position Pole Adventurer Chris Ramsey on the
drive he’s undertaking to plot a path of sustainability between the Poles Words: Richard Aldhous
A
s adventurers go, sharing a name with one of the UK’s most popular comedians is a sure-fire way to heap attention on yourself, although 45-year-old Chris
Ramsey’s desire is less one-liners and more the fine lines between success and failure.
Ramsey, a Scot, has become one of the UK’s most unique adventurers, given that so much of what he undertakes comes packaged with a sustainability edge. From being the first person to drive the Mongol Rally in an electric car, to holding the world record for the longest distances travelled in 12 hours on its two-wheeled cousin, the idea of traversing our incredible planet as a platform to achieving incredible feats of human endurance and real sustainability, in theory, offers a sage lesson for us all.
Perhaps Ramsey’s most ambitious pursuit is still to come, given that he intends to drive an electric car from one Pole to the other. The daredevil has partnered with Nissan and will drive their new Ariya model from the South Pole north, in a challenge that begins in March 2023. The route spans 14 countries and a total of 17,000 miles. Along the way, Ramsey will test both his own fortitude and the resilience of his vehicle given that temperatures will range from -22 degrees Fahrenheit right the way up to plus 90, crossing ice-covered flats, tropical zones, and deserts.
“There is a big support crew coming with me, so I won’t be totally alone in this challenge,” he begins, “but it certainly feels as if I am stepping up into a new realm, and this is very important to me because it is a pursuit that completely validates our collective need to find happy energy alternatives to petrol and diesel.
“In many ways there can’t be any greater indication that electric vehicles are the future and are equipped to cope with the demands of the world, than in
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undertaking a challenge that shows a car literally driving around the world… or at least up it!”
The fact that Ramsey is supported by an army of rather more condition-resilient vehicles, namely Arctic trucks, shows that the Nissan challenge will be anything but easy, though in the explorer’s own words, he has always shied away from anything he deems too comfortable.
“I’m permanently of the mindset that we have to push ourselves almost to breaking point. It’s only when you get there do you truly realise what you are capable of, as a human being, as a person; and as an extension of that, what the things around you are capable of too.
“We live in a world where we are constantly encouraged to keep pursuing and charging and moving forward, and I subscribe to that. It’s the thing that inspires me every day.”
With that in mind, Ramsey will be driving a standard, showroom electric Ariya – “it’s a fundamental part of what I do, normalising technology so that we can build confidence in a way of doing things in the electric market.”
The car will have two subtle modifications in order for it to cope in the Antarctic and the Arctic regions, notably raised suspension and 40-inch wheels. Other than that, the technology, and no small amount of adventurer spirit, will guide Ramsey and his team to their intended location.
Ramsey is arguably the perfect exemplar of someone who has been swayed by the electric revolution, given that this is a man who began working life in Aberdeen in the oil and gas industry.
“When I first started out, I bought into all those
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