Edinburgh kayaker wins European Adventurer of the Year

European Adventurer of the Year recognises a “person for outstanding performance in the concept of adventure”. 

Mark Agnew, 32, from Edinburgh, and his team kayaked the entire Northwest Passage, and finished on October 12 this year. They set two world records. 

Agnew and his three American teammates became the first people to Kayak the Northwest Passage, and the first people to complete it in a single season by human power, without the help of motors or sails. The expedition took 103 days. Mark was with Americans Eileen Visser, expedition leader West Hansen and Jeff Wueste.

READ MORE: Scot sets world record as part of team which kayaked Northwest Passage

Agnew was presented the award at the ISPO Munich sports trade fair on November 28. 

Agnew joins a prestigious list of previous winners including Austrian Felix Baumgartner, for jumping out of space, and Spaniard Kilian Jornet, a world famous mountaineer and ultra runner. 

He was immersed in the great outdoors from a young age - his father was an explorer who mapped part of Greenland and Patagonia, and his mother was an adventurer who spent four years travelling overland from Australia back to the UK in the 1970s.

Agnew, who works as a motivational speaker and journalist, said: “I’m over the moon. This is such an incredible honour. Adventurers have been trying to complete the Northwest Passage by human power for years, so to actually do it feels epic.

"To have that recognised by the European Adventurer of the Year jury is amazing. I’m so proud. To be on the same list as the likes of Felix Baumgartner is humbling. I remember being glued to the TV as he jumped from space.”

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. The experience was made so much better because I shared it with them,” Agnew said. 

Mark Agnew with his team comprising West Hansen, Jeff Wueste and Eileen Visser (Image: (West Hansen/PA))
The Northwest Passage is the Arctic route that links the Atlantic and the Pacific. It starts in Baffin Bay, Canada, and ends in the Beaufort Sea, Canada. 

The route is best known for the ill-fated expedition of John Franklin - he searched for the Northwest Passage in the 1840s in the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus. Both his ships were encased in ice. The crew engaged in cannibalism in a bid to survive, but ultimately all 129 of them died. 

The route is 1,600 miles long. Mark and his team travelled almost 2,000 miles including the journey to the start of the Passage and back to civilization after completing the Passage. Mark started the journey on July 1, 2023 and finished on October 12.

“We saw so many polar bears. A few came into our camp and we had to shout and chase them off,” Agnew said. “One woke us up by pressing itself against our tent. The encounters were amazing. But this one was too close for comfort.”

One of the most spectacular aspects of the journey was the sea ice. 

READ MORE: Scotland's best outdoor podcasts to inspire adventure

“At the start of the expedition, the water was still full of sea ice,” Agnew said. “It was amazing and terrifying. It was so dynamic. On our first night paddling, the ice shifted so it was between us and land. We had no way to get back to shore and no idea how long we would be stuck floating.”

“We paddled for hours and hours with no end in sight. Finally, we found more permanent stable ice,” Agnew continued. 

“So, we pulled our kayaks up onto the ice and dragged them back to land. While we dragged, I stood on some thin ice. It broke under my weight and I plunged into the Arctic Ocean. I didn’t panic. I told the others to stay back.”

“Then, they pushed the nose of the kayak towards me, I held onto it and they pulled me out. After hours of paddling and dragging, we made it back to the land. We were back where we started. We waited for two weeks for the ice to move so we could start the journey again.”

“To think that is how we started, it is amazing we finished and a testament to how hard we worked.”

Mark Agnew accepts his award (Image: Adventure Agnew)

Mark overcame a mental health crisis to start the expedition. 

He tried and failed to row the Atlantic twice - once in 2016 and once in 2018. Following the second failure, his mental health spiralled. 

“I was devastated. I had an idea of myself as this hardcore adventurer, and I’d failed twice. I felt humiliated and the feeling of being pathetic spread into all aspects of my life,” Agnew said. 

“I realised if I was going to recover and go on adventures again, I needed to change my mindset. Instead of focusing on the world records and the outcome, I had to focus on enjoying the experience and the camaraderie. That way, even if we didn’t reach our goal, I still had intrinsic success and could judge success on my own terms.”

A vital part of Agnew’s recovery was setting himself challenges in nature, like ultra marathons and mountaineering. Time outdoors helped him recover. 

Mark raised over £10,000 for Wilderness Foundation UK, a charity that helps people with their mental health by connecting them with nature. 

“It was an obvious charity for me to partner with. Being outdoors was so important to my recovery, and Wilderness Foundation UK helps countless people who would not typically have easy access to nature. I wanted to help extend the opportunities I had to others,” Agnew said.