Check out these three!

One of the things that I really enjoy in my life is all the different people that I get to meet. I wanted to share these three with you…

Dave Cornthwaite

I was introduced to Dave via email back in February and we finally managed to meet up a few weeks ago. Dave skate bordered from Lands End to John O Groats, he then skate bordered across Australia – obviously! and after that he came up with a really incredible plan, Expedition 1000. Dave plans to raise a million pounds for charity by undertaking twenty-five separate journeys in excess of 1000 miles in distance, each using a different form of non-motorised transport.

He’s just returned to the UK after paddling 2404miles, the entire length of the Mississippi, on a Stand Up Paddleboard!

I saw Dave speaking in London last week – he’s very entertaining and totally inspiring.

And as far as I’m concerned, anyone who has a cup of tea while on their Stand Up Paddleboard is cool!

Check Dave out – www.davecornthwaite.com

Simeon

I was at the London Ski Show a couple of weeks ago and I saw Simeon in the distance. He was on a stand and next to him was a jumper with a huge pocket on the front of it, a huge pocket – with a very big button! I didn’t have a clue who he was, I’d never seen him in my life before but I instantly liked him… so I walked over and introduced myself.

Turns out Simeon was not only the designer and maker of the jumper with the huge pocket… but also the creator of many other fabulous things! His tag line is ‘getting away with it since 1981’ which I especially love because that also happens to be the same year I’ve been getting away with it since!

I don’t think I have the words to do Simeon justice – he’s simply spectacular… I mean look this picture of him. It’s on his blog and underneath it he’s written, ‘If i ever had to get a brief case it would be a lot like this’.

This is where you will find the Jumper with the huge pocket – www.bantum.co.uk

Julie Summers

People sometimes ask me what I think about Mallory & Irvines expediton. Do I think that they made it to the top of Everest in 1924 before they tragically died on the mountain? I generally answered with a lot of ‘hmmmms’ and ‘maybes’… that was mostly because I didn’t really know that much about the expedition, certainly not enough to give my opinion on it anyway. (It surprises some people to hear that I am not very well read on Everest or many mountains really. But after reading ‘Into Thin Air’ I decided that I would read more about mountains when I was no longer climbing them. If you have ever read ‘Into Thin Air’ you’ll perhaps understand that such a book might put you off ever climbing a big mountain, I want to climb with an open mind… and without the kind of fear such a book can give you).

Anyway, a friend saw in the local paper that Julie Summers was speaking that evening and perhaps I might be interested in going to the talk. Julie Summers is Sandy Irvine’s great niece. She’s also an author, a broadcaster and a historian. About her talk, ‘Everest needs you, Mr Irvine’, she says, “although I cannot supply the answer to the question of whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1924, I can take people on a journey of discovery, after which they can form their own opinion”.

I went to the talk. It was fantastic.

I met Julie briefly in the interview and she signed the book I bought to read for when I’ve retired! If you ever get chance to hear this lady speak, about any subject, definitely go. She’s a fabulously captivating speaker.

This is her book.

Julie’s website is – www.juliesummers.co.uk

Back to blog