Arctic Cowboy Mark Agnew on Healing, Hiking & Making Adventure Accessible

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In this recap episode, we meet Mark Agnew—Arctic rower, endurance adventurer, and advocate for mental health through nature. Mark takes us behind the oars of his record-breaking journey through the Northwest Passage, sharing what brought him there, what nearly broke him, and what continues to carry him forward.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE

As we reach the close of our conversation, Mark offers a powerful pay-it-forward: the Wilderness Foundation UK. It's a charity that creates structured, thoughtful access to the outdoors for people who’ve never had the chance—often with life-changing impact. Mark’s own recovery from deep personal struggle was shaped by nature, and this foundation echoes that belief: that green spaces can bring us back to ourselves.

Then comes the call to adventure—and it's a beautifully down-to-earth one. Whether it's the Pentlands, the Peak District, or the North Downs, Mark urges us to just begin. No perfect gear. No epic itinerary. Just go. A short walk. A few hours. A moment to reconnect. Because adventure doesn’t start with a summit—it starts with a step.

We also talk gear myths, London escapes, and the quiet resilience of starting small. And Mark leaves us with a teaser for his upcoming book There Will Be Headwinds—a blend of polar grit and inner reckoning, due out June 2025.

Links & Mentions:

• Wilderness Foundation UK: wildernessfoundation.org.uk
• Mark’s website: adventureagnew.com
• Instagram & Twitter: @adventureagnew
• Book: There Will Be Headwinds (Icon Books, June 2025)

Whether you're planning an Arctic expedition or a Sunday walk in your local hills, this one’s a reminder that the wild—near or far—has room for us all.

Transcript

 So that says, kinda coming close to the end, mark, and this has been a fantastic conversation. Wanted to touch on the two closing traditions, one of which is a pay forward and the other is a call to adventure.

So as a pay forward suggestion or recommendation for any worthy causes or charitable projects, what would you recommend? Well, I was raising money in the Northwest passage for Wilderness Foundation uk, which is a charity that helps people who don't usually have access to the outdoors for many reasons.

And helps them with their mental health by reconnecting them. And I was really impressed. The reason I picked them is I was really impressed. It wasn't like a hiking group, you know, if you have mental health come for a hiking group, it was structured and to make sure that there was, you know, bang for my charity buck.

And that, you know, they really thought through their ways that they can help people. And the reason I. Them is 'cause part of my recovery journey from the Atlantic Slump was getting into the outdoors, setting myself goals again, running ultra marathons and things. And as I said in the beginning, that's, I have to think about that.

It's been easy for me 'cause people have taken me there my whole life and it's not so easy for everybody else. So yeah, the Wilderness Foundation uk, if you'd like to, you can donate to my just Giving page. We've raised about 17,000 pounds so far. That's who I would highly recommend. Wow. We'll get that listed today.

That's an incredible amount as well. Congratulations. That's brilliant. Yeah, that's 7,000 on my Just Giving page. But apparently people keep directly donating and not through my just giving page, you giving credit, but I get messages saying another one's come in for you. So yeah. Wonderful. Excellent. Thank you, mark.

And finally, the call to adventure. So an opportunity to recommend an activity, a place, an adventure, whatever it may be. You know, just anything to get people inspired to go and do some sort of adventure. Well, yeah, I guess I'd sort of have three different recommendations. If you're thinking about starting, like wanting to get into the outdoors, then this is like painfully obvious advice, but it's like, just start, you know, it is actually easier than maybe you think if you're living in Glasgow, you can go and drive and be walking very, very quickly.

And that is similar in lot of cities around the uk, the Peak district in Manchester, the South Downs in London, uh, Brecken Beacons in Bristol, the Pentlands in Edinburgh, and so on. And just starting, you know, getting over that initial hurdle of opens up a world of possibilities. And I know that it, it can seem intimidating and hard, but just, just like, you know, plan, go for something easy or morning on Saturdays.

It doesn't have to take your whole day and suddenly it can become part of your life once you realize that actually, hey, that wasn't that hard. It wasn't like I needed all these hiking poles and, uh, to drive seven hours into the Highlands. It just took me a couple of hours to go out to the Pentlands and back, and I'm back by two and I can watch the football, et cetera.

Actually, I'll add another piece of advice. Don't get bogged down by gear reviews. You know, like, I feel like we can get saturated by like telling us that this is the perfect shoe and that's the perfect raincoat. Like just, uh, buy something that suits that's, that's comfortable. And if it's not suitable, you'll find out soon enough and you can change, you know, it's not the end of the world.

And, uh, for advice, if you want to do something big like me, if you are already experienced and you're thinking, oh, I wish I could do something like the Northwest Passage, I'll circle back to my previous advice. You can do something big like the Northwest passage for a fraction of the cost for a fraction of the admin right here in the uk.

And then my third piece of advice would be to people in London go to the North Downs or the South down ways. They are such excellent trails. Every time I go there, they're so diverse. You know, there's forested wooded, undulating hills, and chalky coastlines at the other end. It is really worth your time if you're, uh, thinking, oh, I, I'd love to be a hiker, but I live in London so I can't, it's really great.

That's fantastic. Making it more accessible. That should be wonderful, mark. Excellent. I've thoroughly enjoyed stepping through the Northwest passage. It's been incredible. Where can people find out more about you and what you're up to next? Well, I've got a Instagram and Twitter at Adventure Agnew, or you can go my website, adventure agnew.com.

And in June, 2025, I'll have my first book out, publish my icon books, um, which will be called Their Will Be Headwinds about the Northwest Passage and also about some of the ways that I'm mentally prepared for it. Apart from that, you can feel free to reach out to me and I'll answer questions or or whatnot.

And I give a lot of talks, so if you keep an eye on my website or if you'd like me to give a talk at your school, I look at state schools, I'll always give talks for free. If they're nearby the private schools, you, you will have to pay me and, and, uh, corporates and the like. Uh, so yeah, always willing to share my story with more people.

Excellent. Wonderful. And I'll look forward to the book coming out as well. It's been a pleasure.