On Saturday 5th September 2009 I met the full team of 12 together for the first time, when we set in stone the date of Sunday 28th March 2010, when we would depart the UK from Heathrow Airport, bound for Ottawa, onto Resolute on Cornwallis Island, and by foot the 360 nautical miles – unsupported – to the Magnetic North Pole.
The specific destination is the 1996 surveyed position of the Magnetic North Pole – its actual position is constantly moving slowly further North and West – which has become the officially recognised position for the Polar Challenge, Polar Race, and other Expeditions.
We are an all-British team of 12 with 10 men and two women. The Expedition will take around 25 days of walking, skiing and camping on ice, in temperatures down to minus 50C and below, pulling sledges weighing up to 140Kg, avoiding frost bite and 80% of the World’s Polar Bears which live in these regions.
I need to do more research at the RGS, but if we succeed we believe we’ll be the first all-British mixed-sex team to reach the Magnetic North Pole unsupported. Most attempts are supported through the Polar Race, or Polar Challenge, and only have to carry enough supplies for one week at a time.
We have an experienced guide in Richard Bull, who has led numerous Expeditions to the Magnetic North Pole and across Baffin Island, also supporting and advising on many other Expeditions to this hostile region.
The team comprises four members of a team who walked across Baffin Island in 2008, Roddy, Tracey, Steve D & Nick. We also have two ex-Army soldiers in Rob & Steve R. Steve K is a keen marathon runner and is also raising money for the COINS Foundation, while the rest, Shaun, Mina & Ben – are new to Arctic Expeditions, however bring with them diverse and extensive experiences in the outdoors.
More training dates have been put in the diary to teach us the skills we’ll need to survive for up to 4 weeks in the Arctic, particularly the basics of pulling our sledges through large fields of ice-rubble, safely using and maintaining the MSR fuel stove – our only source of heating and water for the duration – and erecting and dismantling our tents – our essential and only form of proper shelter – often in high winds.
Tags: North