Mark Agnew

Mark Agnew has been in the great outdoors his whole life. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and then moving to Hong Kong, Mark is rarely not camping, hiking, trail running, rowing, or kayaking. In his 20s, Mark began to take adventure more seriously and attempted his first major expeditions. However, they did not go to plan. Mark was rescued from the Atlantic in a bid to set the world record for rowing from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean, and then rescued again attempting the same feat two years later.

The failures hit Mark hard. He was forced into a period of introspective, wondering what he really wants out of adventure. In a bid to rebuild his mental strength for upcoming adventures, he began to push himself beyond his limits. Mark has run countless ultra marathons, including the notorious Hong Kong 100km, with over 5,000m of cumulative elevation gain, he rowed around Hong Kong Island and spent days kayaking from remote island to remote island, living out of a tent. The adventures gave Mark an immense reservoir of resilience and faith in his own ability to push and survive in the wild.

With his newfound (or refound) confidence, Mark began to dream of bigger things. The Northwest Passage has long held sway over his imagination. Growing up in Britain, the likes of Franklin are never far from the news. Mark is now determined to explore the Arctic with the Cowboys, build deep and lasting friendships through an enormous shared effort and ultimately achieve this world first together.

Mark is an adventure sports journalist, author, and speaker. He recently moved to London and became a father.

Mark’s father mapped part of Greenland and Patagonia, was the first person to walk North to South across the Patagonia Ice Cap, and led expeditions to Antarctica and the Himalayas, just in case you are wondering where he gets it from. Learn more about Mark Agnew at his website https://adventureagnew.com