Global Warrior Project

02/09/2026

🎤 Jim will be talking at the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre Dundreggan Rewilding Centre in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 on Saturday 14th November at 11am. We're excited to be there and really support the great work being carried out by Trees for Life and the local team!
👋Tìoraidh an-dràsta

28/08/2026

WHY “WARRIOR”?

People occasionally ask why Jim called his first project Ice Warrior.

Well, when he started the project, he was thinking less about warfare and more about the discipline, composure and self-control traditionally associated with warriors. The ability to prepare oneself properly, remain calm when things become difficult and look after the people beside you.

Special attention to that last bit...

In an extreme environment, strength is not making the most noise or proving how tough you are. Quite often it is noticing that somebody is struggling before they say anything, taking a bit more of the load, slowing the pace or having the sense to call a halt when carrying on would be foolish.

Nature is not an enemy to be defeated or conquered. She is far more powerful than any individual or team and must be approached with humility and respect.

Ultimately, the greatest battle on an expedition is rarely against the ice, the mountain, the ocean or the weather. It is the internal struggle against fear, exhaustion, doubt and the temptation to give up.

The measure of an Ice Warrior is not simply whether they reach the destination. It is how they behave along the way, how they care for others when conditions are at their worst, and whether the whole team returns stronger because of the experience.

05/08/2026

📷 A photo doesn't always tell the whole story ‼️

🇨🇦 These show the team smiling at the Geomagnetic North Pole in 2004, 1,000 ft up a steep mountainside on Ellesmere Island.
What it doesn’t show is the climb over loose rock or the moment Mark suddenly wobbled and lost his footing on a long, exposed traverse. He had taken a strong painkiller shortly before the ascent, so Jim had stayed close behind him in case it affected his balance.
Jim managed to grab him before he went any farther down the mountain.

🇬🇧 They eventually reached a point within metres of the Pole's calculated position. As the location itself was estimated, that was quite accurate enough! Going farther would have achieved very little beyond making the return journey more hazardous, so Jim declared that they had arrived.

🥇 Fizzy Lillingston and Julia Stacey became the first women to reach the Geomagnetic North Pole along with four extremely pleased men.

😌 The photo shows smiles. It missed the loose footing, the worry, the judgment calls and the important business of getting everyone back down.
That is often the way with expedition photos. They record the achievement more than the effort required to survive it.

01/08/2026

Over 23 years of Jim’s Ice Warrior Project we have seen +500 people from all walks of life and echelons of society complete our training programmes.

All of them on a personal journey through life looking to do something purposeful and worthwhile.
And when they have completed their journey with us many of them take on Jim’s “walk tall” attitude - quietly moving through their communities feeling more confident and resilient to deal with whatever life throws at them.

We first met Charlie in 2019, he had a dream of becoming a Royal Marine but circumstances had intervened and he had to change direction. He completed his Ice Warrior UK training programme with us and then went on to gain a BSc in Environmental Science and then a MSc in Sustainable Environmental Management. It looked like his path was set and then suddenly in April we heard the fantastic news that he had finally got his place at the Commando Training Centre for Royal Marines in Lympstone and could now follow his original dream. 

Fast forward to this sunny August Saturday morning outside 🇬🇧 Global Warrior BASECAMP and the Royal Marine crew bus pulled up to drop off its trainees with their huge bergans and guns. Charlie rushed over and gave Sam a massive bear hug!

It is moments like this that make our hearts sing and maybe puts a wee tear of pride in our eyes! 😊

28/07/2026

WARNING: 💩Projectile diarrhoea is horrendous at the best of times!

🌡️At –49.6°C it becomes an entirely different logistical challenge.
Jim was 3 days into a traverse of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High Arctic, aiming to reach the Geomagnetic North Pole, when severe abdominal cramps began.

His immediate concern wasn’t for himself. The expedition—the first Ice Warrior Project endeavour—had been his idea. If this was bacterial and infectious, it could quickly spread to the 5 team members in the close confines of their tent ⛺️

Jim told the team, and they ended the day early.

All night, he dashed for the tent door. Their brilliant medic, Fizzy Lillingston, kept him supplied with fluids but they were rapidly ejected.

There’s no elegant way to describe what happened next.

💩🍦Imagine a Mr Whippy ice cream: the moment anything left Jim's body, it froze into an ever-growing pile. He had to keep shifting position to avoid making contact with it.

By morning, the cramps had gone, but he was completely washed out. The team couldn’t have been more patient, helpful or kind as they slowly got moving again.

Then, at around 11am, Jim realised what had happened💡

It wasn’t bacterial❗️
Jim had fuel poisoning from a contaminated Snickers bar 🍫

He was euphoric. They celebrated🎉🥳

Only on an Arctic expedition could discovering you’d been poisoned feel like such good news.

Looking back, it was a powerful reminder: when something goes wrong, speak up early. A strong team won’t blame you—they’ll rally around you and keep the mission moving.

22/07/2026

Nanook (Inuktitut for polar bear), a white Alsatian from Ottawa, was Jim's polar bear warning dog.

AND that was a far as it went, he was excellent company BUT almost useless regarding polar bears.

At times, whilst busy persuading a polar bear to move on, Nanook would be facing Jim looking faintly puzzled, as if wondering what all the fuss was about.

