A British explorer is on a mission to be the first man in history to visit all eight of the Earth’s poles of inaccessibility.
Chris Brown, 61, a tech entrepreneur from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, began his quest in 2019 and has so far ticked off five of the continental poles.
Poles of inaccessibility (PIA) are points on the map that are the furthest from the sea in any direction or, in the case of an oceanic pole, the furthest from land in any direction.
Chris, who details his adventures on TikTok (@chrisbrownexplores ) , successfully completed a risk-laden mission to the Southern PIA in Antarctica earlier this year with his son Mika, after a failed attempt and being stranded for 28 days the previous year.
The marketing tycoon also became the first person ever to reach the African PIA in December 2021 amid an extremely dangerous expedition to the Central African Republic.
He has also visited PIAs in North America, South America and Australia.
Only Eurasia, the Arctic and the Oceanic PIAs remain for him to conquer.
Chris, who hit the headlines in June when it emerged he was one of the first people to pay a deposit on the doomed Titanic sub trip, said: “Each of these Poles of Inaccessibility pose their own risks.
“The danger in Africa was all man-made with us having to avoid bandits, corrupt police, evil warlords, The Russian Wagner Group and even ISIS.
“Whilst the danger in Antarctica was from the elements and terrain.
“At the PIA the average temperature is -58 °C and it lies at an altitude of 3700m.
“On our first attempt we were met with wounds gusting up to 120 mph.”
Chris, who is hoping to inspire young people to get off their phones and get out and take a few risks exploring, added: “When I was a kid, we used to take small risks all the time.
“Now adults are stopping their children climbing trees in case they fall out and not letting them play outside when it is raining in case they get wet.
“But to me that’s part of growing up and part of learning.
“You definitely don’t have to be in Africa or Antarctica to go exploring, and you definitely don’t need to involve helicopters or soldiers to do it.”
Chris’ next major expedition will be to the Oceanic PIA in the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo – located at 48°52.6′ south latitude 123°23.6′ west longitude, it is 2,688km form the nearest land (Easter Island).
He said: “Point Nemo is so remote that the nearest human settlement is actually the International Space Station which is ‘only’ 415km away.”
The expedition is scheduled to take place next March starting from a port on the West coast of Chile and ending in French Polynesia.
Chris has already made several attempts to reach the Northern PIA in the Arctic but these have been thwarted by the weather and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia has claimed sovereignty over half of the Arctic circle including the pole.
The adventurer also recently competed in one of the world’s greatest open water challenges, swimming from Asia to Europe across the Bosphorus and owns a World Record for race diving.
And he has been to the regular South Pole with astronaut Buzz Aldrin – the second man on the moon.
In June this year, Chris told how he pulled out and asked for his deposit back when the Titan Submersible was in its development stage, amid safety fears and a feeling the risks were simply too high.
His close friend, and fellow polar-explorer Hamish Harding, tragically perished on the tourist sub when it imploded during the mission before reaching the wreck of the Titanic.
