2008: Sébastien Roubinet is the designer, builder and skipper of Babouche, a yacht that can both sail on water and glide on ice. Lightweight and resilient, Babouche is the first motorless vessel to sail between the Pacific and Atlantic by passing north of Alaska and Canada. www.babouche-expe.eu

2007: Jean-Christophe Lafaille, a climber who was attempting to be the first Frenchman to climb the 14 eight-thousanders. He has climbed 11 eight-thousanders, often solo and without oxygen, but disappeared in 2006 in Nepal, while trying to make the first winter ascent of the Makalu.  www.jclafaille.com

2006: Olly Hicks, the first rower to have crossed the Atlantic from the United States to England, and at the age of 23, the youngest person to have ever rowed across an ocean. www.virginglobalrow.com

2005: Gilles Elkaim, for his Arktika expedition, a solo crossing across part of the Arctic lasting nearly four years, from the Far North to the Bering Straits, by kayak and sleigh. www.arktika.org

2004: Sonia & Alexandre Poussin, for Africa Trek, a 13 774-kilometre walk across Africa, along the Rift Valley, from the Cape of Good Hope to Lake Tiberias. Three years of discoveries and encounters. www.africatrek.com

2003: France Pinczon du Sel and Eric Brossier, for their polar expeditions on the yacht Vagabond, the first boat to have completed a polar circumnavigation without wintering. www.vagabond.fr

2002: Jamie Andrew, a Scottish mountaineer, was awarded the trophy for his attempted ascent of the Mont Blanc, a few years after partially losing all four limbs during a mountain race that ended in disaster. www.jamieandrew.com