Dave Cornthwaite | |
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Born | David Cornthwaite |
Residence | London, England |
Alma mater | Stamford School, University of Swansea |
Occupation |
Adventurer Explorer Motivational speaker Author |
Website | davecornthwaite.com |
David "Dave" Cornthwaite is an English adventurer, writer and filmmaker. He is best known for his Expedition1000 project, a plan to undertake 25 separate journeys of 1000 miles or more, each using a different form of non-motorised transport.
Cornthwaite was born in England and attended Duke of Kent School in Surrey and then Stamford School in Lincolnshire. After finishing his high school education, he travelled to Uganda as a volunteer in a gap year teaching scheme organised by Africa & Asia Venture. Cornthwaite called this "his first taste of adventure".
In May and June 2006, Cornthwaite skateboarded along Britain's End-to-end route from John O'Groats to Lands End, a distance of 1,442 kilometres (896 mi). The journey took 34 days. Three rest days were required when Cornthwaite developed severe blisters. On 2 June 2006, Cornthwaite completed the journey, becoming the first person to do so on a skateboard. This journey and another in Australia were made in association with charities including The Lowe Syndrome Trust, Link Community Development and Sailability Australia.
Expedition1000 is Cornthwaite's 12-year career project to make twenty-five journeys of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) or more, each using a different form of non-motorised transport.
From 3 to 16 April 2011, Cornthwaite and Sebastian Terry journeyed 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Las Vegas by tandem bicycle. Neither had previously ridden a tandem bike.
On 19 June 2011, Cornthwaite began a 2,340-mile (3,770 km), Guinness World Record-setting journey down the Mississippi River from source to sea on a stand up paddleboard. The journey started at Elk Lake, just south of Lake Itasca, in Minnesota. The descent of the Mississippi River took 68 days including passage through falls, dams and locks. Hurricane Lee caused Cornthwaite to leave the water for a time, lengthening the trip to a total of 82 days. Cornthwaite carried all of his provisions by securing them in waterproof bags strapped to the deck of his paddleboard. Cornthwaite's speed depended on that of the current. The greatest distance covered in one day was 77 miles (124 km), just upstream of St. Louis.