In 1992, Her seven exp ditions over a perical of 26 years, Flennes and a team of researchers found the lost Middle Eastern city of Ubar, in Oman, The city had been covered in sand for over a thousand years, Fiennes said it was just luck that they found it! The next year, Fiennes and Dr. Mike Stroud, an expert on human A treme conditions, became the first to cross the continent of Antarctica health in with no support. Ht took 93 days and was the longest unsupported polar journey in history: In 1996, Hennes tried to walk ) the South Pole alone. this time for charity However, he was unsticcessful because he got sick and had to return home In 2000, Fiennes walked solo and unsupported to the North Pole, but he couldn't finish it because his sled teil through the ice When he tried to pull the sted out of the water, some fingers on his left hand got frostbite. Later, to avoid surgery, he cut the top part of his fingers off himself Three years later, Fiennes had a heart attack, was ina coma’ for three days, and had heart surgery. Before his heart attack, Fiennes had agreed to run in a special marathon4 for a heart charity, The marathon was going to be about three and a half months after his surgery, and it was not one marathon but seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. At this point, Fiennes didn’t want to do the marathon, but he had no choice. So he had to learn to walk again, to walk uphill, and then to run, His doctor said he could do the marathons if his heartbeat did not go over 130 beats per minute. Fiennes forgot to take the machine to measure his heartbeat during the marathons, so he did not know how tast his heartbeat was. Nevertheless he completed all seven of the marathons! Fiennes has a fear of heights. He thought if he climbed Mount Everest, he could get rid of his fear. In 2005, he climbed Mount Everest, but he couldn’t make it to the top because he didn’t feel well and had to go back. Climbing Mount Everest didn’t help him get rid of his fear because he said it wasn't vertical’ enough. So he thought he would climb the very vertical Mount Eiger in the Swiss Alps. Fiennes climbed Mount Eiger, but that did not help him get over his fear of heights either. However, with that climb, he raised a lot of money for a charity that helps people with cancer. Fiennes tried to climb Everest again in 2008 but still couldn't make it. Yet, he did not give up. In 2009, Fiennes climbed Mount Everest and became the oldest British person to do this and to cross both poles. In 2012, Fiennes went on The Coldest Journey expedition, which crosses Antarctica in winter. However, in February 2013, Fiennes left the expedition, again because of frostbite. Why has the fearless Fiennes gone on these dangerous expeditions all of his lite? He says he does it to raise money for charities. For him, it’s his job, just like other people who work in an office from 9 to 5. * coma: a state of not being conscious; not knowing what is happening around you marathon: a race in which people run a distance of 26.2 miles (about 42 kilo en) vertical: standing straight up Amazing People 95