30th May 2018
ICON engineer sets mountain climbing world speed record, finishing with Everest summit
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Offshore Engineer hits alpine heights in fundraising speed climbing record
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Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse double summit in 24 hours as finale
Steve Plain is ICON Engineering's Chief Goal Setter. He has made his mark setting audacious engineering and sporting goals and achieving them. At ICON, Steve has authored patents for deepwater drilling heave compensation systems (www.iconeng.com.au/products-and-services/artp-back-up-heave-compensated-tension-lift-frames) and executed some complex projects, but his latest challenge was based firmly on terra firma.
On 14th May 2018, Steve set a new world speed mountain climbing record after completing his goal of climbing the world’s seven summits, the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, in under four months.
He actually exceeded his own stated goal by adding Mt Kosciusko in Australia in March, and Mt Lhotse, on the day after Everest, making it nine big mountains in four months!
The backstory is amazing.
Early Saturday morning 13th December 2014 while swimming at Cottesloe Beach, Steve was dumped by a wave and went head first into the sand.
This caused, in layman’s terms, a Hangman's Fracture, fracturing the C2, C3 & C7 vertebra, plus contorted spinal cord, ruptured disc, dissected arterial artery, torn ligaments... it wasn't good.
After his accident, Steve stunned everyone with his Big, Hairy, Audacious "Project 7in4 Goal" (see www.project7in4.com ). Now he's stunned everyone (perhaps even himself) by achieving it and smashing a world record in the process.
Dave Field ICON Managing Director commented "as well as being a remarkable athlete blitzing his extreme sporting goals, as an engineer Steve always blitzes the projects and goals our client set him."
"I'm sure when he gets back to our West Perth office he won't be looking at little goals, so here is a shout out to our customers past, present and future. We want to hear about your Big, Hairy, Audacious Offshore Oil and Gas, Deepwater Drilling Goals and challenges ... but only difficult ones please, and if they're big enough .... we can get Steve onto it."
Steve is passionate about raising awareness and funds for two not-for-profit organisations with which he has close affiliation through his accident, SpinalCure and Surf Life Saving.
See Steve's web page project7in4.com for photos/videos and details on how to donate to his charities www.justgiving.com/fundraising/project7in4
Further Information for Editors
• ICON has installed more offshore platforms with jackup drilling rigs than any other company worldwide and is expert in minimal facilities installation techniques such as Minnowpods, Monopods and Annex wellhead platforms.
• ICON’s work won a British Government engineering award for the innovative North Sea design and installation method of Shell’s Skiff oilfield and installed the first fixed wellhead platform in the Timor Sea.
• ICON has carried out the deepest and lowest cost deployment of flexible flowlines carried out from a semi-submersible drilling rig in Australia and has pioneered mini-floatover technology for installing small topsides in weight range up to 1200 tonnes.
• ICON is a world leader in the supply of conductor tensioning systems for jackup drilling rigs from the Gippsland Basin to the Gulf of Mexico and is renowned for completing difficult upgrades to drilling rigs outside shipyards in remote offshore locations.
• ICON’s growing equipment division sells and rents equipment internationally and focuses on developing niche equipment to support construction and drilling operations.
• ICON designs and manufactures heave compensated systems for drilling locked to bottom well test conditions.
For more information:
Contact: David Field
Position: Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +61 (08)6313 5500
Steve Plain: +61 432 719 452
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