Basingstoke man leaves for Greenland to raise money for charity

James Ketchell will ski across Greenland from Kangerlussuaq in the West to Isortoq in the East in an effort to raise money for his chosen charity Kindled Spirit, which empowers vulnerable young women through education and training.

Last year James was declared the Guinness World Record holder for circumnavigating the globe solo in a gyrocopter.

This time James will be part of a small team of five; each person will be pulling a pulk (sled) of around 100 kilos containing all the rations, equipment and supplies for the month-long expedition.

Kindled Spirit is a charity close to James’ heart ever since he met the charity’s founder in Mumbai, India, whilst completing his 2013 round-the-world cycle ride.

During the last six months Ketchell has been on a national schools tour speaking to thousands of pupils and giving them motivation and inspiration since their return to the classroom after the last two years.

Whilst in Greenland James will be staying connected to the schools he has visited via satellite phone calls; updating them on his adventures and taking the children on a virtual field trip, as well as leaving voice updates via a ‘Greenland live tracking link’ at www.jamesketchell.net.

James training in Sweden for his Greenland adventure

In addition he will be filming and providing content and learning for Oddizzi, an online Geography resource for Primary schools; for its future use in providing educational Geography resources and activities for schools to use in lessons.

James said: “I am excited to be setting off on my latest challenge after, like many people, two years at home. With temperatures regularly at -20c and weather conditions changeable the team will need to work together when not skiing to pitch camp and cook every day for a month.

“I hope that by undertaking this next challenge I can inspire other young people to take on challenges and push themselves to achieve things they find hard – something I have been talking about every day in schools during the last six months. To be able to support the charity Kindled Spirit is very important to me as I feel a deep connection with its work since meeting vulnerable women in Mumbai.

The charity is now able to help them to gain independence and a vocation and therefore achieve independence.”

His expedition is sponsored by Barratt Developments plc and DHL.

James is the first and only person to have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, successfully summited Mount Everest and cycled 18,000 miles around the world, in what dubbed ‘The Ultimate Triathlon’.

In 2019 he flew his open-cockpit gyroplane over 24,000 nautical miles around the world, in 175 days to set the first Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ratified circumnavigation for an aircraft of it’s type.

The mission was to inspire a million young people in classrooms over the world to pursue their own dreams and goals.

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