Mark Tanner
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Mark James Tanner is a New Zealand born adventurer and journalist best known for his successful descent of the Blue Nile River. Along with Canadian teammate Les Jickling, the two became the first in history to navigate the river from its source in the Ethiopian highlands all the way to the Mediterranean Sea using nothing more than human power. Mark's other exploits include an 8,000 km (5,000 mi) solo bicycle trek across Canada in the middle of its inhospitable winter of 2000, a period when temperatures consistently dropped below −20º Celsius. He is also known for his colorful accounts of an epic journey he made into the hills of Iceland in search of buried Viking treasure.
Mark J. Tanner's various nicknames have at times included "Kid Shovel" for his archaeological work on the Aethelstan Project, "The Cheeky Prick" for his nude swims among the icebergs in the North Atlantic, and "Tannerama-ding-dong" for his karaoke prowess.