A hard, hot as hell walk on the first day, a gnarly, big smile river day the next and a day at the beach to tie things up nicely on Sunday. Breaks were spent discussing all the intricacies of mounting an independent expedition. Early mornings spent getting through some tough workouts in the mist I hope woke everyone up nicely. Throw in some bloody nice food and expedition dvds on the projector and I reckon it was a real hoot!

Thanks so much to everyone who came along and grateful for all the help I got from Dave and Holly. Congrats to Sammy also, who won a sweet pair of Zeal Optics sunglasses. Who was the online competition winner? None other than Mister Lightweight himself, Phil Turner!

I will endeavour to get details of the Winter Expedition School up as soon as possible. I cannot wait!

Above is the final draft of our sponsorship proposal which was emailed as a PDF to potential sponsors (click to enlarge). 1 page. Just 1 page. Isn’t that a bit short? We started with a 30 page brochure full of graphs, photos, kit lists, breakdowns etc. It never even saw the light of day! 30 pages? What were we thinking! Who was going to read that? Answer? No-one! Potential sponsors do not care about your plans to save the world, end poverty or track climate change by pulling a little box behind you on the ice. They care about three simple words – RETURN ON INVESTMENT. What does an insurance company care about how greenhouse gases could affect the marine life of the Arctic Ocean (despite the marketing blurb)? Sure, your aims must align with their core beliefs in some way. Royal Dutch Shell is unlikely to come on board with your expedition in Alaska to promote an end to off-shore drilling are they? Call me a cynic if you like (I prefer realist), but ROI is key.

If you cannot grab a marketing managers attention in the first paragraph of your proposal then you have lost them. Even after you have piqued their interest you won’t hold them very long. Get their attention, show them potential (and highly likely) returns and get out. If they want more information they will ask for it. If not, your proposal is probably in the bin. You can pull out the facts and figures when called for. If you are asking for financial backing you’d better have them, just like with any business plan. Not many companies hand over cold hard cash because they are such lovely people. They may well be, but, they have a business to run. They want to see those three words again – return on investment. The above proposal is not perfect, but it did have at least a few things going for it. It was short, it was to the point and did not take up anyone’s time. This tended to delay that short journey to the trash bin just enough.

There are so many other elements involved in the sponsorship game (ROI is just one of them). Elements that after so many years I have a pretty firm grasp of. I am not spot on with sponsorship or propose to be some sort of guru, but I have learnt a few things here and there.

If you have any questions on getting sponsorship, email me and I would be happy to help out. NB. Try not to email questions like – “How do I get sponsorship?”. Make it specific. Something that cannot be answered with a quick Google search.

My favourite bit of clothing based on its pure comfort and ability to put a smile on my face was my Rab Neutrino Endurance Jacket – by far the best down jacket I have ever had the pleasure of wearing. Whether I was wandering around Tehran on a snow day, chilling at my camp after setting my tent or getting ready to emerge from my shelter at 5am in the morning, this jacket made it a whole lot more enjoyable.

Easy to say when Rab is my clothing sponsor, but trust me when I say the cut, style and fill of this jacket was perfect for my expedition. Indeed I reckon it is perfect for any long-distance journey through changing environments where you may need it off and on throughout the trip. It packs away to almost nothing and can be jammed in pretty much anywhere in your pack. It also makes use of a Pertex ® Endurance weatherproof outer which means no wet down when that snow turns to sleet and that sleet turns to rain.

In my next Expedition Kit – Best in Show post I let you know what I thought of the boots that got me across one of the world’s most mountainous countries and how even an optically disadvantaged person such as myself can enjoy the view!

I have purposely tried to keep things simple and this is a theme I am trying to extend across the whole journey. I will be posting on an expedition journal throughout my adventure, but I am putting a ban on Twitter! It can be a fantastic tool and I really enjoy following those that do use it while on expedition (Ed and Mark) but I want to keep alive some of the feeling (illusion?) of isolation and real adventure. Is this possible? I am unsure but I will give it a crack. It is not a stand on using modern tech on expeditions, just a personal feeling and choice. Please don’t read too much into it.

You can follow my progress via the Location Map powered by Suunto X10. It will also display my post locations.

The Expedition Iran Gallery powered by Sony is where you will be able to view images and clips that I upload throughout my journey.

Please take a look at the companies who have partnered with me not just for my latest undertaking but have been gracious enough to provide ongoing support to my day to day activities. Easy to say, but I choose to partner these guys not because they said yes, but because they are industry leaders – their kit just works! Most importantly they provide an amazing degree of support to my endeavours that transcends product or money. They believe in me. Again I have kept things simple by limiting my relationships. This way I can improve my return to those that I have and concentrate on the task at hand – Expedition Iran!

I am still tweeking a few things, so any glaring errors please let me know or if you have any ideas on improvements please drop me a line, keeping in mind the keeping it simple ethos.