Richard (Rich) Profit (born 1974) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, sailor, a former

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and polar

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

. In 2007 he took part in the

Polar Race The Polar Race was a biennial race from Resolute on Resolute Bay, Nunavut in northern Canada to the North Magnetic Pole. Teams of two, three or four walk/ski pulling their food and equipment on sleds. Although not unsupported, there were strict ...

with the mother and son pair

Janice Meek Janice "Jan" Meek FRGS (formerly Cooper and Byles, born 1944) is a British adventurer and ocean rower. In 1997 she took part in the first ever Atlantic Rowing Race, the Port St Charles Barbados Atlantic Rowing Race. Meek successfully crossed the ...

and

Daniel Byles Daniel Alan Byles (born 24 June 1974) is a former British politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire from 2010 to 2015. Background Byles was born in Hastings, East Sussex, but spent his early childhood as an ex ...

, successfully walking and skiing 350 nautical miles from Resolute,

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

to the

Magnetic North Pole The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed t ...

in 20 days and 5 hour

helping to set two Guinness World Records. He is married with two sons.

Background

Profit was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and after living for a short while in the North West his family moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He returned to England in 1978 and the family settled in

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

where he attended St Paul's Primary School, and The Forest School (Winnersh). In 1985 the family moved to the Midlands,

, and he attended

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

, where he was actively involved in the Combined Cadet Force and the

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

(attaining Gold), and he was awarded School Colours for full bore shooting. After school he took a gap year and travelled extensively through East and Southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, undertaking safaris in the

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...

in Botswana,

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fre ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and climbed

Mt Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

(5895m). He completed his formal education by reading Applied Biology and Management Studies at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

from 1993–1996, where he attained a 2(i)Hons. Profit has been a keen amateur

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

, learning his skills in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

in 1995 and competing in the Army Sailing Association Regatta in 1997.

Military career

Following university, Profit attended Rowallan Company 963 and Commissioning Course 971 at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

, and was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. He left with the rank of captain.

Adventures and expeditions

Profit has taken part in expeditions all over the world including Africa, South America and the high

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

Major mountaineering expeditions

* 1995 –

Cordillera Real (Bolivia) The Cordillera Real is a mountain range in the South American Altiplano of Bolivia. This range of fold mountains, largely composed of granite, is located southeast of Lake Titicaca, and east of the Bolivian capital of La Paz, measuring 125 ...

. High altitude winter mountaineering expedition to climb: **

Illimani Illimani (Aymara) is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real (part of the Cordillera Oriental, a subrange of the Andes) of western Bolivia. It lies near the cities of El Alto and La Paz at the eastern edge of the Altiplano. It is the secon ...

(6438m) ** Huayna Potosi (6088 m) **

Chacaltaya Chacaltaya ( Mollo language for "''bridge of winds''" or "''winds meeting point''", Aymara for "cold road") is a mountain in the Cordillera Real, one of the mountain ranges of the Cordillera Oriental, itself a range of the Bolivian Andes. Its ...

(5421) ** Charquini (5400m)

Polar race 2007

In April 2007, Profit successfully took part in the

2007 in April 2007. This involved walking and skiing 350 nautical miles from Resolute,

in Canada to the

. He was accompanied by mother and son pair

and

, and played a key role in the expedition successfully setting two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. They survived the worst ice conditions for years, a near catastrophic tent fire, and areas of open water and slush to successfully reach the Pole in 20 days and 5 hours.

Charities and organisations

Profit was a trustee of

The Carpe Diem Trust The Carpe Diem Trust is a UK-based charitable trust. It was registered on 4 July 2006 with the UK Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = ...

br>
a charity aimed at helping ordinary people to undertake extraordinary achievements in order to help them develop their full potential. He was also a member of the Association of Polelathe, Pole Lathe Turners, who aim to promote the traditional crafts of green woodwork. Profit currently works with multinational corporations, community groups and individuals helping catalyse sustainable business and personal practice and the Natural Change Foundation helping to catalyse social change for a fair and sustainable future.

External links

The Polar Race 2007

The Carpe Diem Trust

The Association of Pole Lathe Turners

The Natural Change Foundation

References

The Charity Commission

BBC article and video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Profit, Richard 1974 births Living people English explorers Royal Engineers officers English sailors English mountain climbers Alumni of the University of Leeds Explorers of the Arctic People educated at Oakham School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst