| Dave Cornthwaite | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Cornthwaite 25 October 1979 United Kingdom |
| Residence | London, England |
| Occupation | Adventurer Explorer Motivational speaker Author |
| Website | |
| davecornthwaite.com | |
Dave Cornthwaite, (born David Cornthwaite, 25 October 1979) is an English adventurer, writer and filmmaker[1]. He is best known for his Expedition1000[2][3] project, a unique and ambitious plan to undertake 25 separate journeys of 1000 miles or more, each using a different form of non-motorised transport. To date he has completed three journeys from the project.[4] He set a Guinness World Record for travelling the furthest distance by longboard after he skated 5823km (3618 miles) from Perth to Brisbane in Australia in 2006[5][6][7].
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Cornthwaite was born in the UK, and attended Stamford School in Lincolnshire.. Before attending the University of Swansea to study International Development in 1999, he went on a gap year teaching scheme organised by the Africa & Asia Venture to Uganda. This gave Cornthwaite his first taste of adventure, and he would later go on to support the AV Foundation through his expeditions.
During his university years, Cornthwaite continued to travel and engage in charitable ventures, managing an annual charity hitchike to Morocco and spending a significant amount of time in Africa and South America. During the final two years of his studies, Cornthwaite was the Editor of the Swansea University newspaper. Following graduation, he pursued a career in graphic design and founded his own newspaper.
By 25, Cornthwaite had a successful career in graphic design, owned a house and was in a long term relationship. However, he was frustrated with his life, and following what he credits as a 'quarter life crisis,' Cornthwaite decided to take up skateboarding, a hobby which would go on to change his life. Within months of starting to skateboard, Cornthwaite resigned from his job, founded a charitable initiative called 'BoardFree' and began planning for the first two expeditions in his career.
Cornthwaite's first professional expedition saw him become the first person to skateboard the length of Britain, along the famous End-to-end route from John O'Groats to Lands End in the summer of 2006. The 896 mile skate lasted 34 days, including three rest days which were required due to the severe blisters Cornthwaite suffered during the journey. Cornthwaite completed the journey on 2 June 2006[8].
Between August 2006 and January 2007 Cornthwaite travelled 3618 miles across Australia from Perth to Brisbane. This expedition secured Cornthwaite the Guiness World Record at the time for the longest distance travelled by skateboard. The record has since been broken by Rob Thompson from New Zealand. During the expedition Cornthwaite skated across the Nullarbor Plain a semi-arid area in southern Australia which stretches approximately 1100km from east to west.
During the expedition Cornthwaite received a significant amount of press coverage [9][10] both at home and in Australia and earned himself the nickname of the "Mad Pom." The journey raised over £20,000 for three charities including Sailability Australia.
Following BoardFree, Cornthwaite conceived Expedition1000[11][12] ,a career project that is expected to take approximately 12 years to complete. Cornthwaite intends to undertake 25 separate journeys of 1000 miles or more, each using a different form of non-motorised transport. To date, Cornthwaite has completed three of the 25 journeys, BoardFree Australia constituting the first in the series. The project will cover every continent, cross the three major oceans and see Cornthwaite reach both the north pole and the south pole. By its conclusion, Cornthwaite will have travelled a total distance in excess of the circumference of the Earth around the Equator. Expeditions planned for the immediate future include a cycle across Canada in 2012, and a crossing of the Himalayas in Nepal by paraglider.
Between 6 October and 19 December 2009, Cornthwaite travelled the length of Australia's Murray River on foot and by kayak, documenting the human, environmental and climatic factors contributing to the decline in health of the river[13][14].
From the river's early moments high in the Australian Alps, Cornthwaite struggled through heavy blizzards and deep snow before finally settling into his kayak for the final 2350km. Passing along the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the Murray eventually enters South Australia and takes a southerly route to the Indian Ocean for its final 500km.
Cornthwaite is currently writing a book and producing a film about his journey, with the intention of creating a revealing insight into the life of a great river, and the perils it now faces.
Between 3 and 16 April 2011, Cornthwaite was joined by Sebastian Terry to travel from Vancouver to Las Vegas by tandem bicycle. The journey covered 1400 miles and lasted 14 days, covering five US states and involved travelling through mountain ranges and across desert plains. Neither Cornthwaite nor Terry had ever ridden a tandem bicycle when they began the journey[15].
Between June and September 2011, Cornthwaite is travelling 2400 miles down the Mississippi River from source to sea on a stand up paddleboard (SUP). Cornthwaite expects to face several obstacles on the Mississippi River, including mosquitos, alligators, oil tankers, headwinds and turbulent water following recent flooding, but despite the challenges ahead he expects to reach the Gulf of Mexico in September[16][17][18].
In June 2010, Cornthwaite was joined by fellow english adventurer Sarah Outen to paddle 150 miles from Bath to London. The journey was designed to celebrate and raise awareness of the inland waterways of Britain. The journey lasted 5 days and concluded beneath London’s Tower Bridge on World Oceans Day, 8 June 2011[19].
In April 2010, Cornthwaite was joined by Australian Sebastian Terry as they became the first people to cross Lake Geneva on stand up paddelboards. The crossing was 86.9km, a distance which they covered in less than two days despite facing challenging weather conditions on the first day. Cornthwaite has produced a documentary of the expedition entitled "Lake Geneva Crossing" which is currently available on DVD[20].
In 2007, briefly after returning from Australia after his world-record breaking skateboarding journey, Cornthwaite became the face of Aquaskipper, a human powered hydrofoil. In September 2007 Cornthwaite set a new British 100m speed record on the Aquaskipper. He also featured widely in the media, including demonstrating the Aquaskipper to Phil Tufnell on The One Show.[21]
Cornthwaite writes prolifically about his journeys, both through his blog, freelance magazine contributions [22] and his published books[23].
Cornthwaite's first book based on the his world record breaking skate across Australia was published in 2008, entitled "BoardFree: The Story of an Incredible Skateboard Journey across Australia." Over 10,000 copies of BoardFree have been sold worldwide, and it is used as teaching reference material in some schools internationally[24].
In 2008, Cornthwaite took a brief break from adventuring to write a book about dating entitled "Date: Confessions of a temporary serial dater." The book centres around his experiences as he attempts to date 100 women in 100 days in London, primarily using the popular UK internet dating website My Single Friend. The book is expected to be published in late 2011.
Although fundraising is not the purpose of his adventures, through Expedition1000 Cornthwaite is hoping to raise £1,000,000 for charity - both through his own journeys and those which he inspires. To date Cornthwaite has raised almost £40,000 for the two charities he supports, the AV Foundation and CoppaFeel. The AV Foundation works in East African schools and communities developing water system infrastructure to ensure the availability of electricity and safe, potable water for all. CoppaFeel is a breast cancer awareness charity which aims to emphasise the importance of breast examination in younger people. As well as informing young people about breast cancer, CoppaFeel's active campaign work strives to instil confidence in people wishing to seek professional advice when concerns arise. The ultimate goal of CoppaFeel is to reduce the incidence of late detection or misdiagnosed breast cancer.
Outside of his expeditions and writing, Cornthwaite works as a motivational speaker, giving speeches worldwide to corporations, schools, and other organizations[25][26]. He also makes documentaries, both of his own expeditions and for other British adventurers. Cornthwaite is an ambassador for The Blue Project, a climate and oceans project which brings together world-class sports men and women to promote sport, healthy living and a clean environment and launch the BLUE Mile, a mass participation event designed to bring together coastal communities to celebrate our water environments towards London 2012[27].