Louis-Philippe Loncke is a Belgian

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, adventurer and motivational speaker. In 2008, he achieved the world first crossing on foot of the length of the

Simpson desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

, which was a North to South traverse passing through its geographical center. In 2018, he traversed

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

during the austral winter without resupplies and was nicknamed the ''Mad Belgian'' by some Australians.

Early life and education

Loncke was born in Mouscron, Belgium to a family of furniture makers. He studied engineering in Brussels at ECAM, a master in Industrial management in

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

and treasury management at the University of Antwerp Management School.

Career

Management consultant

Loncke started his career as

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

manager. Since 1999, he has built experience in over 10 corporate companies in various positions. He has been working as management consultant since 2007 mainly in IT. The skills he acquired in the corporate world allowed him to efficiently plan his expeditions. He is also self-taught in

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, SEO,

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

. From 2006 to 2013, he was volunteering at NGO ''Art in All of Us'' and was elected member of the board of directors in 2010.

Adventurer and explorer

Loncke started traveling alone in 2000. In 2002, he was sent to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

for work and learned

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

. To fulfill this passion he traveled for a year in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

between 2004 and 2005. He started hiking and heard about adventurers and explorers; and became interested after seeing the world acclaimed film '' Alone across Australia''. Back in Belgium, he met author and adventurer

Sylvain Tesson Sylvain Tesson (born 26 April 1972) is a French writer and traveller born in Paris. He has engaged in a number of unusual travels and expeditions which are the basis for his books. Among his most successful works are ''The Consolations of the Fo ...

who encouraged him to continue. Loncke left again in 2006 to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to start his first three expeditions. His first solo unresupplied traverse of the

Tasmanian Wilderness The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering , or almost 25 per cent of Tasmania. It is also one of the l ...

brought him the first sponsors and recognition among Australian explorers. After a year in Australia, he went back to Belgium and started planning for a series of several world first expeditions, the first being to attempt crossing the

at its longest distance. He has organised charity expeditions involving media buzz including the highest chocolate tasting, on

Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

. In July 2010, he trekked across

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

between its extreme latitude from North to South. He spoofed an Icelandic promotional video that got viral in Iceland. He has announced a return to Iceland to attempt doing the journey during the winter. Both his Simpson and Iceland expeditions involved a science program of the MSH of Paris named ''Stress and decision taking in extreme environment''.

Expeditions

World firsts

* 2006 - Unsupported crossing of the

West MacDonnell National Park Tjoritja / West MacDonnell is a national park in the Northern Territory (Australia) due west of Alice Springs and 1234 km south of Darwin. It extends along the MacDonnell Ranges west of Alice Springs. The popular extended walk, the Larap ...

* 2006 - Unsupported traverse of

Fraser Island K'gari ( , ), also known by its former name Fraser Island, is a World Heritage-listed sand island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. The island lies approximately north of the state capi ...

* 2007 - Unresupplied crossing of the

* 2008 - Unsupported crossing of the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

from North to South and passing through the center. * 2010 - Unsupported traverse of

in the Summer * 2011 - BelgiKayak expedition, touring by

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

the Belgian waterways. * 2012 : Crossing of Poland by human power from Mount

Rysy Rysy (; ; , ) is a mountain in the crest of the High Tatras, eastern part of the Tatra Mountains, lying on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Rysy has three summits: the middle at ; the north-western at ; and the south-eastern at . The nort ...

across the Tatras Mountains by foot, then by kayak on the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

to the Baltic sea. He spoke about the expedition at TEDxWarsaw 2013. * 2013 - TitiKayak expedition with Gadiel Sánchez Rivera. Full tour by kayak of lake

Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

. Creation of the first geotagged photographic inventory of the lake: they took GPS coordinates of the location of the limit between the water and the ground and alongside photographs of the background. They also took underwater photos on the Northern

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n coast to locate the living habitat of the giant frog

Telmatobius culeus ''Telmatobius culeus'', commonly known as the Titicaca water frog or Lake Titicaca frog, is a medium-large to very large and endangered species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is entirely Aquatic animal, aquatic and found only in the Lake ...

. He told the purpose of the expedition at TEDxFlanders. * 2015 - Unsupported traverse of

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is a national park of the United States that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern sect ...

from North to South * 2016 - Salar trek 2. Unsupported traverse of Salar de Coipasa and

Salar de Uyuni Salar de Uyuni (or "Salar de Tunupa") is the world's largest salt flat, or playa, at in area. It is in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of above sea level. The Salar wa ...

on foot. These two

Salt flats Salt flats, Salt flat, Salt Flats, or Salt Flat may refer to: Geology *Salt pan (geology), a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals *Dry lake, an ephemeral lakebed that consists of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali sal ...

are located in the

Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...

and are the remains of

Lake Tauca Lake Tauca is a former lake in the Altiplano of Bolivia. It is also known as Lake Pocoyu for its constituent lakes: Lake Poopó, Salar de Coipasa and Salar de Uyuni. The lake covered large parts of the southern Altiplano between the Eastern Co ...

. *2018 - Tasmania Winter Trek. North to South traverse of Tasmania during the austral winter, without food or gas resupplies, without using roads and only sleeping in a tent. *2020 - HRP2020. Crossing the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, without supplies, without assistance and sleeping only in a tent; and climbing the summit of Pico

Aneto Aneto is the highest mountain in the Pyrenees and in Aragon, Spain's third-highest mountain, reaching a height of . It is in the Spanish province of Huesca, the northernmost of three Aragonese provinces, south of the France–Spain border. I ...

