Ten of the greatest: Feats of human endurance



From Ernest Shackleton's exploration of Antarctic to Chris Ryan's 200-mile trek to evade capture in Iraq, the adventurer and writer Bear Grylls chooses his top ten most astounding feats of human endurance



Thor Heyerdahl (left) set out in 1947 to prove that Polynesians originally came from South America; and Edward Whymper (right) scrambled across the Alps in petrifying conditions







1. THOR HEYERDAHL

Heyerdahl had a wild theory that Polynesians originally came from South America, having sailed over 4,000 miles, nearly 3,000 years ago. In 1947 he set out to recreate their trip on a hand-built balsa-wood raft, pulling in sharks and battling unthinkable storms. And, yes, after 101 days of hell he and his team made it.





2. EDWARD WHYMPER

In the 1800s, Whymper pioneered climbing as we know it by scrambling across the Alps in petrifying conditions. People like me owe him so much - he was a classic Englishman. He lost four of his men in the course of mapping all the routes we now have. What's more, he climbed with little more than old hemp ropes.







Ernest Shackleton endured his boat being crushed by ice, living on a tiny iceberg, crossing the freezing ocean (twice) and traversing a mountain range - yet he didn't lose a single man on his Antarctic exploration





3. ERNEST SHACKLETON

Shackleton's 1914-17 Antarctic exploration is the classic in terms of inspirational leadership in the face of unbelievable agony. He endured his boat being crushed by ice, living on a tiny iceberg, crossing the freezing ocean (twice) and traversing a mountain range - yet he didn't lose a single man.



4. JAMES RILEY

Riley's cargo ship ran aground off the coast of north-west Africa in 1815. He and his men were captured by Sahrawi tribesmen, believed to be cannibals. They were kept as slaves, dragged behind camels across the sand. Eventually Riley was ransomed and sent home, but his weight had fallen from 17st to barely 6st.







Ranulph Fiennes's unsupported walk across Antarctica via the South Pole in 1992-93 with Mike Stroud is the benchmark for modern exploration





5. RANULPH FIENNES

His unsupported walk across Antarctica via the South Pole in 1992-93 with Mike Stroud is the benchmark for modern exploration. They were frostbitten and starving when they were discovered. The pain, the blisters - Fiennes (above left, with Stroud) fought it all with a level head and a determination to battle on. An inspiring story of human endurance.

6. CORNELIUS ROST

Rost was a German soldier taken prisoner by the Russians in 1945. He was sent to a gulag in northern Siberia, where he worked at the face of a lead mine for four years. But he escaped and survived being chased across Siberia by Cossacks, crossing Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia, reaching Iran in 1952.





Douglas Mawson got into trouble in the Antarctic in 1912, when a member of his three-man sledging team fell into a crevasse with most of their rations. He and the other man, Mertz, were forced to eat their dogs



7. DOUGLAS MAWSON

Mawson got into trouble in the Antarctic in 1912, when a member of his three-man sledging team fell into a crevasse with most of their rations. He and the other man, Mertz, were forced to eat their dogs - ingesting toxic levels of vitamin A. Mertz went mad and died; only Mawson made it, driven on by the desire to propose to his girlfriend. He's an unsung hero.





8. WILLIAM ASH

Ash was a WWII pilot who was shot down and sent to a POW camp. This place was hell, but it was next to another camp full of Russians that was even worse. The Russians were being starved to death. Ash realised that because they were so weak, the Germans didn't guard them as well, so he swapped places with a Russian. After months of agony he eventually got out, and was sheltered by nuns. However, he went mad with fever and walked straight into a Gestapo HQ. He was skinned, soaked in brine, his fingernails were pulled off, but he still never spoke of the nuns who sheltered him.







Simon Murray training for his South Pole mission. After a girl rejected his proposal of marriage, he joined the Foreign Legion at its most brutal, the early Sixties





9. SIMON MURRAY

A girl rejected Murray's proposal of marriage when he was 19. His reaction? 'I'm going to go and join the Foreign Legion - that'll teach her.' The Legion was at its most brutal at this stage, the early Sixties. Simon went through so much pain and suffering, but he went on to found Orange and make his fortune.







Chris Ryan was a member of the Bravo Two Zero patrol in the first Iraq war. When the mission went wrong, Chris evaded capture and trekked 200 miles without food or water, through hostile terrain, to escape





10. CHRIS RYAN

I know Chris and he's a good guy. In the first Iraq war, he was a member of the Bravo Two Zero patrol. When the mission went wrong, Chris evaded capture and trekked 200 miles without food or water, through hostile terrain, to escape. It's one of the great SAS stories.











BEAR GRYLLS PICTURE BYLINE: 2009 Getty Images







