Living for Adventure
Thomas Ulrich, a qualified carpenter, has actually never worked in this trade. To this day, he makes use of his manual skills to come up with creative solutions for his expedition material.
He began his adventurous life first as a ski racer and climber, then completed his training as a mountain guide, became a helicopter flight assistant, worked as a paragliding test pilot and was one of the first to offer paragliding tandem flights. At the same time, he worked in slope and rock stabilization so as to finance his photography in the very beginning of his career. Furthermore, he was involved in spectacular assignments in the world of movies, such as working as a safety guide during the shooting of the James Bond movie «Goldeneye» in the Swiss Alps and also for the shooting of the novel «Smilla’s Sense of Snow» in Greenland.
Ulrich is addicted to new challenges with an unknown outcome. Maybe it’s because of the Eiger and it’s superb scenery he grew up in front of. He has summited the Eiger more than once – on one occasion even climbing with old equipment just like the pioneers back in the day. He followed the project, originally being his own idea, with a film and photo camera, the outcome being a book and a film clip for Swiss television and the German/French channel arte.
He set off on various expeditions to Patagonia, Greenland, America and Tibet. In 2006, he attempted to be the first man to cross the North Pole on his own and without support, from Siberia to Canada – and failed. He was forced to quit and was evacuated from the Siberian coast under dramatic circumstances.
However, the Arctic had him mesmerized: only one year after this defining moment, he returned to the Pole. Together with a Norwegian partner, he travelled from the North Pole to the northern Siberian archipelago, Franz Joseph Land, and accomplished the first crossing in over one hundred years: 1400 kilometers by foot, on skis and by kayak. The two explorers were awarded with the title «Adventurer´s of the Year 2008» by the American edition of National Geographic Magazine.
His loyalty to the Arctic continues: Every year, he guides a group of North Pole newcomers to the northernmost point of the earth.
Furthermore, Ulrich is a successful entrepreneur: he is co-owner of the outdoor photo agency Visual Impact, distributing his own images as well as shots from some of the best outdoor photographers of the world. Ulrich regularly works as a cinematographer, such as for the television documentary of the Everest ascent or the filming of Nordwand. Thomas Ulrich uniquely combines his abilities as an extreme alpinist and explorer and his infallible flair for spectacular imagery with his technical know-how as a photographer and cinematographer.
Ulrich is father to three daughters; his base camp is in Interlaken.
