# Tarka L'Herpiniere

Tarka Michel Bernard L'Herpiniere (born 19 September 1981) is a British explorer, ultra-endurance athlete, motivational speaker, and filmmaker who holds several endurance records.
L'Herpiniere spent his early years climbing, skiing, skydiving, paragliding and BASE jumping before turning his hand to large-scale expeditions. Initially, these were mountaineering expeditions including Mont Blanc, Aconcagua, and Cho Oyu before developing an interest in the polar regions. In 2004, after several successful small scale expeditions to the Arctic, he attempted to become the youngest person ever to reach the North and South Poles, unaided and in succession, but due to sponsorship withdrawal, the project could not be completed.
In 2006, he attempted to summit Mount Everest without oxygen. At the North Col (7,020 m) L'Herpiniere developed HACE and had to be evacuated. In 2007, he, along with his now wife, became the first person to walk the entire length of the Great Wall of China.
In 2008, L'Herpiniere cycled over 8,000 km through Africa on a 30-year-old bicycle with no brakes or gears to promote the charity Re-Cycle. In 2009, he completed the longest crossing of the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap by a British team.
In 2014, L'Herpiniere, along with Ben Saunders, replicated Captain Robert Falcon Scott's 1,795 mile trek across Antarctica from Scott's cabin on the coast, to the South Pole, and back.

## Background and history

L'Herpiniere was born in Yeovil, England shortly before moving to Tignes in the French Alps. He is the eldest of three siblings and returned to England to be educated at Cheltenham College after obtaining a sports scholarship. In 1996, he was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before attending Brunel University and the University of Bath.
He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a mentor of the British Schools Exploring Society and has used his expeditions to support a number of charities including: Make-A-Wish Foundation, Cancer Research, Practical Action, Merlin, and Re-Cycle.

## Marriage

He was married to Katie-Jane (Cooper) L'Herpiniere. They became engaged during an aborted attempt to cross the Patagonian ice cap from north to south unaided in 2009. She was also his companion on his trek across the Great Wall of China. Now divorced.

## Expeditions

| Year | Expedition |
| 1995 | His first summit of Mont Blanc (aged 13 or 14). |
| 1997 | Cycled 1000 miles from Cheltenham to Nice, France (aged 16). |
| 1999 | Ran 8 marathons in 8 consecutive days down the west coast of France carrying all his equipment. |
| | 4-man team to summit Mont Blanc. |
| 2001 | 35-day expedition to the North / East coast of Svalbard. |
| | Winter mountaineering expedition to the Andes. |
| 2002 | Expedition Leader of a 23-day expedition to Cornwallis Island. |
| 2003 | Solo expedition to Devon Island. |
| | Solo Svalbard expedition. |
| 2004 | Solo 27-day expedition to Russia. |
| 2005 | Unsuccessful Bi-Polar expedition. |
| | Unsupported crossing of the Alps from France to Switzerland. |
| | Climbing expedition up Mont Blanc in training for Mount Everest. |
| 2006 | Climbing member of EverestMax; The longest climb on earth. From the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan (−400m) to the summit of Mount Everest (8848m). |
| 2007 | 4500 km trek through the Taklimakan Desert and over the Qiling Mountain range to walk the entire length of the Great Wall of China. |
| 2008 | 2-man expedition off the North / East coast of Spitsbergen. |
| | 8000 km cycle expedition from Djibouti to South Africa. |
| 2009 | Polar research and support station as part of the Catlin Arctic Survey. |
| | Completed longest British crossing of the Southern Patagonian Ice cap during the Rivers of Ice Expedition. |
| 2014 | Completed 1,800 mile trek from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole and back, with Ben Saunders |

## Expedition filmmaker

| Year | Film | Release |
| 2008 | The Great Walk of China | February 2009 release |
| 2009 | The African Way | February 2010 release |
| 2010 | Rivers of Ice | November 2010 release |