It’s pretty devastating”
Skiing to the North Pole has never been easy. In 2014, the last two people who managed to complete the feat, Three Poles achievers, Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters, described it respectively as easily 10x harder than Everest and like going into battle.
This year Sebastian Copeland, Mark George and Martin Murray set an example of years of ultimate determination and preparation to get on the Arctic ice, despite, to start with, not even having anybody to fly them there. Already delayed by the weather, the two teams were dropped at Ward Hunt Island on March 8. Day 1 the Arctic threw it’s very best at them, Sebastian explained to us:
“Thank you. Trying to process right now. We got hit with the coldest days of the season on our first day. Eureka was at negative 57ºC without wind. My thermometer stops at 55 and it was all the way to the bottom.”
“Of five [stove] pumps, only one worked and was failing and the others were out and leaking in spite of warming them on me. I had three Arctic pumps and two normal ones. I managed to fix one, but the fuel had leaked all over my hand from a failing seal. That’s all it took. I got six pretty severe frost bites. It’s pretty devastating.”
“But life will go on. Eventually. I am going to stay up here for a while and go find polar beats. And some redemption. I could not have been more prepared. I guess it happens.”
2017 North Pole maps by Explorers House
Sebastian’s book, Arctica: The Vanishing North
Sebastian’s film: Across The Ice
NEXT: Sebastian’s report on his blog
Previous 2017 North Pole
2017 North Pole skiers not moving – cancelled expeditions UPDATE
North Pole skiers on the move – UPDATE II – on the ice
North Pole Skiers Dropped, Update: In Eureka
Waiting game in Resolute – North Pole 2017 ski update
Too much weight for North Pole plane – Skiers in Resolute Bay – Updated
North Pole Interview with Sky, the Dog: “Things might get bloody”
North Pole Interview: Martin Murray with dog, Sky
Interview: Sebastian Copeland, North Pole attempt despite grave notes
2017 Ski North Pole Expedition List by Explorersweb/Pythom
Dixie Dansercoer: North Pole Gear and Antarctica kiting
KK6PGW to RW0BG: Messages From Russia (Interview)
2017 Ski North Pole Expedition List by Explorersweb/Pythom
Must-Watch: ’Melting: Last Race to the Pole,’ an Animal Planet show
Sebastian and Mark’s Website and Facebook
Martin and Sky’s Website and Facebook
Radio Canada North Pole reports
Follow the teams’ daily updated in the Dispatch Stream on pythom.com
Note: A North Pole Ski expedition covers the full distance between land (Canada/Russia/Greenland) and the Pole, no flying part/most of the route. The two 2017 teams will start from the egde of Canada: ice-depending, either Ward Hunt Island (775 km) or Cape Discovery (780 km) on Ellesmere Island.The distance from Land to Pole is calculated in a straight line from where the skiers start. What is not added to this distance, are all the detours around high ridges, hummocks, ice blocks, rubble, thin ice, or leads (open water). Also not added are the negative drift and relaying sleds.
#Arctic #northpole #northpoleski2017 #sebastiancopeland #markgeorge #martinmurray
