Ice explorer kite-skis into record book

DUBAI // An explorer based in the UAE has achieved two entries in the 2012 edition of the Guinness World Records book.

Adrian Hayes features prominently in the book with a photograph of him kite-skiing across a Greenland ice sheet taken by his colleague Derek Crowe. He set the record for the longest unsupported snowkiting expedition in the Arctic in 2009. The journey took him, Crowe and Devon McDiarmid 67 days to cover the 3,120-kilometre length of the Greenland ice cap without resupplying.

The second entry notes that Hayes reached the North and South Poles, and the top of Everest, in the shortest period of time. He held the record until last year, when Eric Larsson completed the feat in less than a year. Hayes had taken just over 19 months.

Hayes expects Larsson's photo to appear in the next edition, but he is pleased to be listed among other renowned explorers.

"That's quite surreal and do I deserve to be among some of the greats?" he asked. "Integrity is quite important and I don't falsely pretend I'm up there with the greats, yet," said the former British army Gurkha officer.

He said the Antarctic was his most rewarding achievement. "Nothing lives there, there's no pollution, no aircrafts. It's another planet."

Hayes is preparing for his next expedition, which will take two months. He said the details would be announced next week.

eharnan@thenational.ae