Explorer and adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes explores the concept of fear, and shows us through his own experiences how we can push our boundaries in everyday life.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has climbed the Eiger and Mount Everest. He’s crossed both Poles on foot. He’s been a member of the SAS and fought a bloody guerrilla war in Oman. And yet he confesses that his fear of heights is so great that he’d rather send his wife up a ladder to clean the gutters than do it himself.

In FEAR, the world’s greatest explorer delves into his own experiences to try and explain what fear is, how it happens and how he’s overcome it so successfully. He examines key moments from history where fear played an important part in the outcome of a great event. He shows us how the brain perceives fear, how that manifests itself in us, and how we can transform our perceptions.

With an enthralling combination of story-telling, research and personal accounts of his own struggles to overcome fear, Sir Ranulph Fiennes sheds new light on one of humanity’s strongest emotions.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes was the first man to reach both poles by surface travel and the first to cross the Antarctic Continent unsupported. In the 1960s he was removed from the SAS Regiment for misuse of explosives but, joining the army of the Sultan of Oman, received that country’s Bravery Medal on active service in 1971. He is the only person yet to have been awarded two clasps to the Polar medal for both Antarctic and the Arctic regions. Fiennes has led over 30 expeditions including the first polar circumnavigation of the Earth, and in 2003 he ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents in aid of the British Heart Foundation.

In 1993 Her Majesty the Queen awarded Fiennes the Order of the British Empire (OBE) because, on the way to breaking records, he has raised over £14 million for charity. He was named Best Sportsman in the 2007 ITV Great Briton Awards and in 2009 he became the oldest Briton to reach the summit of Everest.

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“Mind Over Matter” is a book by Sir Ranulph Fiennes detailing his 1992-1993 unsupported crossing of Antarctica with Dr. Michael Stroud. The epic 1,350-mile journey, which set a world record for the longest unsupported polar journey, was a grueling ordeal that tested the explorers physically and mentally, leading to severe injuries, equipment failures, and a near-fatal experience. The expedition, intended to raise money for multiple sclerosis research, ultimately pushed both men to their limits. 

In November 1992, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr. Michael Stroud began the first unsupported crossing of the Antarctic continent, walking and skiing across the ice in temperatures as low as -86∘F (-66∘C).

They battled extreme conditions, including blizzard winds, and dealt with severe injuries like a deep foot infection for Fiennes and the near-fatal crevasse fall for Stroud. They also suffered from starvation and hypothermia.

The immense physical toll created significant mental strain, causing their friendship to deteriorate into antagonism.

The 95-day journey ended when they were airlifted out, having completed the longest unsupported polar journey in history.