Mark Inglis was educated at Geraldine District High School before working as a professional mountaineer in Mount Cook National Park from 1979 until 1985. His early life in South Canterbury (in New Zealand’s South Island) was dominated by his love of the Southern Alps. He climbed on New Zealand’s highest peak, Mt Cook for the first time when 17. During the following years Mark climbed in many of the South Islands rugged mountain ranges.
Mark first started work at Mt Cook as a trainee ranger but with his love of mountaineering soon became one of the regions professional Search and Rescue Mountaineers. In November 1982, Mark and climbing partner Philip Doole became trapped near the summit of Mt Cook in a storm that was to last 13 ½ days. The resulting stay in the ice cave – now known as Middle Peak Hotel – resulted in both men almost losing their lives and both legs through frostbite.
Mark was then forced to change his career as a result of the loss of both his legs. At the age of 25, he attended Lincoln University and graduating with a BSc (Hons) (1st Class) degree in Biochemistry in 1989.
Following graduation Mark worked as a Scientific Officer at the Christchurch School of Medicine from 1989 until 1992, developing molecular genetic techniques to aid in the diagnosis of leukaemias. He also conducted research into the cloning of the genes involved in Hodgkinsons Lymphoma and the origin of blood forming cells.
Wine had always fascinated Mark, so, on seeing an opportunity, he was able to join Montana’s Marlborough winemaking team just prior to the 1992 vintage. The advertisement called for someone with an excellent science degree and a passion for wine and life experience, mirroring Mark perfectly.
September 2001 saw Mark in Europe to study winemaking in Champagne, Burgundy and Alsace. He spent October of 2001 in the U.K. and was occupied with extensive presentations to both the public and wine trade for Montana and the New Zealand Wine Institute. Mark went on to become the Senior Winemaker for Montana Wines in the South Island, responsible for wines such as Deutz Marlborough Cuvee and Lindauer.
In the sporting arena, Mark competed at national and international level in Disabled Alpine Skiing, gaining 1 gold, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medal in 1990, 1991 and 1996. Mark has competed at an international level in Disabled Road Cycling, first representing New Zealand at the World Championships in Colorado Springs 1998 (ranked 9th in the World).
Mark was named in the N.Z. team to the Southern Cross Multidisability Games in Sydney, October 1999 where he collected Bronze, Silver and Gold medals for his efforts. At the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games, Mark rode to 12th in the Road Race and a career highlight of Silver in the Kilo (1000m individual time trial), New Zealand's first ever Paralympic Cycling medal and the first medal awarded at those Olympics. He is a member of the Parafed Canterbury Elite Squad and the Paralympics N.Z. A Squad and is graded a Level One Athlete by the New Zealand Sports Foundation.
Mountaineering has again become a focus of his life – with Mark reaching the summit of Mt. Cook (3759m), New Zealand’s highest mountain, on January 7, 2002 after a previous attempt was thwarted by damage to his stumps. The climb was as much a test for Mark’s newly designed technical climbing legs as a test of himself. The Climb and its build up were recorded and played as a documentary on TV1 in April of 2002. During the preparation for the climb the BBC filmed Mark as part of the ‘Ray Mears Extreme Survival’ show for BBC2.
On the 27th of September 2004 Mark stood on the summit of Cho Oyu (at 8201m the worlds 6th highest mountain) and looked directly across at Everest, only about 650m higher, and knew that what he was seeing was his next challenge. On May 16, 2006 Mark became the first double amputee to conquer Mt Everest. Mark completed his climb on two carbon-fibre artificial legs especially adapted for climbing. He snapped one of them early on in the climb but with the help of his climbing colleagues he was able to repair it and continue the ascent.
Mark is the author of four books, ‘‘No Mean Feat’ ‘Off the Front Foot’, ‘To The Max’ and ‘Legs on Everest’ and was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to persons with disabilities at the Queen’s Birthday Honour Awards in 2002.
Mark is the founding trustee for Limbs4All Charitable Trust (which is committed to helping some of the 400 million disabled people in the world to express their potential by supporting projects and individuals both within New Zealand and world wide) and is also an ambassador for Outward Bound amongst various other projects and charities.
In his presentations, Mark interprets his experiences to motivate people and display lessons in team building, achieving personal excellence, overcoming adversity and turning dreams into reality.
