In 1869, John Wesley Powell set off down the Colorado River with nine men, four wooden boats, and no idea what lay ahead. The Grand Canyon, 300 miles of unmapped canyon, unknown rapids, and sheer rock walls, was the last blank space on the map of the continental United States.

Author John F Ross joins Hugh to tell the full story: how a one-armed Civil War veteran turned geologist became the first person to navigate the entire length of the Grand Canyon, racing against starvation through 360 rapids in boats that were entirely wrong for the job.

From losing a third of their food supply on the very first day, to the desertion of three desperate men - it is a thrilling snapshot into a moment in time. We ask what Powell's extraordinary journey revealed about the American West, about leadership under impossible pressure, and about what it means to push into territory where no map can help you.

John F Ross’ book The Promise of the Grand Canyon is out now.

The Art of Adventure is brought to you by Arthur Beale, outfitters to sailors, adventurers and explorers for nearly 500 years. Find out more at arthurbeale.co.uk.

Helen Sharman appears by arrangement with DBA Speakers www.dbaspeakers.com

In 1989, Helen Sharman was driving home from work when a radio ad changed her life. Astronaut wanted. No experience necessary. Britain had no space agency, no human spaceflight programme, and no tradition of sending civilians into orbit. Helen was a 26-year-old food technologist from Sheffield with a chemistry degree and no military background. She applied anyway.

Eighteen months later, she was sitting on top of a Soviet rocket - and on 18 May 1991, she became the first British person in space.

Helen joins Hugh to tell the full story: the 13,000 applicants, the gruelling selection process, and the live television broadcast that revealed her as one of the two finalists. She describes life at Star City on the cusp of the Cold War's end, the manual docking crisis 200 kilometres from Mir when the navigation system failed and the crew had to act alone, and those evening hours when five people gathered around a porthole and simply looked at the earth. She also reflects on what it actually takes to go somewhere extraordinary — and why the qualities that got her there might be less unusual than we think.

The Art of Adventure is brought to you by Arthur Beale, outfitters to sailors, adventurers and explorers for nearly 500 years. Find out more at arthurbeale.co.uk.

In 1838, Henriette d'Angeville became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc unaided - in a 12-kilogram wool dress, a matching bonnet, and hobnail boots, with 18 bottles of wine and a carrier pigeon tucked into her pack. Her name was largely forgotten until adventurer and filmmaker Lise Wortley decided to find out exactly what that climb felt like by doing it herself, in the same outfit, from the same church in Chamonix, via the original route.

Lise joins Hugh to talk about her project Woman With Altitude, which researches and retraces the overlooked journeys of history's women adventurers - wearing exactly what they wore, right down to the corsets. She recounts the 2024 attempt that ended in a storm (four climbers died the following day), the return in 2025, and what it actually feels like to jump crevasses in a floor-length dress while looking into the darkness below. But this episode is about more than one extraordinary climb.

Find out more about Lise on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woman_with_altitude/?hl=en

Or her website: https://www.womanwithaltitude.com/

The Art of Adventure is brought to you by Arthur Beale, outfitters to sailors, adventurers and explorers for nearly 500 years. Find out more at arthurbeale.co.uk.