Richard (Rich) Profit (born 1974) is an English mountaineer, sailor, a former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and polar adventurer. In 2007 he took part in the Polar Race with the mother and son pair Janice Meek and Daniel Byles, successfully walking and skiing 350 nautical miles from Resolute,

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

to the Magnetic North Pole in 20 days and 5 hour

helping to set two Guinness World Records. He is married with two sons.

Background

Profit was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and after living for a short while in the North West his family moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He returned to England in 1978 and the family settled in

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

where he attended St Paul's Primary School, and The Forest School (Winnersh). In 1985 the family moved to the Midlands,

, and he attended Oakham School, where he was actively involved in the Combined Cadet Force and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (attaining Gold), and he was awarded School Colours for full bore shooting. After school he took a gap year and travelled extensively through East and Southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, undertaking safaris in the Okavango Delta in Botswana,

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m). He completed his formal education by reading Applied Biology and Management Studies at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

from 1993–1996, where he attained a 2(i)Hons. Profit has been a keen amateur

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

, learning his skills in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

in 1995 and competing in the Army Sailing Association Regatta in 1997.

Military career

Following university, Profit attended Rowallan Company 963 and Commissioning Course 971 at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, and was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. He left with the rank of captain.

Adventures and expeditions

Profit has taken part in expeditions all over the world including Africa, South America and the high

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

Major mountaineering expeditions

* 1995 – Cordillera Real (Bolivia). High altitude winter mountaineering expedition to climb: ** Illimani (6438m) ** Huayna Potosi (6088 m) ** Chacaltaya (5421) ** Charquini (5400m)

Polar race 2007

In April 2007, Profit successfully took part in the Polar Race 2007 in April 2007. This involved walking and skiing 350 nautical miles from Resolute,

in Canada to the Magnetic North Pole. He was accompanied by mother and son pair Janice Meek and Daniel Byles, and played a key role in the expedition successfully setting two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

. They survived the worst ice conditions for years, a near catastrophic tent fire, and areas of open water and slush to successfully reach the Pole in 20 days and 5 hours.

Charities and organisations

Profit was a trustee of The Carpe Diem Trustbr>
a charity aimed at helping ordinary people to undertake extraordinary achievements in order to help them develop their full potential. He was also a member of the Association of Polelathe, Pole Lathe Turners, who aim to promote the traditional crafts of green woodwork. Profit currently works with multinational corporations, community groups and individuals helping catalyse sustainable business and personal practice and the Natural Change Foundation helping to catalyse social change for a fair and sustainable future.

External links

The Polar Race 2007

The Carpe Diem Trust

The Association of Pole Lathe Turners

The Natural Change Foundation

References

The Charity Commission

BBC article and video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Profit, Richard 1974 births Living people English explorers Royal Engineers officers English sailors English mountain climbers Alumni of the University of Leeds British explorers of the Arctic People educated at Oakham School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst