It’s been a tough winter in the UK with record breaking low temperatures, paralyzing snow storms, and perilously icy conditions causing havoc across the country. There surely can’t be many out there who aren’t pleased to see spring on the horizon. However, there is one Englishman who clearly can’t get enough of the arctic weather, so much so that right now he is just north of Ward Hunt Island in Canada. His name is Ben Saunders and he is skiing alone to the north pole!
I’ve written about Ben before; he’s an inspiring guy. A record-breaking long-distance skier, with three North Pole expeditions under his belt, the youngest person to ski solo to the North Pole, and the record holder for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. Despite his achievements he’s a humble man, describing himself as someone who “specializes in dragging heavy objects around cold places.”
In 2008 his attempt to set a new world speed record for a trek from Ward Hunt Island to the Geographic North Pole was thwarted by an equipment failure after just 8 days.
At the time he was philosophical about the disappointment. “The only true failure would have been not to have started this expedition in the first place.” He said.
It is, therefore, perhaps no surprise that Ben is back on the ice tonight, determined to set that new world speed record from Ward Hunt Island to the Geographic North Pole. The current record of 36 days 22 hours was set in 2005 by a guided team using dog sleds and numerous re-supplies. Ben, however, will be skiing alone, pulling a sledge containing all the food and fuel he needs for the expedition.
Back in 2003 Pen Hadow proved this was possible. It took him a grueling 64 days in which he swam part of the way wearing an immersion suit, fell through the ice, and lost a ski. Ben’s ambitious aim is to halve Hadow’s record and complete the expedition in 30 days.
The expedition is a lonely journey of some 478 miles across moving ice in one of the harshest environments on the planet. He’ll be pulling a 60kg sledge in bone chillingly cold temperatures as low as -50°C and -70°C in the wind!
He set off on Monday and you can follow his progress on his blog (updated daily via satellite phone). He does have a Twitter account, though I am not sure if he’ll be updating that too.
Ben will be completely alone in a region spanning more than 5.4 million square miles. That’s a land mass larger than the entire United States of America! He will be reading the comments on his blog while he is out there so I’m sure he would appreciate your words of encouragement as he battles the elements alone.
UPDATE : MARCH 30th
Unfortunately Ben’s attempt to get to the North Pole was once again brought to a premature and disappointing end by an unexpected equipment failure. A few days after setting off one of the two plastic five-litre fuel containers in the back of Ben’s sledge broke and contaminated nearly all of his food bags.
Upon returning to his Canadian base Ben had to decide whether or not to continue. However, after what I imagine was a time of difficult soul searching, Ben has decided to postpone the expedition until next year.
“Gale-force winds and a blizzard warning in Resolute this weekend have meant grounded planes and long delays to flights; if I were to try again this year, I’d now be starting in early April.” Said Ben on his website. “To my mind, the combination of unseasonably balmy temperatures (-8 C. in Resolute on Saturday and a scarcely-believable -4 at the Catlin Arctic Survey’s Ice Base) along with a full moon (and the biggest tides; never good news when you’re walking over the sea), high winds and a lot of thin first-year ice off the coast of Cape Discovery spells conditions that will not just be difficult, but irresponsible to take on.”
I can only imagine how disappointing it must be to have essentially minor equipment failures bring months of preparation to an unwelcome end in such a dramatic and desolate place. He’s set to return to the UK this week whereupon he will begin preparation for his 2011 expedition.
Showing that the failure hasn’t effected his sense of humor Ben’s last blog post finished with this humorous request. “If anyone makes a non-leaky fuel bottle they think could handle being in a tumble dryer at -40 degrees C. for about five weeks, I’d love to hear from you.” – You can contact Ben though his website.
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Ben Saunders ‘North 2’ website & blog
Ben’s previous ‘North’ blog
Following in Captain Scott’s footsteps
Not like the old days
Ben Saunders on Twitter
Into the great wide open
Be inspired : Ben Saunders
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Wrote the following comment on Mar 23, 2010 at 5:21 am
I followed Saunders’s blog after you wrote about him a couple of years ago. I saved several postings and have used them as sermon illustrations at my parish. In particular, I like to contrast his savviness and wisdom with the Franklin Expedition of 1845, who attempted to reach the Pole completely unprepared for the reality of the situation. They felt that horses were more honorable tack animals than sled dogs, so they took Shetland ponies. They also came prepared with a small pipe organ on board their ship, fine china, silver- and goldware and formal dress uniforms.
Years later, their skeletons were found scattered across the arctic, often clutching their finery to them. They were unprepared for encountering the unknown.
Ben Saunders, by contrast, knows that even if you make great progress one day, but realize you accidentally left your rifle at last night’s campsite, you go back for it rather than hope for the best. He is a man sufficiently aware of the terrain.
So, all that to say, I’m also fascinated by Saunders and men like him, and thanks for bringing him to my attention, once and again.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 23, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Nice post. The fella is really interesting. You really have to be able to take the cold. Not too many people that can do what he is doing.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 23, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Someone tell me again, why do I have this boring lifeless desk job?
Wrote the following comment on Mar 24, 2010 at 11:12 am
I read that as “once more into the BEACH” and I was so very confused when it was all about frozen ice. Must read more carefully :)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 24, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Don’t worry Anne, I still think that Jimmy Hendrix sang “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” in the classic track ‘Purple Haze.’ :-)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Bit alarming that he hasn’t updated the blog for a few days!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 4:27 pm
@ Wilvo – Yeah, he’s experiencing problems with his tech stuff that enables him to blog. He’s still out there skiing, but it’s a bummer that we can’t keep up with him right now.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 10:50 pm
One would assume he could give updates to his support team via satphone, who could then update the blog.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 29, 2010 at 2:37 am
Oh dear. It looks like he had a disaster. What a shame. It must be such a huge disappointment to do all that training and preparation only to have equipment failures spoil everything. I wonder if he will attempt it again this week? It seems like a huge risk from what he says on his blog.
As an aside, he is a very cute guy isn’t he. I suppose you wouldn’t really care too much about that yourself Simon, but I’m really just commenting on that for the other female readers out there :-)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 29, 2010 at 3:08 pm
It is indeed a shame Abby. I think Ben will probably postpone the attempt until the next window because the danger at this stage would seem to great to take the risk. As for Ben’s perceived ‘hotness’, as you say, I wouldn’t be an expert in that. :-)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 31, 2010 at 12:33 am
After that comment, I checked it out. Yes, he is indeed a good-looking man. I like the scruff. :D
Wrote the following comment on Mar 31, 2010 at 2:05 am
Sadly, following another equipment failure, Ben has had to postpone his expedition until 2011. I have updated this post accordingly. I’m sure all of you would join me in wishing Ben better luck next time.