Record-Breaking, High Life Dining
Photo Credit: MPL International Ltd.
Explorer, hot air balloon pilot, David Hempleman Adams, 44 stood in the basket while Grylls, 30 and Lieutenant Commander Veal, 34, dined together suspended 40 feet below Adams.
All three gentlemen came dressed to the nines in formal evening attire.
Grylls and Veal dined on asparagus spears followed by poached salmon, duck a l'orange, and a terrine of summer fruits. Specially designed warm boxes were used to serve their three-course meal.
All the cutlery and plates were held down by Velcro, so there was no possibility that their utensils and dishes would fall off the table.
The feat took place in southwest England above Bath.
Before parachuting to earth, the trio saluted Queen Elizabeth II.
David Hempleman-Adams
Hempleman-Adams could write the book on extreme adventure. In fact, he already has -- a few times.
For starters, the British explorer has made seven Arctic expeditions.
In 1996, Hempleman-Adams completed a solo unsupported expedition to the South Pole on January 5th, sailed to the South Magnetic Pole on February 19th, and led a team of novices to ski to the Magnetic North Pole on May 15th.
In 1984, he successfully completed a solo expedition to the Magnetic North Pole without dogs, snow mobiles or air supplies. In 1992, he led the first team to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole.
Hempleman-Adams previously became the first man in history to reach the Geographic and Magnetic North and South Poles as well as climb the highest peaks in all seven continents.
In 2000, he was the first man to cross the North Pole in a balloon.
That same year, he joined with Norwegian, Rune Gjeldnes, to attempt to reach the Geographical North Pole unsupported.
On September 22, 2003 he became the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open wicker basket hot air balloon.
In July 2004 he and co-pilot Lorne White flew a single engine Cessna from Cape Columbia in the north of Canada to Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. It took him just twelve days to cover 11,060 miles.
Hempleman-Adams said after his success on Thursday:
Wihout doubt, this is the strangest record I have ever attempted.
It was a fun stunt but was at the same time very dangerous.
There were potentially a lot of things that could have gone wrong.
The only drawback about the stunt was the other two members of the team ate all the food so there was nothing left when I landed.
One of the dangers they faced was frigid cold temperatures.
During their hot air ballon ride the temperature dropped to minus-58 C. All three risked contracting the life-threatening condition of hypoxia. This takes place when the body is starved of oxygen.
In order to avoid hypoxia they wore oxygen masks.
Grylls and Veal alternated mouthfuls of food between replacing their oxygen masks.
And in order to avoid hypothermia, under their formal wear they wore a half dozen layers of clothing.
Bear Grylls
Bear Grylls
Grylls is not foreign to cold or danger.
In 1997, the former member of Britain's crack military unit the Special Air Service, became one of the youngest climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He was 23 at the time.
Only two years earlier, he had broken his back in three places after a free-fall parachute exercise in Africa failed. At the time, he was told he would never walk again. Thanks, however, to the unconditional love and support of his dad he proved his doctors wrong.
Gryllis told reporters on Thursday:
It was fantastic to nail that record but it was a dangerous stunt.
The scariest moment was when my oxygen mask slipped off when I was hanging upside down from the table, but we pulled it together in the end.
Their stunt will go down in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Project director Alex Rayner said the stunt had been verified by officials, who used scientific instruments to calculate the height reached.
The previous record was held by adventurer Henry Shelford who last year chose a Tibetan mountain top at 22,326 feet above sea level.
The English team broke the new record to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Congratulations to Hempleman-Adams, Alan Veal and Bear Grylls.
Inspire & Be Inspired.
Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "high life" living!
~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC
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