Mark Kalch

What’s your measure?

Mark Kalch — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:42:56 +0000

I “tweeted” (geez, I can’t believe I have to write that word!) about the above clip yesterday. It was put together by independent filmmaker Danfung Dennis. He was embedded with the US military’s Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Company, as they were dropped 18 km behind enemy lines in the Helmand River Valley in southern Afghanistan earlier this year. My thoughts at the time were focused on the amazing cinematography. However, it is something a commanding officer in the clip says just prior to deploying that really caught my attention.

“Your measures not found in how much time you have on this earth, but what you do with the time you have”.

Now, this won’t make dying under the hot sun any more appealing for a 19 year old Marine or his family, but it is an inspiring rally call and something that we back here in our safe existence could actually benefit from thinking about.

As an aside, Danfung took time out from Afghanistan to film Al Humphreys and Major Phil Packer’s row across the channel in February this year.

Inspiring talks

Mark Kalch — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:35:42 +0000

On Tuesday, I am stoked to be giving a FREE lecture at the National Geographic Society flagship store on Regent Street in London. It should be a great evening. If you have not seen the place, you should definitely check it out. I am particularly excited about having achieved the double of presenting for the Royal Geographical Society and now the NGS. A few years ago I would not have believed it possible! Anyway, please come along. WARNING - if you have seen me talk regarding Expedition Amazonas, I use all the same jokes. You have been warned!

Date: Tuesday 27th October 2009 6.30pm
Location: National Geographic Store, 83-97 Regent Street London, W1B 4EW - click here for map

Please visit www.nglondonstore.co.uk further information

Yesterday was easy

Mark Kalch — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:00:03 +0000

High-end expeditions can be tough, damn tough. So how fit do you really need to be? How tough do you really need to be? One of the most common questions I am asked when I speak about my work is what sort of training I put in to prepare myself for such hardship. The disappointment (or perhaps bewilderment) on so many faces when I explain what I get up to as prep for an expedition is interesting.

Why don’t I clock my running times (besides the fact that I am rubbish)? Why don’t I spend my days in the gym throwing weights around? What’s my best time run or heaviest weight lifted? No idea! What I do know is that I train hard and it works (for me at least). 3 days of grappling, 2 days of sandbag and if I am lucky a day or two of running (25 mins max!). I may even throw in some yoga and additional core work if I feel like it (I might just as easily make myself a banana shake!). Besides having arthritis in one shoulder and the other needing some bone cut out (!) I have never been fitter, stronger or indeed tougher. I am pretty sure that having a 120kg monster looking to choke me out or rip my arm off may induce my body to try a little harder than if I were max-repping on single-arm biceps curls at Fitness First. Throw in some hard work on a mountain occasionally and voila! Good to go! The rest is kept in my head inside that thing we humans don’t really use as much as we probably outta.

I could be wrong and you are free to disagree, but physical conditioning for proper adventure is not rocket science. It’s just not! Train hard, have fun and your done. Sure, if you needed to find a 1/100th of a second to beat an opponent on the track then of course it starts to become a little more finite. But, on the side of a mountain or in the desert it counts for nada. There are no defintes. How far today? How hard today? On expedition you just never know.

I reckon Navy Seal, Dave Goggins, in the video above may know a thing or two about tough and being an ultra-marathon runner he might just clock his times. However, as a Navy Seal it just don’t matter how many seconds he took off his PB. He trains hard and he stays alive. Easy (sorta).

Irish Red Cross on Kili

Mark Kalch — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:39:04 +0000

I arrived home last week from almost a month in Tanzania (which I hope excuses my lack of posts over the last few weeks). I was fortunate enough to lead 2 groups of Irish Red Cross fundraisers on 2 summit attempts of Mount Kilimanjaro. We had a very successful time with a total of 47 climbers standing atop Uhuru Peak in front of the iconic and much photographed wooden Kili signage.

I don’t do much commercial group leading anymore, but the chance arose several months ago to do these back to back journeys. It just happened to be perfect timing and impossible to pass up. Besides a paying job and 2 summits for myself it meant I could get back into the groove of some harder living in preparation for my next expedition. Being dirty, a bit hungry, tired and cold does wonders for your attitude. I also got to see the power that so-called “ordinary” people posses.

Mount Kilimanjaro is what it is. By the normal routes (read, most popular) it is not at all technical and save for summit day the trekking on a day by day breakdown is not overly tough. But, for anyone who has a crack at the mountain it is the cumulative total of these days that makes all the difference - cold days at ever increasing altitude and then that midnight wake-up call to make the final ascent to the summit. I saw folks who don’t normally do such things, dig deep inside themselves, refuse to concede defeat at the hands of the mountain and make it to the top. Seeing Kili crush young, fit men, yet allow someone who could be my gran ascend to it’s highest point got me thinking. I realised that this mountain judges you not on your physical attributes or technical ability but on what’s between your ears. An attribute that is not the exclusive domain of elite alpinists and extreme athletes, but is somewhere within us all. All we have to do is find it (5500m and -20 degrees certainly helps in the search).

