Adventurer Profile

Name: Ripley “Doc” Davenport

Location: I live in the country in a little village called Husby, on the Island of Fyn in DENMARK.

Age: 39 (My 40th birthday will be in the Gobi Desert next year).

Occupation: Teacher and Adventurer

Sports: Mountain biking

Athletic Background: The British military got me started. Before then, I was the typical spotty kid that stood around and never really shined in anything related to sports.

Athletic Goals: At the moment my goal is to successfully complete the Mongolia 2010 Expedition solo and unassisted in less than 90 days.
I aim to become more occupied in youth projects especially organisations such as i2P – impossible2possible.com. We need to dissolve the classroom walls and allow students to discover that their dreams and ambitions are within reach. We need good leaders with compassion and vision motivated by a thirst for knowledge.

Athletic Highlights: Each adventure has its highlights and it’s difficult to choose but apart from more personal highlights of achieving a solo unassisted traverse of the Namib and a solo of the Karakum desert back in 1998, I would say that the pinnacle would have been working with a European project to get youth, with disabilities, involved in active sports and adventure in a bid to help them reach personal and physical summits.

Two 11 years olds, Janice Wells suffering Down’s syndrome and Aden Forsham with a prosthetic leg volunteered to join my expedition to climb the Zugspitze in Germany. Two good friends serving in my regiment – Angus Jeffries and Mark Coup offered to assist.

Their determination to achieve new athletic milestones with disabilities inspired many individuals with disabilities, including many veterans with disabilities, to challenge themselves. They achieved their goal and we all reached the summit together, to prove that a person with a disability could do it.

“We were overwhelmed with emotion to see these two kids standing on top of Germany. We all cuddled on the summit. It was very intense.”
That was the start of my journey to help youth reach beyond their limits. We also raised £3650 for charity.

Favorite Workout: Yoga.

What Inspires or Motivates You?: Inspiration comes from the word “No”. If I hear something can’t be done or something has some kind of limitation, I immediately start thinking about how to do it. Mongolia 2010 is a fine example of that.

Favorite Fuel: Nuts, raisins and dried apricots.

Favorite Indulgence: At home: Spaghetti meatballs, spaghetti Bolognaise, pizza, and good whisky. During expeditions: Chocolate, coffee and a miniature bottle of whisky.

Typical Workout: Pulling/hauling 4 car tires over forest track with a 20kg backpack.

What songs are on your MP3 player?:
The Jones Girls – Nights Over Egypt
Air – All I Need
Leroy Hutson – Paradise
This list is endless…