User:Nabil Al-Busaidi

Nabil ‘Nabs’ Al-Busaidi (sometimes spelt El-Busaidy), born on 23rd January 1970 in London, United Kingdom, is an Arab adventurer who has successfully completed major expeditions such as walking to the magnetic North Pole, a climb of Mount Vinson in Antarctica, and a row across the Atlantic Ocean.

He is the first Arab to accomplish many of these feats. For this he has been voted one of the Top 100 Most Influential Arabs in the world by Arabian Business magazine in 2009 , the Top 50 Influential Arabs for Middle East magazine in 2009 and 2011, and remains in the Top 500 Power List in 2011 for Arabian Business magazine.

A documentary about his trek to the magnetic North Pole was directed and edited by two-time Emmy award winning director David Ward, and is an entrant into the 2011 Middle Eastern Film Festivals.

Early Life and Education

• Nabs was born on 23rd January 1970 in London, United Kingdom, and grew up diving him time between the UK and the island Kingdom of Bahrain in the Middle East.

• He completed his formal education from Bath University earning Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Mathematics (1993) and Masters in Management (1997).

• In 1998, he moved back to his roots in the Middle East and began residing in Oman and Bahrain.

• He has completed Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society (FGRS).

Career

Multinational Organizations

Nabs worked at institutions such as Gulf International Bank (Bahrain), KPMG (Oman), Mizuho Bank (Bahrain) and Gulf Air (Bahrain).

Sports

An avid sports enthusiast, Nabs was awarded university colours twice for outstanding ability and service to Bath University’s teams for soccer and American football.

He competed in the British Winter Biathlon Championships in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and was invited to the British Winter Biathlon Olympic development squad in 2003. He is a Royal Life Saving Society Bronze award holder for life guarding and a PADI advanced open water scuba diver.

In Bahrain, he played for Bahrain RFC, an amateur rugby team, during their 1997-2005 seasons and as a lifelong fan Liverpool FC he founded the Bahrain Liverpool FC Fan Club.

Other

Nabs has also worked as a military consultant for the BBC series, Preston Front, the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and as an extra in Eyes Wide Shut.

Nabs has published a Coffee table book entitled “From Sand to Snow” in 2011 and is registered with the London Speakers Bureau as a motivational speaker.

Adventurer

An active adventurer, Nabs has undertaken the following expeditions since 2009:

• In 2009, he became the first Arab to walk the 650 km form Resolute Bay to the magnetic North Pole and one of less than 500 ever to walk to a pole.

• Later that year, Nabs helped Commander Richard Ryan, a United States Naval officer, set a World Record for a wheelchair traverse from Land’s End, Cornwall, England to John O’Groats, Highland council area of Scotland; a total distance of 1,451 km in 8 days 10 hours.

• Later in the same year, during December, he also successfully completed a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895m and one of the 7 summits.

• In 2010, Nabs set another world record by becoming the first Omani and one of only 1,400 to climb the highest mountain in Antarctica, Mount Vinson – (4,897m) and one of the 7 summits.

• From the highest mountain to traversing the deep sea, Nabs changed expedition styles in 2011. He set yet another world record by becoming the first Arab to row over 4,600 km across the Atlantic and joined an exclusive club of less than 500 ever to row an ocean.

Current Activities

Inspired by boarding schoolmate Major Phil Packer , Nabs is working on a tour of GCC-wide schools in fall 2011. He is hoping to raise a US$ 1 million for local charities before his next big expedition. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Scott and Amundsen’s race to the pole, Nabs wants to be the first Gulf Arab to walk to the South Pole.