Expedition Center Team

Martin Horn - Project Manager

Martin was born in Johannesburg – Africa’s commercial capital and studied an Honours degree in Human Movement Science (University of Stellenbosch) and a Masters degree in Sports Management.

Martin has been working with Mike Horn for 13 years and started out as logistics manager alongside Cathy, He also managed the No Limits Outdoor Adventure centre that was based in Switzerland, and currently he is the Pangaea Project Manager and lives in Switzerland.

When his busy schedule permits, his undying passion for the outdoors sees him regularly playing golf, paragliding, mountain biking, canyoning, kayaking, hiking, mountaineering, skiing and other snow sports.

Catherine (Cathy) Horn – Communications Manager

Cathy hails from Dunedin in New Zealand and was raised in a medically-minded home, steering her towards choosing studies in the health domain. After completing a 3 year diploma in General Nursing, Cathy got itchy feet – and decided then to discover new horizons.

Armed with just a backpack, enthusiasm and a smile, she set off. After a year of globe-trotting, she met Mike in the small village of Château-d’Oex in the Swiss Alps and has been working alongside him ever since with the administration and logistics of all his expeditions both on and off the terrain.

Cathy and Mike are married and based in Switzerland. They have two daughters, Annika (1993) and Jessica (1994) who also love to tag along with their Dad whenever possible!

Benedikt (Ben) Schnippenkoetter - Creative Coordinator

South African-born with German parents, Ben alternates residing in Australia and Switzerland. He’s also a long-time friend of Mike’s (over 20 years now!) and sharing a passion for paragliding with Mike, he joined him on his first expedition to Peru in 1991.

Ben also has Commercial / Corporate Balloon Pilot experience under his belt and is a qualified graphic designer. Anything to do with the great outdoors such as paragliding, ballooning, mountain-biking, hiking and snowboarding or air sports mixed with rock music, excites him and he is currently completing his PPL

Where and whenever possible Ben likes to be proactive in social community projects and is currently living in Switzerland with his wife and two children Clélia and Aidan.

Michael Scholl - Young Explorer’s Programme Coordinator

Michael was born in Zürich (1971) and grew up near Vevey in Switzerland. He completed his degree at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Michael’s passion for Sharks became reality at the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas in 1995, subsequently followed by his move to South Africa, where he founded the NGO White Shark Trust, and  directed different research and conservation projects on the population of White Sharks from 1997 to 2007.

Michael developed a non-invasive photographic based identification technique using the individual notches and markings on the dorsal fin of White Sharks: finprinting. In 2001, a scientific team managed to establish a genetic connection (Nature) between South African and Australian White Sharks, and in 2004, a direct link was identified using satellite telemetry (Science). In 2006, he published a reference book 'South Africa's Great White Sharks' (Struik Publishers).

The spirit of Mike Horn's organization and the resulting PANGAEA project encompasses Michael's passion and drive for biodiversity and conservation issues, which can only be resolved through viable and sustainable social community involvement. Michael is responsible for assisting, advising and coordinating the YEPs with their project, and driving the YEPs to ACT to help our planet and all its inhabitants.
 

Markus Wyss - IT Engineer 

Markus Wyss was born in Switzerland, has two Childern Patric (1989) and Deborah (1992), and is a fan of motorbikes.

In 1989 he received a diploma in an engineering degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETHZ. After the diploma he joined the research and development of Swiss Telecom and is now working as project leader in the area of mobile communication devices and services.
 
In 2006 Swisscom employed Markus to lead the technology and communications of Mike Horn's North Pole Winter Expedition. He also participated in the Himalaya Expedtion in 2007 where he was responsible again for the IT.
 
During the Pangaea Expedtion he is responsible for modular communication and multimedia infrastructure on the boat as well as in the backoffice. 

It’s a great pleasure for him to work with Mike and his team.

Dr. Roswitha Stolz – Scientific Advisor

Roswith teaches Physical Geography at the Department of Geography at the University of Munich. Her research fields deal mainly with Global Change, focusing on the change of the water cycle within the scope of a changing climate.

Roswitha's vast expertise and love for the planet secured her a place as Scientific Advisor with the Pangaea team and she teaches the Young Explorers important facts about the expedition areas. She also develops scientific experiments with them to conduct during their expeditions.

Besides loving her job with Pangaea, Roswitha is a keen outdoor enthusiast and enjoys mountaineering, skiing, sailing, biking, diving – to name a few!

Nicholas ‘Moose’ Good - Cameraman

Nic has been filming and directing numerous prestigious international adventure events and documentaries globally for more than 15 years and has won many awards. Through his work, Nic has been forced to feel quite at home in any environment be it underwater, hanging from a high steep rock-face or dangling in the sky.

‘Moose’ sums it all up by saying; “For me, Life is about sharing awesome adventures with good people and the Mike Horn Pangaea expedition is taking it to a higher level, they are sharing their adventures and helping all to save the planet at the same time.”

CLAUDE-ALAIN GAILLAND - Mountain Guide

Respectful of the nature in which he was born, the 'Valais', Claude-Alain Gailland likes to share his time and his energy between the mountain, a source of fascination, and water, life's essential element. He is a man with a passion and always eager to discover new lands. Despite his carpenter degree, Claude-Alain works full time as an alpine and canyoning guide.

Claude-Alain first assisted Mike Horn during the Amazon Expedition (1996) and later during Latitude Zero with in 1999-2000. Mike Horn continues to call on Claude-Alain for his expertise and professionalism during each and every one of his subsequent expeditions.

For over 10 years, Claude-Alain has done many expeditions: from the full descent of the Rhône river on hydrospeed, the opening of a new trail in the Himalayas, exploring various summits across the globe, and in 2002-2003 he accomplished, with Sebastien Gay, "L'Arête valaisanne" a 640km tour of the 'Valais' following its borderline and summiting more than 330 peaks.