#NoShortcuts with Mike Horn

Mike Horn is globally acknowledged as the world’s greatest modern day explorer. From swimming the Amazon River solo and unsupported to an unmotorized circumnavigation of the globe at the equator, Mike’s list of accomplishments as a solo explorer is unparalleled.

He said once : "The impossible exists only until we find a way to make it possible," and who could better understand this sentence than him.

In two decades, he has seen more of the Earth than possibly any other human. He walked to the North Pole during the dark season and has scaled the world’s 8,000 meter peaks.

He’s proven the potential of the human spirit  as well as the performance of many SCOTT products along the way.

Mike came by our Headquarters in Givisiez to once again give his valuable feedback on various products, pick up the newest ones for his new K2 expedition and to discuss his experiences and his future projects.

Let’s learn a bit more about the man who truly lives our #NoShortcuts spirit in his everyday life better than anyone else.

Mike Horn going down the Amazon river in 1999

You've travelled all around the world, suffered through extreme explorations and climbed some of the highest peaks on the planet. What is your motivation to continue to push your limits and tackle new projects all the time?

You know, when you do what you love, you don’t need motivation. In the difficult moments, it’s not always possible to be motivated, to get out of the tent at -45°C when you just walked for 2 years across Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Siberia, or when you spend 58 hours climbing non stop. You can`t always be motivated, but you can be disciplined,  and I like the discipline in the job that I do, because if you don’t have the discipline in adventure or mountain sports, then obviously, you are never going to really love what you do.  

Mike Horn walking around the North Pole

Seing as you are a source of inspiration for lots of people, who inspired you?

I always say that you never know who you inspire, that’s why you always have to try your best. We always inspire somebody, above or below the line, and all of us can be an inspiration to other people.

I was really inspired first of all by my father, who was a a professional rugby player for South Africa. When I was walking with him in the streets and I heard people telling him "well played“ or things like that, to me it was nice to see that people recognized what he did in his career as a rugby player.

Then, later in life, it was my wife who inspired me because she gave me the freedom to get out and to do what I love to do. And to be able to have that inspiration and support from home, is the reason why you want to come back home after a long expedition. That inspiration is very important because otherwise, when you are in some extreme situations like in the polar region, it’s sometimes easier to just sit down and close your eyes and never wake up again. But if you have inspiration from home, then you know you have to come back alive.

Mike's arrival after the first solo circumnavigation of the world around the Equator (40,000 km)

As an explorer and adventurer, you push the limits and have taken lots of risks during your whole life everywhere around the world. What does #NoShortcuts mean to you?

You know, it’s not really the risk that I like. The risk is something that is kind of omnipresent in our life as an explorer. But what I like is the challenge to overcome the risk. And  #NoShortcuts  simply means that you can’t take anything for granted if you want to achieve your goals. To me, "NoShortcuts“ is a very strong and meaningful slogan. It means that you never leave any stone unturned and that you never miss out on a training or tackle any challenge unprepared.

"I like the challenge to overcome the risk"

How do you get yourself physically ready for the next challenge? Do you have a specific training plan? Which kind of activities do you prefer?

When I specifically go to an expedition in the mountains, I spend a lot of time at home, where I use a backpack and put some water in the backpack to climb up and down rock faces. I go running with weights. That just helps me to build my upper leg muscles. Because when you start climbing, you might be physically fit, because you can run long distances, but it is the fatigue in the muscles that is more important to be able to control.

I also use part of my expedition as training, especially when you climb high altitude mountains, you spend a lot of time at basecamp acclimatizing for the climb, so it means that we have to create the red blood cells for the body to transport oxygen to the brain and to the rest of the body to function when you only have 7% oxygen. Because we climb without supplement oxygen, without sherpas, which means that you have to be very well prepared physically for your expedition.

And training is not only a physical activity, it’s also about making sure you have the right equipment to keep you warm and safe.  This actually helps me to make it easier when I get into that zone where you don’t usually stay alive.

Mike Horn climbing another 8,000m peak

Physical strength is something you can train, but what about the mental aspects? How have you become this strong mentally?

