About Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944) is an English explorer and writer, who holds several endurance records. Fiennes served in the British Army for eight years, including a period on counter-insurgency service while attached to the Army of the Sultanate of Oman. He later undertook numerous expeditions and was the first person to visit both the North Pole and South Pole by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. In May 2009, at the age of 65, he reached the summit of Mount Everest. Guinness Book of Records founding editor Norris McWhirter in 1984 named Fiennes as the greatest living explorer. Fiennes has written numerous books about his army service and his expeditions as well as books on explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. In 1992 Fiennes led an expedition that discovered what may be an outpost of the lost city of Iram in Oman. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
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