Speakers from the Edge

Mark Kalch — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:20:41 +0000

This week I signed with specialist speaking agency, Speakers from the Edge, “representing the best motivational speakers from the world of adventure, exploration and human endurance”. Although not my words contained inside those quotation marks, I must agree (well, how bloody convenient now that you happen to be included with that mob!).

With names like Kenton Cool, Simon Yates, Alastair Humphreys and Mark Beaumont, amongst others in our ranks, I would say I am in pretty good company. Not an ex-Big Brother housemate or one-time The Apprentice “motivational speaker” in sight! I reckon that puts them ahead of the majority of their competitors from the outset. What do you think?

You can check out my profile here and the rest of the Speakers from the Edge site here. If you would like to get in touch regarding my speaking for your school, corporation or at an event please contact me directly or let Speakers from the Edge know and they will be happy to help.

This expedition life

Mark Kalch — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:25:41 +0000

It sounds a bit naff and is oft repeated, but I really can see parallels between planning and executing an expedition and this funny thing we call - life. Of course, one can easily draw parallels between most anything if they try hard enough, but for the moment let’s stick to expeditions and life. I know just enough about both I hope. Perhaps, drawing parallels between the two is not quite right. Shouldn’t they run side by side? Or come to think of it just as one entity? I suppose in my world they truly are.

The obstacles I face in life continually revolve around every aspect of undertaking an expedition - mapping, logistics, sponsorship, websites, flights, visas, money, writing, speaking and those annoying realists who tell you it can’t be done. At times, the endless chase to complete all these things can become a bit of a drag, but the feeling of achievement when even a small obstacle is overcome can be massive.

I was excited to inform a mate that I had been invited to be part of the Royal Geographical Society’s Regional Theatre Programme for 2010. Just a couple of lectures, but paid and legit. He was less than overwhelmed. I suppose the promise of less than a £1000 in the summer of next year is not all that impressive to some. But to me it means much more than that. It was another win, another door, that next step, however small it may be. It was looking up that big wall and finding another solid hold and pushing on to the summit. Similarly, gaining an audience with the BBC or an email back from the Alpine Club of Iran gives me a real boost which again propels me forward. It is these little things that I am truly grateful for and am lucky to have.

I am human and sometimes the no-return of emails, speaking events falling through and of late some tough injuries do slow me down somewhat. I find myself doing a bit of whinging and being distracted from pressing tasks. But, then I manage to take another step. Maybe I complete my business plan finally, or I have a route epiphany on Google Earth (sounds a bit rude!) and then off I go. Some more obstacles to overcome and a strange feeling of really looking forward to the next challenge, the next setback. I know I will break through them and keep on facing up (I think that’s the title of one of Bear Grylls’ books! I told you this might sound naff! Just kidding!)

Planning for the future

Mark Kalch — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:59:07 +0000

A big part of my day over the last few months (when I have not been sidetracked by Al’s newest post or the latest from Explorer’s Web) has been taken up with planning for my next expedition. Of late, this has mainly centred upon route planning.

Most recently I plotted 3 different routes on Google Maps. You may view each by clicking the link in the paragraph title.

Expedition Iran Route 1
This is my preferred route as it takes me from the Northern most border to the Persian Gulf and allows me to travel through the most varied terrain of Iran. It is also the longest and most ambitious of my options.

Expedition Iran Route 2
This route is shorter but allows me to travel from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf. I don’t mind this route as I means I can travel first on the lower land near the sea, crossing the mountains towards Tehran and then continue south straight down to Gavbandi. Most likely the quickest route which still allows me good variation in terrain and being able to pass through villages, towns and cities.

Expedition Iran Route 3
This route is quite long and also the most isolated which is fine but might mean I go quite slow. It also means I will miss a lot of the towns and cities that I wish to pass through to meet people. After all, I go to Iran to not just for the mountains, forests and desert!

Among the obvious things that excite me about this expedition is that I am not bound necessarily by a strict A to B journey. On the Amazon that was quite obviously a large part of our undertaking. In Iran, I am not chasing speed records, distance records or the like. Yes, my aim is to cross the country, but no one gets to decide for me the path I must tread.

I wonder which it will be?

Sponsors? Who needs ‘em?

Mark Kalch — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:31:20 +0000

To sponsor or not to sponsor, that is the question! Doing up proposals, editing them repeatedly, spending months phoning and emailing a thousand companies? For what? A handful of replies saying thanks but no thanks? That’s pretty much how it goes in the expedition game. But, does this mean you should not bother? Al Humphreys certainly leans that way. “Just go!” is his worthy advice. I can’t argue with that! But, I do see some value in the chase.

I was stoked to receive in the post yesterday the above two bits of kit from my friends at Suunto. A kicking X10 (above, left) and a wicked Core (above, right). Suunto have sent these through as part of their support for my next expedition. So what’s the catch? Nothing too brutal. In basic terms, promote their brand. In reality it’s a little more detailed than that, but overall that’s the theme of it. As with any partnership there is a great deal of relationship building involved. I was fortunate enough to first have Suunto’s support for the Expedition Amazonas. A successful expedition both in terms of completion and promotion of our partners. Thanks to this success, Suunto were only too happy to back my future endeavours.

