Explorer
Mike Horn is globally acknowledged as the world’s greatest modern day explorer.From swimming the Amazon River solo and unsupported to an unmotorized circumnavigation of the globe at the equator, Mike’s list of accomplishments as a solo explorer is unparalleled.
Mike’s Early Life
Mike Horn was born on July 16th, 1966 in Johannesburg, South Africa. When he was a kid, South Africa was boycotted from the rest of the world and Mike was bound by the politics of his homeland. The Apartheid, the separation of races between white and black people, denied the blacks from their basic human rights and any black voice against the white-led minority government was silenced.
In 1974, South Africa was condemned and expelled from the United Nations. Mike was only 8 years old. His father, a sports star, in the colonial game of Rugby, the national sport of South Africa. His father was an icon and hero to the explorer. His mother Blanche Horn was a teacher and together they raised four children and Mike was the oldest boy. Mike learned more from his father an outdoorsman than from any of his teachers. Mike did not want to sit in a classroom and listen to someone, he wanted to go out and experience it.
As a boy he excelled in competition from track events to triathlons, playing rugby at a high level. Mike thus pursued a degree in Human Movement Science at Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape. However his dream was to compete at the very highest level of sports by going to the Olympic Games, but South Africans weren’t allowed to at that time. Instead, Mike was sent to war.
While on the frontlines, Mike’s father was diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer and passed away. To fill the void that his father left in his life, Mike wanted to explorer the world. After the war, Mike returned to Johannesburg, but he wasn’t the same. He decided to leave South Africa and ended up in Château-d’Oex in the Swiss Alps where he met his wife Cathy (1963 – 2015) and where they had to children Annika (1993) and Jessica (1994).
Horn Family
While on the frontlines, Mike’s father was diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer and passed away. To fill the void that his father left in his life, Mike wanted to explorer the world. After the war, Mike returned to Johannesburg, but he wasn’t the same. He decided to leave South Africa and ended up in Château-d’Oex in the Swiss Alps where he met his wife Cathy (1963 – 2015) and where they had to children Annika (1993) and Jessica (1994).
To earn a bit of money, Mike started to take on different jobs. He was washing dishes in a hotel. He then became a ski instructor and rafting guide. In 1991, Mike and his friends went to Peru to paraglide Machu Pichu, Mike merely escaped death when he crashed his paraglide. He would then return several years later, to become the first man to write hydrospeed down the world’s deepest canyon.
The Adventure Begins
By 1994, Mike’s extreme talents were being featured in commercials for Sector, an Italian watch manufactured that’s slogan was “No limits”, a motto which Mike lives by. Adventure became a fulltime job and a way of living for Mike, he wanted to get a sense of what living was about.
Mike Horn Vital facts
Born
16 July, 1966
Place of Birth
Johannesburg, South Africa
Residence
Les Moulins, Switzerland
Education
Human Movement Science, University of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
Marital Status
Widow to Cathy, two daughters: Annika (b. 1993) and Jessica (b. 1994)
Hobby
“Preserving our planet”
Important dates
• 16th July 1966 Mike is born in Johannesburg, South Africa
• 1984-1986 Lieutenant in the South African Special Forces
• 1986 – 1990 Mike works in the import & export of fruits & vegetables
• 1990 Mike arrives in Switzerland
• 1991 First expedition in the Andes with a raft and paraglide
• 1991 Mike meets his wife Cathy
• 1993 Annika is born
• 1994 Jessica is born
• 1994 Mike is part of the « Sector No limits » team
• 1997 Mike is part of the crew of the Mari Cha III which breaks the record for crossing the Atlantic
• 2001 Laureus Award for Alternative Sportsman of the Year
• 2014 Mental coach for the German football team during the World Cup and the Indian cricket team of the Kolkata Knight Riders
• 2015 Death of his wife Cathy
• 2015 Mike hosts the show The Island on M6
• 2016 Mike starts to host « A l’État Sauvage » on M6
• 2018 Mike hosts “Cap Horn” on M6
TV Shows – Survival Expert
Since 2015, Mike takes on the role of survival expert in three French tv channels where he shares his deep knowledge of survival with the shows participants.
THE ISLAND: SEULS AU MONDE
In The Island, participants are left to survive for a month on a tropical island with no external help on a tropical island with no external help. To this day, the show aired three seasons and reaches an average of 2.8 million spectators.
A L’ETAT SAUVAGE
Mike takes different French celebrities, comedians, singers, tv presenters, on a survival journey of four days in the most remote places of the earth. Mike has already taken six different personalities with him on adventure with a high score of 3.6 million viewers for his adventure with singer M. Pokora in Sri Lanka.
CAP HORN
In 2018, introduced Cap Horn, where French celebrities join Mike on his Pole2Pole Expedition to discover the day-to-day life of a professional explorer. Mike has already two celebrities to explorer the beauty of the Philippines.
Coaching – Mental & Motivational
COACHING
Mike uses his experiences to motivate professional sportsmen and other people involved in challenging work.
2010 – 2011
Indian Cricket Team – Cricket World Cup 2011
2012
South African Cricket Team – Test Series
2013
Kolkata Knight Riders – IPL 7 Cup 2014
2014
German National Football Team – FIFA World Cup 2014
2018
Kolkata Knight Riders – IPL 11 Cup 2018
2019
Kolkata Knight Riders – IPL 12 Cup 2019