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>> I guess it’s T minus 12 hours now just about.

So we’re going to preload the plane and at 7 a.m. tomorrow

if the weather is good we’ll take off to the ice.

I think we’re ready.

[ Music ]

>> It is difficult to pinpoint the beginning of this journey.

Was it the childhood dream to follow in the steps

of the superman, who charted the maps of our world

with their bravery, instinct,

and natural connection with the land.

[ Music ]

Was it the day the thought entered my mind

that to make the poles could in fact be within my reach.

Was it a year ago when I began articulating the thought first

mentally, then vocally, that I would undertake the Everest

of polar expeditions, perhaps the toughest on earth.

Was it 6 months ago when I stepped up both my training

and diet to increase strength and mass

so that I could endure the brutal cold and harsh conditions

of 6-8 weeks on the ice.

Was it when lo and behold amidst the failing economy minimal

funding came through to green light my 2-member centennial

expedition to the North Pole

to commemorate Perry’s first successful reach in 1909.

Or was it just now as I sit in the middle row

of a fully booked flight to Minnesota to undergo a week

of shakedown training with polar explorers to test the equipment,

the systems, and our capabilities.

Conditions here can simulate the artic environment,

and spending a week on a frozen lake, sleeping in snow,

and dropping into a hole in the ice

for survival tests can wake you to the realities ahead.

>> Mother flucker.

>> We were leading by example

into a wilderness that is endangered.

>> One which is suffering greatly

at the hands of climate change.

>> We had a shortage of food basically.

>> We faced really, really tough traveling conditions.

>> Those decisions that we made in the tent really hindered us

from peak performance.

>> We had very reduced visibility.

>> I was, I was physically exhausted.

>> Because I virtually could hardly see a damn thing.

>> Rescue is uncertain.

>> The north pole is a very very difficult experienced.

>> And traveling to there is the hardest trip in the world.

>> The ice just simply opened up from under me and swallowed me.

[ Music ]

>> I got the exploring bug from my grandfather.

He conducted safaris in India and Africa in the 1940s and 50s.

By midlife, he traded his gun for a camera.

My earliest memories of photographs date from childhood

and viewing black and whites of his lions and elephants.

I shot my first pictures of wildlife

in Africa when I was 12.

From that time on, photography has been my weapon.

With images my mission would be to help people fall in love

with their world, because I feel we will not save what we do

not love.

[ Music ]

My first trips to Antarctica were game changers

and such rich experiences.

It is also a system that is challenged by climate change.

I first went there in 2006 with my friend John Quigley to send

and SOS from the remote iceberg in the Gerlache Strait.

That trip consolidated my love for the ice.

And from it I brought back impressions

that changed my life.

I had dreamt of reaching the North Pole since I was a child.

Today, that environment, ground zero for climate change,

is melting away at confounding rates,

and mild childhood dream will no longer be afforded

to the children of future generations.

Part of my mission is to commemorate the remarkable feat

of Admiral Peary, Henson and his team of [inaudible],

who set off on foot and reached the North Pole 100 years ago

on April 6, 1909.

But it is also to raise awareness on the fact

that there will be no bicentennial expedition

on foot to the North Pole.

The arctic sea cap is melting as well as so rapidly

that it will be gone in the summer months

within just a few years.

It is hard to imagine the North Pole without ice,

but that is the impending reality that we face.

This should send a clarion to the world

and raise a significant call onto our responsibility

to develop sustainably [background noise].

I do not know what Duluth, Minnesota,

looks like any other time of the year,

but in early February it probably does not figure

on many top ten destinations short of dog sled training

and outward bound programs.

The approach by plane spelled out the gray,

grim and frigid environment.

What kind of individual volunteers to fly

from sunny California to this outpost near the

Canadian border?

On the taxi drive from the airport to the motel

where we’ll be spending the rest of this night,

my driver assesses me out by assessing the slew

of sponsor badges that adorn my expedition jacket

and concludes accurately that I’m not from these parts.

After I share with him the purpose of my trip,

he tells me that 2 months ago he saw the coldest temperatures

ever recorded here, minus 50 degrees.

Minus 50.

[ Background Noise ]

Minnesota, it turns out, can produce conditions

that approximate the artic environment.

The land of ten thousand lakes is ideally suited

within the continental United States to train

for polar expeditions.

>> A balmy day in the arctic.

This will be a joke compared to where we’re going.

>> After careful consideration,

I will lead my own team Keith will be with me,

and I feel good about that.

>> [inaudible] camping.