Each morning he would trot about, covering far more ground than the team giving the impression of a highly alert Arctic professional. By lunchtime, however, he would often decide he had done quite enough and sit on the back of Jim's sled expecting to be pulled.

Naturally, Jim pulled him. He treated it as additional training!

On one solo training expedition, it was -42°C and Nanook was outside the tent on watch. Halfway through the evening, he gave a very small moan, gently scratched at the tent door, and made it quite clear that the 'brave guardian' of the camp would rather come in for a snuggle.

Of course, Jim let him in.

He was smotheringly grateful, and they kept each other warm until morning.

Nanook was not the finest polar bear warning dog ever deployed in the Arctic BUT his loyalty, warmth and entertainment were worth every extra ounce of food and miles Jim had to tow him.

A big, loving softy 🥰

29/06/2026

Jim grew up on a north London council estate, son of an Irish immigrant and a nurse. He wasn't top of the class. More interested in nature, sport and practical jokes than academic achievement.

📚He left school with few qualifications and never imagined that one day he would be standing on the sea ice of the Arctic, working alongside some of the world's leading scientists with teams of people from all walks of life and echelons of society 🤗

💡Over the last 40 years he has learned something remarkable ➡️ The biggest barrier to achievement is rarely intelligence, money or opportunity - It's BELIEF‼️

🙅‍♂️BELIEF that “people like us don't do things like that”

👀Yet Jim has watched accountants, teachers, engineers, business leaders, students and retirees transform themselves into modern-day explorers. Not because they were exceptional - BUT because they discovered a purpose bigger than themselves 🌎

When that happens, people change, CONFIDENCE grows, RESILIENCE strengthens, POSSIBILITIES expand - ORDINARY people become EXTRAORDINARY‼️

SO what's the one thing you've always wanted to do but haven't yet started because you don't think you're the "right sort of person"❓

We’d genuinely love to hear your answer 🙏🏻

11/06/2026

If you would like some modern, classical calm in your World please pop over to the YouTube channel of Helen Habershon who has been the Global Warrior Project composer in residence for many years! Give the channel a like👍and a subscribe 🔔

This video brings together the enchanting compositions of clarinett...

09/06/2026

💡Back in the late 70s a naughty schoolboy called Jim was sent on an course at Eskdale in the Lake District in the middle of winter. It was a far cry from his council estate home in North London but the experience completely changed the path of his life!

📚In the library of the Eskdale Centre was a book about the 19th century Orcadian, Scottish Explorer, John Rae. Jim was captivated by Rae who initially went out to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company but became a pioneering Arctic explorer who not only discovered the fate of the Franklin Expedition but discovered the North West Passage. Rae’s success in the Arctic was ultimately achieved because he learned all the necessary survival skills from the local Inuit, a reverence that was sadly never observed by the Royal Naval expeditions of the time resulting in tragedy. On his return to England to reveal his grim discoveries Rae was shunned by the British Establishment, a campaign ferociously driven by Lady Franklin and Charles Dickens (that is a story for another day)

🇨🇦Jim has always been a big believer in “doing your homework” and together with his admiration for John Rae this led him to save all his annual leave each year and head to the Inuit community at Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut to do the same as Rae and learn from the locals how to survive and thrive in a polar environment.

📍Resolute Bay became a home from home for Jim, largely thanks to Ozzie and Aleeasuk and became the Ice Warrior Project training base between 2003-2006.

22/05/2026

🎬With the Frozen Planet crew safely ensconced in their valley filming the Arctic wolf pack after 4 weeks with a 40 mile travel limit on the ATV Jim's routine of equipment maintenance, campsite chores and location scouting had become fairly repetitive.
📡AND then like a gift from heaven an emergency call came over the radio🆘

🇫🇷A French scientific camp on the other side of the Sawtooth Mountains, 50 miles away, had been “terrorised by wolves” and were in a bad mental state – lack of sleep, nightmares when they did sleep and abject fear - they wanted out and had requested an emergency evacuation🆘

🚁This was it! Jim was about to get his 007 James Bond moment! Ozzie, Mr Resolute Bay, and good friend of Jim, called in the Canadian Rangers to pick up Jim (the wolf expert) in a helicopter and fly him to the French camp to reassure, placate and properly educate the scientists in all matters Arctic wolf.
By this time Jim had gained a reputation in the local community (Resolute Bay – 200 flying miles to the south) of being the “wolf finder” or so the Inuit called him as they chuckled to themselves and so now they were to putting him to the test🤔

🍽️ After Jim had reassured and taught the 3 scientists that they were not in any danger, if they took just a few precautions, they settled right down and invited him to “dîner”.
🍕And what a supper! Being French they valued food far more than the crew and had a folding oven. They set about making pizza bases, spreading them with passata, fresh onions, garlic and peppers and a wonderful gooey cheese all baked in the red hot oven. After just a few minutes the smell was intoxicating and the eating sublime. 🍷They even had red wine to toast Jim with a hero’s welcome! After a diet of dried food for weeks, Jim was in heaven. 🤣Needless to say Jim felt he should stay for a few days just to make sure the French camp were ok before calling in his helicopter to return to Camp 🇬🇧
N.B. Whilst in the Camp Pizza Express Jim woke startled at 0400 one morning with movement in the tent to find that a gang of lemmings were racing each other underneath the ground sheet - no wonder the wolves like it there!