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Explorer Adrian Hayes to receive Specialist Excellence Alumni Laureate Award

Adrian Hayes K2 summit 01 aAdventurer Adrian Hayes will be honoured tomorrow at the awards ceremony of the University of Nottingham celebrating the amazing achievements of its alumni, where he will receive a Specialist Excellence Award.

He was the first Briton this year (2014) to conquer K2, having summited the world’s second highest mountain on Saturday 26 July, 60 years after the first conquest of K2 and almost a year to the day after his first attempt had to be aborted due to bad weather. Hayes’s achievement breaks new ground for a British adventurer, making him the first to reach the summit of the world’s two highest mountains and reach both the North and South Poles.

Adrian Hayes, originally from the New Forest, a former Gurkha Officer and  Special Forces reservist in the British Army, is the record-breaking polar explorer & adventurer, international keynote speaker, business coach and sustainability leader.

He set a Guinness World record in 2007 for reaching the Earth’s “3 Poles” – walking all the way to the North Pole, South Pole and summiting Mt Everest – in the shortest period of time in history, becoming one of only 15 people ever to achieve the feat. He holds a second Guinness World Record for the longest unsupported Arctic expedition in history (kite assisted), the 2009 vertical crossing of the Greenland ice cap. His most recent expedition was a 44 day 1600 km crossing of the Arabian Desert by foot and camel following in the footsteps of 1940s British explorer Wilfred Thesiger.

Adrian who graduated from the university with a Masters in Business Administration in 1994 said: “I am delighted – and frankly flattered – to be receiving the Alumni Laureate Award from The University of Nottingham. As well as being one of the happiest periods of my life, the time I spent there undoubtedly shaped my career immensely – launching me into the whole world of personal, team and leadership development, which is now my core work outside of my adventures and expeditions.”

You can get an insight into some of his expeditions  here

9th December 2014