Mike Horn

Mike was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He spent most of his childhood outdoors climbing trees, cycling for miles and fishing with his three brothers and sisters.
Both of his parents were university teachers, but his father was also a successful amateur rugby player.

Mike said that he learned to challenge himself from a young age, but it was the army that taught him about survival.
“I hate war but I think it prepared me for what I do today,” he said, remembering his days in the military service when he was sent to Angola and first witnessed death.
“I was only an 18-year-old kid when I discovered one will do anything to stay alive”.

He studied Human Movement Science at the University of Stellenbosch in Western Cape, South Africa.
Mike says he first felt the call of the wild at 24 years old. He quit his comfortable sports science job, gave everything away and moved to Switzerland. From there, he embarked on a series of adventures, including descending by delta plane from a 22,000-foot mountain and riverboarding the world's deepest canyon.

In 2004 he completed a two-year, 3-month solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle, and in 2006 along with Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland, became the first men to travel without dog or motorised transport to the North Pole during winter, in permanent darkness.