. Its route follows a variant of the

Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne The Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne (HRP) is a high-level long-distance trail in the Pyrenees joining the Atlantic and Mediterranean. It approximately follows the French and Spanish border and passes through Andorra. Like the GR 10 and the GR 11 ...

* 2021 - He walks and packrafts the entire

Kungsleden Kungsleden (King's Trail) is a hiking trail in northern Sweden, approximately long, between Abisko in the north and Hemavan in the south. The full distance breaks down into 419.3 km of trekking, 18.2 km of lake crossings and a 29.5 km stretch o ...

trail unsupported, climbing underway also Skierfe and the

Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...

North and South summits. * 2023 - GTA2023. Crossing the French Alps from the Mediterranean Sea to Lake Geneva, without resupply, using water from only public sources, without assistance and sleeping only in a tent. He followed the GTA or Grande Traversée des Alpes from Nice to

Thonon-les-Bains Thonon-les-Bains (; ), often simply referred to as Thonon, is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 35,241. Thonon-les-Bains is part of a ...

Charity and cultural expeditions

* 2009 - Chocolate Sherpa expedition, walking 400 km from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp and back to

Lukla Lukla ( ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Koshi Province of northeastern Nepal. Situated at above sea level, it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Everest ...

distributing chocolate.

Scientific and other expeditions

* 2013 - Cordell expedition to

Clipperton Island Clipperton Island ( ; ), also known as Clipperton Atoll and previously as Clipperton's Rock, is an uninhabited French coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The only French territory in the North Pacific, Clipperton is from Paris, France ...

. Scientific and

DXpedition A DX-pedition is an expedition to what is considered an exotic place by amateur radio operators and DX listeners, typically because of its remoteness, access restrictions, or simply because there are very few radio amateurs active from that pl ...

with callsign TX5K. * 2013 -

Marañón River The Marañón River (, , ) is the principal or mainstem source of the Amazon River, arising about 160 km (100 miles) to the northeast of Lima, Peru, and flowing northwest across plateaus 3,650 m (12,000 feet) high, it runs through a deeply ero ...

expedition. Joined for 6 days the 1 month rafting and kayaking of the upper part of the river. * 2013 - Salar trek expedition. He attempted, but failed, to traverse Salar de Coipasa and

on foot without any resupply. * 2016 - Unsupported partial crossing of the

from West to East from Old Andado to

Poeppel Corner Poeppel Corner (known as Poeppel's Corner in Queensland) at latitude 26° S and longitude 138° E is a corner of state boundaries in Australia, where the state of Queensland meets South Australia and the Northern Territory The Northern T ...

and passing through the center. * 2024 - Failed attempt at a double crossing of the Simpson Desert of over 1000km. Abandoned due to a slight injury and the weight of the cart being too heavy.

Challenges

* 2020 - The Everest Bueren Challenge, climbing up and down the stairs of the Montagne de Bueren 135 times with a 15 kg backpack. * 2021 - Confined in my Tent, living 1 week on a 5m² platform hanging 10m above the ground. * 2022 - Unsupported speed record on the

GR 70 The GR 70, also known as the Chemin de Stevenson or the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, is a GR footpath, Grande Randonnée (long-distance footpath) that runs for approximately through the French departments of Haute-Loire, Lozère and Gard in a ...

Stevenson hiking trail.

Films

From 2021, he started to produce films about his expeditions and challenges. The films are released online or screened at festivals. * 2021 - The Mad Belgian: Keep walking * 2022 - The Mad Belgian: Confined in My Tent

Awards and recognition

* In 2009, he was awarded young talent of the year by the Baillis of Mouscron. * Outer Edge magazine has selected in its February–March 2011 issue Loncke's Simpson desert crossing being in the top 10 Australian expeditions to the edge of reason. * Accepted as member of the

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for ex ...

in 2010 and elected to Fellow in 2014. * Becoming Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 2011 * In September 2011, the

Jane Goodall Institute The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global non-profit wildlife and environment conservation organization headquartered in Washington, DC. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Jane Goodall and Genevieve di San Faustino (1919-2011). Th ...

Belgium nominates him as goodwill ambassador for the

Roots & Shoots Roots & Shoots was founded by Jane Goodall, DBE in 1991, to bring together youth from preschool to university age to work on environmental, conservation, and humanitarian issues. The organization has local chapters in over 140 countries with over ...

program. * Selected by the

LOCOG The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Gov ...

to carry the Olympic Flame through

Choppington Choppington is a large village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is situated 5 miles to the south-east of Morpeth, and north of Bedlington. It was at one time part of the three big mid-Northumberland collieries (Ashington, ...

on 15 June 2012. * Finalist Photoshoot Awards contest OCEAN 2013, category Pollution. * At the European parliament in Brussels, on 7 May 2014,

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...

made him ''Jane Goodall Institute Knight for Youth, Animals and Plants in the Order of the Iguana''. * A the ISPO fair in Munich, he is awarded ''European Adventurer of the Year 2016''. * He is enthroned Honorary Bailli of Mouscron in October 2017 *Ranked #3 of the Top 10 expeditions of 2018 according to ExplorersWeb

References

External links

* of Louis-Philippe Loncke {{DEFAULTSORT:Loncke, Louis-Philippe 1977 births Living people Belgian explorers Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Explorers Club People from Mouscron 21st-century explorers