Boundless
Cycling Japan
Hand-Cycling through Japan – A Land of Contrasts
When a Japanese friend suggested cycling the length of Japan, I automatically said “yes”. This Spring, we embarked on the 3800 km journey through the archipelago. Luckily, a big chunk of this is water, so the cycling was little over 2000 km, but I seemed to have ignored the fact that
... read onOver the Himalaya by Hand Bike
1400 Kilometres from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan
The Karakoram Highway has to rank as the most spectacular road in the world…it’s rubble strewn hairpins wind through glacier-draped summits – an exciting descent on anything with wheels, but especially a tandem recumbent and mountain bikes with a trailer and wheelchair balanced
... read onKayaking Canada to Alaska
Finding a way into the wilderness via the Inside Passage
“Paddle hard left!” Suresh called from the aft cockpit, fighting to make his voice heard through the crashing surf. Alan and Tony shouted to us from the beach, “Nose in behind ... ” but their voices were lost in the rumble of surf-tumbled pebbles. Spray washed the white salty marks off my
... read onIndian Himalayan
On Top of the World on a handbike
At the top of the Taglang La, the highest of the five mountain passes at 5328 metres (17480 ft) a road sign, surrounded by colourful prayer flags, exclaims “Unbelievable! Is it not”. The fact that a road has been carved from India through this harsh high desert region of the Himalayas
... read onCrossing Greenland
Crossing the largest island on the Earth by ski
It was my first real attempt at cross-country skiing, and my Finnish friend Pasi had borrowed a special sit-ski, designed for someone like me to use. It didn’t fit well. To improve it, we improvised with duct tape, rope, and a kiddy’s plastic sledge, which made the sit-ski look more
... read onEL CAPITAN
Four thousand pull of to scale Yosemite's El Capitain
Here's a quick run down of my and Karen Darke's trip to Yosemite in September/October where we made a four day ascent of Zodiac (A/C2+).
After Greenland (a 600 km ski from coast to coast that took 28 days), we started wondering about El Cap. One problem was that the four paraplegic
... read onTimeline
- 1971 - Born in Halifax
- 1988 - School exped to China
- 1981 - Climb Mont Blanc
- 1981 - Climb the Matterhorn
- 1992 - Win Swiss KIMM Mountain marathon
- 1993 - Paralysed in 10 metre climbing fall
- 1993 - Great North Run
- 1994 - London Marathon
- 1996 - Finishes geology PHD
- 1997 - Bike over the Himalaya
- 2000 - Hand Bike the length of Japan
- 2003 - Kayaks 'Inside Passage' to Alaska
- 2006 - Ski across Greenland
- 2006 - Circumnavigation of Corsica by sea kayak
- 2007 - Completes half Iron Man
- 2007 - Climbs El Capitan
- 2009 - World Para-Triathlon Champion
- 2009 - Cosmo Fearless Woman of the Year
- 2009 - Sea Kayaking Exped in Patagonia
- 2009 - Bronze medal in World Cup Paracycling
- 2010 - Joins British Paracycling Team
- 2010 - Vitalise Woman of Achievement
- 2011 - British Para-Triathlon Champion
"Someone once said to me, “Disability is a state of mind not a state of body.” That’s a notion that relates to us all, regardless of whether we have a physical disability or not. Our own mind is our biggest obstacle to living and achieving our wildest aspirations. What is life if it isn’t an adventure? I’m constantly amazed by what can be achieved if we set our heart and mind to it. It’s all about finding belief, confidence, motivation and commitment. And of course, friends. Then there are no limits."Karen Darke
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