Four inches of snow.

>> I met Keith in training, and we share a passion

for polar exploration.

He is an expert outdoorsman, and I am confident

that his skills will complement mine.

>> For someone like myself, who is enamored by polar travel

and polar history, the opportunity to get out there

and experience the environment

that those explorers were traveling in was a highlight

for my young adventuring career.

>> Keith and I are the only ones here to plan

for the 5-6 weeks needed to cover the 300 nautical miles

of the last 5 degrees north.

In the years since Peary, less than 150 people have traveled

that distance on foot.

Within the next few years, no one will likely be able

to travel that distance any longer unless they’re willing

to travel partly by night for the ice will get too thin

and fragmented during the spring days [background noise].

Up early to feed the kennel

of sled dogs we find unusually mild temperatures and rain.

>> Breakfast of champions here.

Five star accommodations.

Courtesy of Mr. Rick Schroeder.

>> Thank you very much.

>> Rick, the owner of Polar Explorers, later tells me

that the shakedown is designed to dissuade all

but the most committed adventurers.

In a flat, matter of fact tone, he announces

that the week has been designed to shake

down the less than super fit.

>> It’s really beautiful around here.

Conditions are a lot milder than they will be in the arctic

as well as the effort.

Pulling the sled is probably a little harder here.

The snow is sticking to the sled, makes it a bit heavier.

It’s about 200 pounds as it is, this big one here,

and that will be my lifeline for about 6 weeks.

All these lakes in Minnesota would be very difficult

to travel and hike around in the summer because all those trails

that we’re walking would be filled with marsh,

so you can cut trails in the winter,

and that’s what we’re doing.

>> Gorgeous around here.

[background noise]

>> The mild temperatures and the rain make

for very slushy conditions,

and I have some trepidation pulling my 200 pounds of weight.

As it turns out, the sled starts gliding in the slush,

and before long, my body temperature rises

to a steady sweat.

This will be the biggest challenge in the great north.

Sweat can be deadly.

The game hinges on how to regulate the systems

to maximize performance while minimizing body heat.

Tomorrow will be the first test of endurance

with 8 full hours of skiing.

My body aches, and as I lay to rest, I am contemplative

of my limitations, which silently scream

from the depth of my soul.

What type of man are you to think you will succeed at this?

[ Music ]

The countdown has begun.

I will set off on March 23rd.

[ Music ]

March 17, 2009.

>> Tonight we’re going to be honoring Sebastian Copeland,

who is travelling to the North Pole

to raise awareness about global warming.

Global Green’s resident architect, trekker, author,

and board member, also an Angelino, Sebastian will depart

on a 2-month artic trip to the North Pole

to document icecap melts to bring further attention

to the loss of artic to global warming.

>> Today, the city of West Hollywood made a proclamation

of my departure and gifted me with a certificate

and a proper send off at City Hall.

>> It’s a great honor to have you recognize this trip.

As you’ve mentioned, the North Pole is a rapidly

changing environment.

It has had the greatest consecutive ice loss culminating

in the last 2 year with about a half million square miles

of ice loss in the summer.

That’s an area the size of California and Texas combined.

>> Welcome back to Larry King Live.

It’s now a great pleasure to welcome Sebastian Copeland,

the acclaimed photographer and environmental advocate,

who serves on the board of directors of Global Green USA.

His photographs are see in the book,

Antarctica, The Global Warning.

The forward by the way of this book is by Mikhail Gorbachev

and the preface by Leonardo DiCaprio.

>> Larry King had me on the show discussing the importance

of creating an international treaty for the protection

of the artic and how different the arctic is today

than it was 100 years ago.

[background noise] Training for the pole is a daunting task.

With 70% failure rate, it presents life

and death challenges for even the fittest of athletes.

>> Early morning workout.

It starts with a 1-hour workout at 7.

Then a hearty breakfast Then [inaudible] session

for an hour and a half.

Then do some work and emails and then in the afternoon

with an hour and a half climb with a 100-pound vest and in

between just eat a lot of calories.

I think I want to take him to the arctic,

feed him to the polar bears.

[ Background Noise ]

>> The meditation practice here will provide me

with the strength needed to combat the isolation one feels

from traveling the frozen wilderness.

[background noise] My daily routine then led me

to my afternoon hike at Runyon Canyon.

I take my 100-pound vest and climb

to the grand vistas of Los Angeles.

[ Music ]

>> One day all of this will produce power sustainably

and it won’t be [inaudible].

Here we go.

