Rugby fans among us may recognise the name Richard Parks…. The 38 year old from Pontypridd in South Wales is a former Wales International Rugby player, who had a long and successful career in rugby, including stints playing for Newport RFC, Pontypridd RFC, Celtic Warriors, Leeds Tykes, Perpignan and Newport Gwent Dragons.

Image from wikicommons

Parks retired from rugby in May 2009, but that hasn’t meant he’s got out his pipe and slippers for an easy life. Richard has re-invented himself as a global adventurer – taking on extreme challenges to raise awareness of a variety of issues, ranging from health to environmental. Perhaps his most well known is the 2011 737 Challenge, where Parks successfully climbed all of the highest peaks on all 7 continents as well as completing the Three Poles Challenge (to reach the North Pole, South Pole and Everest), all in 7 months….. Wow, what a challenge!

Richard and his team left Cardiff in December 2010, on the centenary of the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition (then led by Robert Falcon Scott. It was an expedition to Antartica, but sadly the entire team died on the return journey). Parks reached the South Pole on the 27th December, and from there climbed Mount Vinson – a 4,892m high peak on Antartica. From there, the crew went to Argentina, to climb Aconcagua – the highest peak in South America – and then on to Kilimanjaro, which is of course the highest point of Africa. They then embarked on a trip to Indonesia, to climb Puncak Jaya, which at 4,884m is the highest mountain on that continent. It was then on to the North Pole, followed by Everest at a whopping 8,848m! That was followed by a voyage to North America, to Denali, or Mount McKinley as it’s often called, to summit the highest peak there at 6,190m. And finally, they journeyed to Russia to conquer Elbrus, which is the highest peak in Europe. Phew! And after all that, we think they probably had a well-deserved rest……

Nobody had ever attempted such a feat before, and Park’s 737 Challenge was completed two weeks ahead of his 7 month deadline, on 12th July 2011. In the process he raised a whopping £320,000 for the Marie Curie Cancer charity.

But, that’s not enough for Welsh adventurer Richard Parks…. 2016 sees him embarking on another challenge, this time he’s taking part in Project Everest Cynllun – a collaborative research project that will attempt to show the effects of extreme altitude on the body and mind. In May, Richard will be the first ever person to collect blood and tissue samples from the summit of Mount Everest, which will give scientists a much clearer picture of how altitude affects the human brain and body. The research will also be used in a wider study to help scientists understand more about dementia.

This incredible challenge will be a feat of human endurance, and will push Welshman Richard mentally and physically than he has ever been pushed before! He definitely gets out cheers (from the safety of the bar….), and we’re sure that all of Wales will be behind him!

You can keep updated with Richard’s progress on his website here

Richard’s next challenge is set in one of the toughest environments known to man!