About Gary King

I am an adventure sports and travel journalist with many years experience covering events and activities all over the world. I have a penchant for extreme sports that has me continually searching out the weird and wacky. So if you have any ideas please get in touch through the contacts page.

By its very nature there are lot of words on this website but there are also some great photographs taken by some great photographers.

PLEASE TAKE ME STRAIGHT TO THE GALLERY

This website is designed to showcase some of the many extreme sports and Activities that I have taken part in and to provide some information on how to find out more about them. If you want to email me click on the link in the bottom right hand corner of any of the pages or go to the Contact page.

From the mountains of Canada to the beaches of Cornwall I have met some truly wonderful people who have thrown me off cliffs, made me walk for three days in thigh deep snow and submerged me in ice cold water. Thanks for the all the help and I can't wait to do it again some day

.... apart from maybe jumping off that dam in Switzerland.

And now I can add with some authority racing 300 miles across the Arctic Circle to the 1996 Magnetic North Pole in the Scott Dunn Polar Challenge 2005. Now that felt like sheer lunacy at times!! Team Telegraph came fourth though and the site is awash with diaries, updates and pictures.

And in a slightly different vein....... The Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire! Photos coming soon.


 

Quiet Reflection in Black Rock City
 
Rod Baber, Gary King, Guy Baber halfway round Toughguy
Team Telegraph at the Finish of the Polar Challenge
Wing Walking
 
Latest News

1st OCTOBER 2008

THIS IS THE OLD VERSION OF WWW.GARY-KING.CO.UK. A NEW SITE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION THAT WILL HAVE ALL OF MY LATEST TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES.

IT WILL ALSO FEATURE MORE LIFESTYLE CONTENT, LINKS AND INFORMATION ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN SOME OF THE MANY THINGS
THAT I HAVE DONE.

IN THE MEANTIME PLEASE FEEL FREE TO HAVE A BROWSE AND WATCH THIS SPACE. THE LAST TWO YEARS HAVE BEEN VERY EVENTFUL!

LIFE'S FOR LIVING, NOT SPECTATING!

THANKS

GK

1st December 2006
SKI SUPPLEMENT
Heliboarding, Spearhead Traverse and Essential Winter Equipment published in The Daily Telegraph Ski Supplement. Articles will be online soon.

10th June 2006
PORTUGAL
For a change I hung up my parachute, shelved my snowboard and hit the road to discover the beauty of Portugal. Drank shedloads of Port aswell! It's all online at www.telegraph.co.uk at KING DOES PORTUGAL

Monday 30th January 2006
TOUGH GUY
I am now offically a Tough Guy (see grainy pic to left... gallery of high quality pics to follow) after competing and finishing the bi-annual
Tough Guy race in Perton in Staffordshire. It's the coldest, wettest, muddiest, smelliest event in the UK. 6000 started, 3000 finished and I came 2108th which isn't too bad considering I was in the last 500 to start. I was egged on by old mate Rod Baber and his brother Guy. Well done fellas... you too are Tough Guys. Hats off to Mr Mousa, the brains behind the event. To come up with such a barbaric obstcale as the Underwater Tunnels which invlove complete submersion in ice cold water, not once but five times; I really thought my head was going to explode! You are truly twisted and for that I salute you. Story to follow.

With medals after the finish at Toughguy

Wednesday 25th January 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Belated happy New Year. I've recently returned from a few weeks of skydiving in Arizona and Califormia. After doing the AFF level 1 I quickly did the rest of the AFF course at Langar in Nottinghamshire and now have done 60 jumps. I can't recommend the sport enough; for more information check out www.bpa.org.uk which has loads of information about where to jump and how to start. Pictures and stories to follow on the website soon which will also be getting a complete overhaul in the next couple of months. 

Also many thanks for all the emails, please keep them coming. I'll try and answer any of your questions about any of the activities featured on the site or about extreme sports in general.

Wednesday 2nd November 2005
DAILY TELEGRAPH SKI SUPPLEMENT
The articles published in the supplement will be online soon if you didn't see them in the paper.
  
Tuesday 4th October 2005
SKYDIVING
Skydiving Gallery added today. Great pictures by Tony Danbury from the British Parachute School at Langar.

Wednesday 21st September 2005
SKYDIVING AND SKIFF SAILING ADDED TO ACTIVITIES
Go to the Activities page to see the latest updates. Galleries to follow.

Thursday 11th September 2005
THE BURNING MAN, NEVADA, USA
I've just returned from what is quite possibly the most barmy, exciting, crazy, weird and wonderful event that I have ever been to. The Burning Man in the Nevada Desert in the States. Visit
www.burningman.com for a glimpse into one of world's best kept secrets. Full report and photos to follow soon.

