Sir Ranulph "comes home" to Aviemore
The world’s greatest explorer is coming ‘home’ next month – to Aviemore.
Yes, for a brief time in the distant past, the strath was home to Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE.
The 70-year-old found himself reminiscing over his eventful local past as he prepares to head north for an audience at the Hilton Coylumbridge on September 24.
“My late wife, Ginny, and I bought three acres at Coylumbridge in 1965,” the adventurer told the “Strathy”.
“We planned to live in the Y between the old and new A9 which was initially envisaged there. We thought that was going to suit us very well.
“I was no stranger to the Cairngorms, having skied the White Lady for the first time some 60 years ago – I remember as a very young man digging a snow-hole on our way to the piste, only to discover later that it was the piste and quickly having to fill it in – like golfers replacing divots!”
He has remained no stranger to the mountains, but is looking forward to visiting the Coylumbridge Hotel again, which he first saw the day it opened.
“As for making the area our home, it didn’t come to anything unfortunately, like that particular plan for the A9,” he said.
Instead, he moved on – to almost every corner of the world, in a record-breaking life of exploration and adventure which has officially crowned him, according to the Guinness Book of Records, its greatest explorer.
Quite apart from becoming the first man to reach both south and north poles by surface means, he has run seven marathons on seven consecutive days in seven different continents – after a heart attack and a bypass operation.
He has hacked off his own frostbitten fingers with a power tool, discovered the lost city of Ubar and has since become the oldest man to conquer Everest.
“I won’t have time to go into all the details,” he joked, as he looked forward to returning to the strath with plenty of images both still and moving.
“The bigger the screen the better,” he advised. “There are plenty of pictures charting some of the stories up until around 1992. I think that covers a fair amount of the story, and there’s only so much time allowable.
“But I do plan to leave some of the evening for questions and answers.”
A full house is expected, with some of the proceeds going to the Marie Curie cancer charity.
“It’s an outstanding cause and I’ve been only too happy put something back,” he said. “The challenge of fighting cancer is still a very big one.”
Tickets (£20) for an audience with Sir Ranulph Fiennes are now on sale by email at SirRanHT2014@gmail.com