Now, I’m no Bear Grylls or Ben Fogle (ie. nice guys, TV stars, pseudo-expeditioneers) but I would like to think I am the real deal. Unfortunately, at least for now, this relegates people such as myself to second-place behind these celebrities in terms of both media focus and public recognition. Rest assured, adventurers and explorers, far greater than I are victim of this scenario (think Mike Horn). What this means for companies like Suunto is that they must weigh up the cost of sponsorship to the return on such investments. How many people will my message reach, really? I must show that an adequate return is possible. This is true for any sponsor. Prove this without doubt and getting sponsorship becomes a whole lot easier.

Foremost in my mind is repaying a sponsors investment. Get that done and then what’s in it for me? A bit of free kit? Not exactly how I read it. Sure, it’s fun to have some toys to play with, but if that were the only benefit to me then I would for sure agree with Al. Having my name associated with a marquee name such as Suunto is of limitless value to me. It shows to the world that a highly reputable company believes in me. Believes in my ability to succeed and provide a return. In every aspect of my life this is worth a great deal.

So, we’ve got sponsor kit, we’ve got name association, what else is there? Money! The toughest nut to crack on the sponsor tree! It’s really a terrible time to be chasing the money, just ask Ben Saunders and Al Humphreys. Unfortunately, for most Arctic and Antarctic expeditions unless your David de Rothschild, sponsorship is quite often the only route open. Can I get by without any sponsorship whatsoever my next expedition? Most definitely! Get kit together, catch a flight, catch a bus, walk, catch a train, catch a flight, with some rough eating and sleeping in between and I am done. Cost? Perhaps a couple of thousand quid, if that. I must speak to Al about his recent walk. Just a little cheaper than setting off from Ward Hunt Island. But, I can, at least get the benefits of sponsorship I mentioned above in any case.

So, for me, the sponsor chase is worth it. For the most part a frustrating experience but with perseverance, tangible rewards may be found. Remember, if all your work comes to nought JUST GO!

PS. I hope in the next couple of months to be able to announce some very cool developments in my relationsip with Suunto! A few more emails, some more discussion and we shall see.

Conquerors of the Useless

Mark Kalch — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:34:40 +0000

Yvon Chouinard has long been a bit of a hero of mine. I don’t know the guy personally but I must say from all that I know of him he is a pretty cool guy. Born in Maine, USA and raised in Southern California, Yvon was part of the legendary “Golden Age” of climbing in Yosemite. The usual story - starts making his own climbing kit, steel pitons initially and then moves into clean climbing with hexs and stoppers. A sort of awakening to his life-long obsession with environmental protection and minimizing impact on the planet. Probably most well-known for his outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, he has spent a lifetime making great gear (if not the most fashionable), chasing waves, first ascents and protecting the environment where he spends so much of his time.

In 1968, he and good mate, Doug Tompkins set out from Ventura, California on the road trip of a lifetime. Taking a second-hand van and loading it up with surf boards and climbing kit, they left on a 5000-mile journey. The aim? Put up a new route on Patagonia’s Mt. Fitzroy. There’s a lot of coast between California and Chile. A lot of sweet waves too!

In 2007/2008 a group of Patagonia “friends” including the surfing Malloy brothers decided to follow (sort of) Yvon and Doug’s journey, 40 years previous. All up, both adventures look the business. The result you can see above. Dig the vibe and the tunes! I reckon you must be kidding me if this clip does not make you want to pack it all in and chase your own dreams, whatever they may be.

Check out the website here.

Spirit of Adventure

Mark Kalch — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:06:48 +0000

I often harp on about expeditions and adventurers being forced to justify themselves. Constantly questioned as to their motives for undertaking an arduous journey. Is it for charity? Is it to break a record? Is it for science? Well, what if it is none of the above? Does that matter? I think not. A couple of young blokes who have just set out on their own adventure, perfectly illustrate my point.

Rian Cope and Dylan Brayshaw are two young Australians from my very own hood, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Starting in Banda Aceh they plan to cycle the entire west coast of Sumatra, onto the South Java Coastline and finish in Bali - a 3000km epic with boards in tow. Sweet! They have got some great sponsors on board and they are off. From a hazy idea in their heads 18 months ago to being on their start line right now is a fantastic achievement.

Now, tell me. Are they doing anything especially groundbreaking? Not exactly. Indo is a surf mecca and thousands of people travel there each year to catch some of the best waves on earth. Are they performing scientific research into deforestation or climate change? Two big issues in the region. No. Then why on earth are they going? Um…cause it’s going to be one hell of an adventure? Damn straight! Call it an expedition, call it an adventure, call it what you like, but it will most certainly be an experience of a lifetime. No better reason to go.

Follow the boys here - www.eatsleepsurf.com.au