[ Music ]

>> March 18, 2009.

Departure is finally upon us.

After months of training and preparation.

A seamstress works late into the night

to affix the sponsor patches onto the outerwear.

Meanwhile, back at the fort and with the company of the handful

of loyal friends, I stay

up all night finalizing the remaining items on my

to do list and complete packing.

I guess one never feels ready.

They drive me to the airport, and after a powerful sendoff,

the plane takes off for Ottawa where overnight I meet Keith.

>> Hey Keith.

>> How are you?

>> Good buddy.

How are you?

>> We’re at the airport.

>> Yep.

>> Ready to head north.

>> A quick dinner and [inaudible] and then lights out.

>> What is this?

>> Neither of us have slept last night.

>> The morning ritual of excess luggage.

>> March 19, 2009.

Early flight out to Iqaluit today.

It takes another 3-1/2 hours to reach Iqaluit,

just at the edge of the arctic circle.

A layover there gives us time

to make some last minute food shopping

and check the local museum, which I visited last summer.

[ Background Noise ]

>> How do you feel, buddy?

>> I feel ready to go.

We’re still on our travel day.

We have a few more hours.

Our longest flight so far, at least my longest flight

so far is going to be heading up north to Resolute Bay,

and we’ll meet Ozzy [phonetic] at the South Camp Inn

and spend the next couple days preparing to get out on the ice.

>> [inaudible]

>> It’s like T minus 4 days I think, or 3 days now.

We’re in Iqaluit, a stopover on our way to Res, Resolute,

and I think we’re both ready to go, just raring to go.

And it’s mild here temperature wise, which is both reassuring

and surprising at the same time.

It’s been very cold up north on the ice.

We’ve had reports from a couple of teams there

that have been just struggling with the temperatures.

But it feels to me like it’s warming up a bit,

so we might get lucky yet.

[ Background Noise ]

>> The plane finally takes off for another 3 hours up north

with a short stop in Nanisivik.

[ Music ]

>> These are familiar steps, retracing the itinerary

of my summer but for one detail, when I landed in Resolute

in early July, temperatures had hit a historical high

of 67 degrees [music].

Today it’s minus 36 degrees Fahrenheit.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Resolute.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Lovely resolute.

It’s minus 36 right now.

[background noise]

>> The landscape is covered with a sheet of white,

and upon walking out of the plane, the air explodes

in my lungs like a shot of adrenaline.

Resolute is a town of 200 people,

but it is the logistic center

for all activities in the high arctic.

It has taken 5 planes and 2 days to reach this outpost

in the middle of the freezing arctic,

some 3500 miles north of Los Angeles.

The hotel brings back all kinds of memories and some nostalgia.

I’ve spent over a month in and out of this hotel last summer,

dreaming of coming back to try the pole.

March 20, 2009.

Woke up today to find Keith already downstairs.

We spent a few hours organizing our food allotment

for the first 20 days, which is

when we’ll get our first re-supply.

>> This is a ration for 5 days.

You got your cereal.

You got your rice and beans.

Your stews.

Your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner.

Your company.

>> Hey.

>> Got your butter.

>> And your bacon.

>> That’s right.

Then you’ll get a salami, bacon.

>> Bread.

>> Lots of fat, saturated stuff.

[background noise] Here’s [inaudible] not for vegetarians.

>> This right here is a blend of bacon and cranberries.

So the bacon was fried up just to the point

of producing all that fat grease.

Cranberries were thrown in.

Poured in a blender and blended to this consistency.

Now when we get up to the arctic, this will freeze solid

and we’ll be able to chunk that off with our knife and eat

that almost as a snack on the trail or throw it

into our dinner at night.

>> This process is a fine balance

between calculating each meal’s caloric intake and exacting it

against the precise weight will be pulling.

It’s a virtual science, and the magic number should not exceed

2.4 pounds of food each per day

for caloric value of around 7000.

>> This is 1 pound every 5 days for up to 2 people.

>> Um yeah.

>> That’s not much.

>> Let’s stick this stuff back in here.

>> [inaudible].

>> Oh yeah.

Very important stuff.

Toilet paper.

>> One sheet per day.

>> One sheet per day, yeah.

>> And we wash it.

[laughter]

>> Balanced protein drinks.

>> This is the powder.

>> Yeah.

>> Herbal Life protein shakes, power bars, electrolytes, candy,

and cereal are carefully examined

to meet the exacting criteria of the unforgiving scale.

>> Got 4 bars.

>> This is 5 days’ worth of food.