You know, I don’t think that I have to train my mental strength at all because sometimes I think I’m nearly too motivated. At times I feel that I am almost too strong mentally, because there are times when your body just does not want to follow your brain when you tell it that I will get there, no matter what lies ahead. Then you can lose the mental connection with your body.

I know that 80% of what I do is my mental attitude to what I do, but the body has to be able to follow that mental attitude as well. And these two elements obviously have to play together. To be strong mentally is one thing, but to be too strong mentally can easily kill you at the end of the day. And to me, that combination of what I know and what I don’t know, those are the 2 poles of my life. I know this and I don’t know this but I want to go there. So the closer you bring those two poles together, the known and the unknown, the stronger you become mentally and the easier it is to calculate the risk and possible outcomes of actions you are about to take.

Mike on the top of Makalu Summit (8,481m)

Tell us a little bit more about your next trip to K2 ? When do you leave ? How do you get there ? What is the timing ?

We leave in the middle of May. It will take more or less 20 days to go there. The idea is to drive to K2 because there is a zone I want to avoid. Driving there is something I've never done in the past. Climbing is my work, so it's like a commute. The same way you probably get to work, I will just drive 9,000km to get to where I work. And my work is obviously to climb the mountain. Then we will stay one month at the base camp to acclimatize the best we can and we will then try to get to the summit when the first weather window appears, because weather windows in this area are very short and we need to be ready by mid-July to attack and hopefully we can get to the summit before the end of July because in August bad weather comes back again into this region and you really should be out of there by then.

 Mike and his team on their way to K2

If you go there by car, is it  because it’s easier to bring your material by car?

For me the main reason, apart from it being an easy way of transportation, is that I am able to keep control of everything I have around me, because when you send stuff by cargo, usually, you don’t always get what you send and sometimes you get to the base camp and when you open some of the barrels that you sent half of the stuff is not there. So then you have to get stuff from someone else, which is not ideal. On my past expeditions stuff has always disappeared miraculously, so this way, I am more in a control of my environment, which is really important because my equipment is vital for me.

You are involved in our product testing and improvement process, what do you like about being involved in testing future products?

I see clothing as an extension of my skin, and this extension must take care of my every need. 

"The more the products are an extension of me, the more comfortable I am outdoors and the safer I feel"

And you know, because we are loving our clothing and products, we touch the product nearly every day, we have a good idea on what works on a product and what does not.  And to be able to give you a little bit of input will allow you and your products to improve all the time. And in the end it's exactly these products that will help me perform better.

It’s also about personalizing a product with my signature or stamp. So if I can help in the development of a product that helps you perform better and become an even better athlete day by day, that is something that makes me really happy-  even if it's just skiing down a slope or going for a run. In the end, that will allow more people to go outside and I truly like this idea to help allow more people to go and enjoy the outdoors.

"I truly like this idea to help allow more people to go and enjoy the outdoors"

Mike Horn about his involvment in SCOTT's product development

What do you like about our products?

I think SCOTT products represent what I do as a job. I’m an active person, so I like to run, I like to ski, I like to cycle, I like being outside and doing outdoor activities. So, as an explorer, I’m not specifically doing one activity I do multi-activity. And SCOTT is precisely a one stop shop that produces excellent products and these products help me do what I do and help me to reach the goals that I set for myself.

It’s also a brand that I think is young, and as I become older, I want to stay young as well and collaborating with young and dynamic teams helps me with this.

So you wear a brand that fits your body, your size, how you are built physically and is very comfortable overall. And if you have something that is comfortable, which helps you in a way to be younger in the mountains, or at least in your mind, it increases the chances of you making it to the top. If a product can make this happen, then and only then it is a perfect product. So that is my feeling about SCOTT and why I think it’s such an amazing brand. 

Mike's special ski boots build for the K2 expedition.

Thanks for that one. Do you have something else to add? Something to Share?

You know, I think today with social media, we have a better opportunity to share what we do and what we love. We also have a better opportunity to get other people more involved in travelling to places they would usually not even know about, or even thought of their existence. So when I have an idea to go out and do new stuff I'm very happy to share this with the people who like what I do. Traveling is not just about climbing mountains or exploring, traveling is about sharing.

"Traveling is about SHARING"

Mike and his family in 1999 in Macapa during Latitude Zero expedition