Saturday 13th August 2005
ACCELERATED FREEFALL SKYDIVING
In the Active pages of this week's Weekend Telegraph I reported on the fastest way to become a qualified skydiver; Accelerated Freefall. Go to
Skydiving for the story.

Sunday 15th May 2005
WING WALKING
I receive a huge amount of emails from people wanting to do a Wing Walk for charity or fun. I'm not sure whether the company that I did mine with do that sort of thing but if you are interested please visit
www.aerosuperbatics.com or phone 01285 831774.

Thursday 12th May 2005
SCOTT DUNN POLAR CHALLENGE 2005
Well I'm back! Now that was an incredible month.... if ever anybody asks you to walk 300 miles to the Mag North Pole just ask them to go through the reasons why! I decided very early on that enjoyment in the Arctic is mainly retrpostective and based on contrast. A cup of soup and a piece of toast in the warmth and civility of a checkpoint tent after having covered hundreds of miles becomes the pinacle of luxury. The toughest thing though was, without doubt the need to keep your mind active when plodding for 14 hours plus a day. I've done enough thinking to last a lifetime... if I know you, you've probably been bouncing round my head like a pinball at some point in the last four weeks.

So good to be home with Louise, Seb & Bella but also a profound sense of achievement. Pretty chuffed with fourth and we only missed third by an hour an a half. I've lost over a stone, have a little bit of frost nip on my face, my fingers are still numb and I'm still perpetually hungry. I sure could think of better ways to diet!

Many thanks to everybody who sent me emails of support, they really were appreciated especially at the finish line and thanks for the sponsorship. If anybody else would like to donate to what is a very worthy cause for research into Infant Cot Death please visit http://www.justgiving.com/polargary and give as little or as much as you like.

Also big thanks to my team mates Will and Vicky. They were great throughout and I couldn't have done it without them. Now it's time for that nap! No more 'Camping in Style'.

I'll be updating the site with loads of pictures over the next few weeks and there really are some cracking shots.

Polar Best Wishes and no, I have no idea what the next assignmnet will be. Probably something to do with pub gardens and beer!

Scott Dunn Polar Challenge Diary

Click on DIARY to go to the real time Team Telegraph Diary from the ice

Monday 10th April
SCOTT DUNN POLAR CHALLENGE 2005
I leave for the Resolute Bay tomorrow... my bags are packed and I'm ready to go! I'm as prepared as I'll ever be although there is a nagging pain in my ribs still (I took quite a serious tumble on the slopes of Val D'Isere during training a few weeks ago and damaged my intercostal muscles and ligaments), so I've been having deep tissue massage and chiropractic sessions. Other than that I feel fine and dandy.
Check out the charity link below and please dig deep my friends..... it's a very long way and it's going to be extremely cold. I'm also going to miss the rest of the footbal season (surely Plymouth can stay up now); May Bank Holiday; the beautiful Louise and my delectable children, Sebbie and Bella; and errr The Election.

Saturday 19th February 2005
IT'S ALL FOR CHARIDEE MATES
Team Telegraph will be raising money for charity by competing in the Scott Dunn Polar Challenge. Our chosen charities are;
The Foundation for the Study of Infant Death (FSD) for Gary King
Winston's Wish for Vicky Wallis
Macmillan Cancer Relief for Will Lawrie.
Donations can be made to either of these charities by visiting the following pages on the Just Giving website. 
For Gary King www.justgiving.com/polargary
For Will Lawrie www.justgiving.com/polarchallenge05
For Vicky Wallis www.justgiving.com/polarvicky

Monday 25th January 2005
THE SCOTT DUNN POLAR CHALLENGE
Team Telegraph return from a week's cold weather training in Kaprun in Austria. Joining myself, Will and Vicky was Team Telegraph reserve Alistair Shawcross. Cross country skiing, pulk pulling, frozen water drill and tent administration were a few of the things covered in the training programme. It was also a chance to meet some of the other teams who we will be competing against. They are a formidable bunch to say the least. Visit The Polar Challenge Team pages to see the opposition. Articles will be appearing in The Daily Telegraph in the next few weeks about the Austrian trip. The actual dates will appear in this section of the website.

Monday October 25th 
Looking for more information on trampolines or trying to find a club near you then check out www.studentzone.org.uk. It has a listing of all various trampoline clubs at universities throughout the country. Otherwise visit www.sportslinks.info. If you are looking to buy then visit www.supertramp.co.uk

 

 
 
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