When I was in a team racing to the South Pole in 2009, one explorer stood out. Mark Pollock seemed to ski effortlessly across the sastrugi, the uneven, wave-like grooves that stretch across hundreds of miles of snow. During a two-week acclimatisation trek, he was never far from the front. Strong as an ox and brimming with confidence, Mark would trek with his woolly hat right down over his face. But while we battled frostbitten noses, sunburn and bleeding lips, Mark was dealing with far more. He had been blind for more than 10 years. His polar guide used a ribbon attached to his sledge to guide him over the tough terrain. A tug helped him anticipate a rise or dip. I fell dozens of times but I never saw Mark fall.

Tragically, he broke his back in an accident in 2010, leaving him paralysed – but still he fights back. He is looking to take part in future endurance challenges – the Black Ice Race in Siberia next year – and is testing off-road wheelchairs. His ability to overcome adversity has inspired me more than anyone else has.

I promised this column would tell stories of unsung heroes like Mark, and the adventuring world is full of tales of disabilities challenged and overcome. One of the pioneers was Denny Denly, who became a wheelchair user after contracting polio. Back in 1947, he travelled 1,500 miles across the French Alps on a motorised tricycle. Today, Andy Campbell (see full profile here) aims to travel all the away around the world, mostly by wheelchair, despite the obstacles in his way.

There are many more: Miles Hilton-Barber, who has completed an 11-day ultra marathon from the Gobi desert to the Great Wall of China, as well as a 55-day, 13,000-mile microlight journey, despite losing his sight at the age of 21; the four injured soldiers who trekked to the North Pole last year, have since attempted Everest and they also plan to cross Antarctica; and another group of soldiers who successfully competed in the Atlantic rowing race (as told in a new book, The Row to Recovery).

These are humbling, inspiring tales. Even more so when you see events up close. During a trans-Atlantic rowing race I competed in with James Cracknell, we only narrowly beat two French participants, who happened to be amputees. One of their biggest struggles was not the rowing, but their inability to stabilise themselves in the cabin. And earlier this year I was privileged enough to join Claire Lomas for part of her epic 17-day London Marathon. Claire lost the use of her legs after a horse riding accident five years ago. She now uses a pioneering suit that straps to her legs and torso, giving her mobility through motion sensors.

I would also like to mention Karen Darke, one of the most underrated adventurers in Britain. She competed in the London Paralympics, winning a silver medal in the women’s H1-3 cycling time trial, but for me her adventuring pedigree is even more impressive. Despite being paralysed from the chest down, Karen has crossed Greenland, climbed Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and El Capitan, and hand cycled across Japan. The South Pole is next on her list.

Travel restrictions
For all the obstacles that adventurers with a disability overcome, many remain. My fellow RNLI ambassador, Geoff Holt, was the first paraplegic sailor to sail around Britain and cross the Atlantic. He is currently looking for sponsorship for his next inspiring adventure – this time, to circumnavigate the world. However, he still dreads travelling on trains and planes, a view echoed later by Lara Masters, the author of the Rough Guide to Accessible Britain.

When I spoke to Geoff recently, he described how on a flight from Norway he was asked to check his wheelchair into the hold. When he refused, he was asked if he couldn’t walk “just a little”. Earlier this year, too, he was prevented from boarding a train on the Isle of Wight, as the guard claimed his electric wheelchair would damage the floor. Extraordinary given that, as he wrote at the time, this is “2012, not 1912”.

More attractions, thankfully, recognise the importance of accessibility these days, as I know through my work with the Rough Guide book, Accessible Britain, which I helped launch with Lara. It gives ideas on everything from the most wheelchair-friendly National Parks and how to scale Ben Nevis to the most accommodating places for the millions of disabled people in Britain.

Wider access for all
Many other organisations are also working to increase opportunities for travellers with a disability, and I have included details of a few of my own favourites (see panel), as well as some suggestions from Lara.

This has long been a subject close to my heart, from the time I carried out my weekly community service as a schoolboy for Riding for the Disabled Association. Another great organisation is the Jubilee Sailing Trust. I have been lucky enough to sail aboard their ships the Lord Nelson and the Tenacious several times over the years.

These two tall ships are the only ones in the world built and designed to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side by side as equals. It offers everyone the thrill of adventure at sea, and it really is a magnificent sight to see a wheelchair hoisted to the crow’s nest at the top of the mast.

Source: The Telegraph

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