Mike Browne This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. East Cobb Christian School Staff

   www.eccs.org/Staff.html - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/11/2008   Last Visited: 1/11/2008

   Mike Browne, Math

2. 2. www.snowandrock.com

   www.snowandrock.com/about/inte - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/24/2004   Last Visited: 9/24/2004

   Mike Browne Interview
   ...
   Mike Browne Interview
   
   In the world of adventure sooner or later Snow+Rock is going to come up. It could be a passing chat on a bit of gear that came from a shop, but more likely someone who works there or has some connection with Snow+Rock is off or back from an expedition that is bound to fire up imaginations. Outdoor adventure is what Snow+Rock is all about. It started on the day Mike Browne put up his house as collateral to raise the money needed to open the first shop in Kensington High Street in 1983 and while it's now on a larger scale, not much else has changed.
   
   The determination to complete a challenge is a common theme throughout Mike's life. It was present when he completed a degree in Civil Engineering at Nottingham University and went on to do a PhD. "I knew I didn't really want to do civil engineering as a career," he says. "I got a job working in an outdoor shop in the north and meant to continue with the PhD but deciding not to wasn't a difficult decision. I never thought of being outdoors as a sport, but more as a lifestyle."
   
   Mike is not a man who likes talking about himself. Ask him about the history of Snow+Rock and he will immediately tell you about his team of directors, many of whom were with him from Snow+Rock's first days, who have built up the business together. Ask him about sailing, his great passion, and unless you are paying attention he could easily neglect to tell you that he came 7th in the paralympics in Sydney last year. When it comes to any achievements, of which there are many, Mike is a master of understatement.
   
   Sport and the outdoors did not feature heavily in Mike's early upbringing. He did his Duke of Edinburgh Award but it was only when he joined the mountaineering club at university that he embarked on a series of challenges which still continue today.
   
   "I also joined quite a lot of other clubs but I became president of the mountaineering club and it became an important part of my life."
   
   After university with a number of testing climbs completed Mike worked in an outdoor shop and then went to the Alps for a season. He came back determined to get into the outdoor business, rang around people he knew in the trade and immediately got a job interview with Martin Green at Alpine sports in Kensington, the first big ski shop in Britain.
   
   At the time Mike had no suit and not enough money for the train fare so his wife Cathy stayed up all night making him the suit while he borrowed a van that resembled a building site. "I got the job and Martin suggested we all went for a drink. But I had to get out of it because I didn't want him to see the van and also because Cathy was asleep in it after being up all night making the suit, which of course was totally unnecessary." Alpine Sports went gloriously bust. "I learned a lot," says Mike. "I learned how not to run a business."
   
   When the site at 188 Kensington High Street came up for rent Mike bit the bullet begged and borrowed and used every penny he had to start the first Snow+Rock in 1983. Sharon Campbell, Snow+Rock's fashion director who had worked with Mike at Alpine Sports as a Saturday girl remembers getting a phone call while on her travels in New Zealand. "I've got a shop" Mike told her. "Will you be the buyer for me?"
   
   Two other friends, New Zealanders, Jono Carmichael, now operations director and Dion Taylor equipment director, were recruited in a similar fashion. Viren Patel who has been in charge of accounts since day one, Mike hired him from a local agency.
   
   Determined in business Mike was equally determined to set himself personal challenges and achieve them.
   ...
   Mike spent eight days in intensive care in Grenoble, was air-lifted back to Britain and spent the next ten weeks at Stoke Mandeville's spinal unit. Whatever went through his mind his fellow directors were determined not to give him a chance to entertain thoughts of giving up Snow+Rock. They were so determined that they kidnapped him from hospital, drips and all to take him to a board meeting. They were right, it gave Mike the impetus he needed and a week later he was at his desk in a wheelchair ready to rise to new challenges.
   
   Mike has always set himself goals and achieved them. It wasn't long before he went skiing again this time in an adapted ski-bob. Financial Times ski correspondent Arnie Wilson tells the story of how he went skiing with Mike and Pepi Stiegler a former Olympic gold medalist. Pepi, expected Mike to "go slowly down the path" but instead said Arnie: "He set off like an Exocet straight down the fall-line." Sailing is Mike's current passion. He took up sailing single-handedly and started racing 2.4 metre boats. First it was national championships and then he competed in the world championships in Finland which was a qualifying event for the British team. They were successful and Mike represented Britain in the paralympics in Sydney last year.
   
   "I got into sailing by accident," he says, "when a friend and supplier took me out for the day."
   
   Not long ago Mike was invited to Buckingham Palace for a reception for the paralympic team. "Halfway through I started to recognise that the people just chatting to our team were Princess Anne, Prince Charles and the Queen. It was great to talk to the Queen, and did I think was this really happening?"
   
   But with one goal achieved Mike is moving on. "There is only so much that boat can do and I feel I've taken it to its limits." Mike is now sailing a trimaran but that too has now "fulfilled its purpose in my life"
   
   He is now embarking on one of his biggest challenges and is building from scratch the first ocean going boat that can be skippered by a wheelchair user. The boat should be built by next summer.
   
   Is there any chance that Snow+Rock could expand to Sail? "No," says Mike not wanting to get into the chandler business. Snow+Rock has a policy of expansion but only when the time and the venue seems right. We are a privately owned company and one of our big strengths is the interaction of the directors."
   
   And with Mike Browne at the helm you can be sure there will always be another challenge.

3. 3. Impossible Dream

   www.ibimagazine.com/auto/newsd - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/21/2003   Last Visited: 9/23/2003

   Mike Browne's 60ft catamaran, Impossible Dream, was named by Para-Olympic sailor Andy Cassell during the Southampton Boat Show.
   ...
   Mike Browne, the founder and owner of outdoor clothing company Snow and Rock, was confined to a wheelchair following a skiing accident five years ago.
   ...
   With the sun shining and a fair breeze, Mike explained how he wanted to build the yacht for two reasons - to prove that it is possible to build a boat capable of crossing oceans that can be sailed by a wheelchair user and to help others to realise their dreams and have the stimulus to rebuild their lives.
   
   Impossible Dream features complete wheelchair access throughout. It is clear that Nic Bailey and his team have successfully managed to create not only a stylish looking catamaran but a boat which is technologically advanced to allow Browne to take to the high seas in safety and comfort.
   ...
   Mike can leave his wheelchair and sit in one of two modern helmsman's chairs. Built from carbonfibre, the chairs can move easily move from port to starboard along a curved track, allowing access for sail hoisting, trimming, navigation and steering.
   
   With a single level deck throughout, Mike can happily wheel himself around the boat.
   ...
   When the weather is good, Mike can take to an external helm position set on each side of the boat. All control functions have been duplicated so that each station is identical.
   
   In sailing terms, Impossible Dream has to work at the touch of a button. The main steering position is in front of the mast with a central touch-screen computer that enables Mike to check all functions onboard. With in-boom furling, hoisting the mainsail is simple. Given hydraulic rams for both the traveller and the mainsheet and a preset 'main dump' button at each station, Mike can safely set the sails himself.