The Camel Trophy series of adventure expeditions, which ran from 1980 until 1998 was the world's premiere yearly adventure event.
In 1995, the year Philip McMaster joined the expedition as a photojournalist and documentary film maker, over 1,000,000 people (one million) people around the world applied to be part of the "Mundo Maya" Expedition in Central America.
Out of those one million applicants, (everything from responding to forms on matchbooks to official applications), one team per country was chosen with 20 countries sending teams in 1995.
To give an idea of the popularity of the event, there were 70,000 applicants in the country of South Africa alone, and through the "selections" process, those 70,000 are reduced to four (4) who go on to the international selections(in another country), who compete for 2 positions in a Landrover.

To be one in a million was quite an accomplishment.

In 1997, Philip McMaster went to Japan where the "Camel Trophy Selections" were being held for the next Camel Trophy Expedition to be held.
The purpose of the selections process is to choose four (5) participants (four drivers and one participating journalist) who will represent each country.As a CT "Old Boy" with experience of "what it takes" to successfully integrate with other expedition members, Philip McMaster participated in the selection process near the foot of Mount Fuji Japan.

As an illustration of how certain attributes are universally recognized as qualities of competence and leadership, from the field of 100 hopefuls, Philip McMaser, from Canada independently selected 3 of the 4 who were ultimately chosen by the Japanese Judges to go on to the International Camel Trophy Selecitions in Turkey.

Camel Trophy Old Boy and Official from Land Rover Japan

Signing in at the Camel Tropy Selections

Checking out the GPS position at the Camel Tropy Selections.