would define his life. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, briefly serving as an officer cadet before leaving during his third term. He valued his freedom too deeply for military discipline, though he never lost his appreciation for camaraderie and teamwork. He moved instead to the Scottish Highlands, working as an instructor at the John Ridgway School of Adventure — a formative posting that sharpened both his practical skills and his sense of vocation. In 2001, at age twenty-three, Saunders made his first foray onto the Arctic Ocean alongside the renowned explorer Pen Hadow, reaching 87° North in a 59-day unsupported attempt on the North Pole. Two years later he completed a solo round-trip to the Pole from the Russian ice station Barneo. Then, in the spring of 2004, he became the youngest person in history to ski solo to the North Pole — a journey of 1,032 km that also set the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. His most celebrated achievement came between October 2013 and February 2014, when he and teammate Tarka L'Herpiniere completed The Scott Expedition: the first return journey to the South Pole on foot via the historic routes of Shackleton and Scott. Covering 2,898 km in 108 days entirely under human power, they set the world record for the longest human-powered polar journey ever completed. Ben Saunders became only the third person in history to ski solo to both poles. He went on to lead twelve major polar expeditions, covering more than 7,000 km on foot across the ice. A gifted communicator as well as an athlete, he delivered three main-stage TED Talks that together reached over five million viewers, and he was widely described as a master storyteller. He served as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an Ambassador for the Prince's Trust and the Scouts, and a Patron of British Exploring. He received the Shackleton Award in 2015 and an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Northampton in 2016. He also authored Shackleton: A Ladybird Expert Book (2017) and co-founded Arctic Research and Development before launching Kintanna Ventures, investing in climate technology. Ben always carried two companions into the ice: Barnaby, a teddy bear given by a school friend who had also reached the summit of Everest and both poles, and a small penguin given by his mother. He described his own philosophy simply: "I used to think the only valid definition of success was achieving your goal. To me now, it looks more like continuing to strive well." He is survived by his brother, his partner Liz, and everyone whose sense of what is possible he quietly enlarged. He passed away on 15 September 2026.