>> Yep.

>> Two people, one mission, 30 kilos, 30 pounds.

>> Keith is a strict numbers cruncher.

>> It’s heavy.

A little heavy.

>> I am so used to carrying extra camera weight

that I’m somewhat looser in the approach,

but I know that out there on the ice, after a few days

of intense effort, I’ll be cursing the extra butter.

>> This is 4, 8, 12, 16, days.

>> Right.

>> Rick has arranged for us to invite the elders to dinner.

This turned out to be a great, thoughtful gesture.

[foreign language speaking] The elders bless our dinner

and share with us the manner

in which climate change is affecting their lives.

>> [foreign language]

>> Over the years it just became smaller, smaller,

and smaller and [inaudible].

>> It takes 500 square miles to feed 1 person in the arctic,

excessive carbon emissions

in our cities are leading [inaudible] to poverty.

Their culture endangered,

they truly put a face to global warming.

>> [foreign language].

>> After dinner, the elders sign the polar flag

that will be flying on top of our tent every night,

and they blessed our trip.

Outside, the sun is hanging low on the horizon,

casting a pink glow on the frigid landscape.

Keith and I decide that tomorrow we will ski

and test our gear one last time before departure,

including our blogging technology,

an iridium satellite phone, and an HP iPAQ.

We will sleep on the ice, preferably near a pack of dogs

to provide dearly warning for the bears.

One was sighted outside the hotel just 3 days ago.

March 21, 2009, another day going over the pack list

and shedding a few more pounds off the loads.

>> How much is your weight, Keith?

>> I’m not too sure yet.

It was a balmy 35 degrees below last night.

It’s still quite icy out there.

>> I’ve got a good friend here.

>> We’re going to be friends, you and I, aren’t we?

That’s my personal kit right here.

Keith has got about the same.

Camera equipment and GPS, iron batteries, easy [inaudible],

which is a killer item.

>> In the tent, it goes like this,

and this is more comfortable than most sofas.

>>The cold kit here.

For the colder days and then this one here

for the warmer days.

>> Sauce.

>> Underwear.

Not many of them, as you can tell,

for a month and a half or so.

Face gear, head gear, glasses, the iPod of course,

and then the base layers.

The boots.

Those are important.

Quite a few pairs of gloves.

One starter vest.

Over mitts.

Inner layer for the boots.

Water and thermos and then finally of course the sledge.

>> We’re waiting for Keith’s sledge to arrive in Resolute

as it did not make it on time

for the scheduled flight on the way in.

Fingers cross that it arrives today by cargo,

otherwise we’ll lose a day.

[music] There are always rich encounters in Resolute.

People, who like us, wait for the go ahead on their way

to make their dream come true.

Take Tuck [phonetic]and Catlin for instance,

who have crossed the Chinese Gobi Desert on foot,

over 4000 kilometers in 6 months.

Or Miguel [phonetic], who is [inaudible] departure

for a solo trip from the South Camp Inn

to the magnetic 1996 North Pole.

[ Foreign Language ]

>> Gobi refers to the type of desert that it is as opposed

to its geographic location.

So there’s a lot of Gobi Deserts around the world.

[inaudible] happens to be the largest of the Gobi Deserts,

so people will tend to call it the Gobi Desert.

>> We started in the middle of the Gobi Desert

at plus 40 degrees Celsius, and as we moved east

through the winter, it got colder and colder throughout,

averaging about minus 35 for a 2-month period.

>> How does this compare to this weather here?

>> This feels considerably colder,

I think minus 35 is quite different to minus 40.

I mean minus 40 and below is quite a big jump.

For some reason it feels considerably [inaudible]

and much stronger winds and the windshield is a lot worse

than what we have in China.

>> And we walked from the [inaudible] to the great wall

and we walked right out across it and then

up over the Qinling mountain range,

which again is just a massive mountain range

in northern China, and then headed out all the way

across to Northern Korea.

>> How long did it take you to do this?

>> That took about us about 6 months give or take a few days.

>> 167 days it took us with only 3 days off.

A long time.

>> 1, 2, 3.

>> Final packing of the sledges.

They weigh in at 190 pounds, including fuel, which is better

than I had anticipated.

[ Background Noise ]

>> About 160.

>> We have confirmation, weather pending,

that we’ll be wheels off at 7 a.m. T minus 10 hours.

>> Oh, I know why.

>> What’s that?

Because you got your extra food in there.

>> Yeah, right.

Toilet paper.

>> Toilet paper, yeah.

>> All right, we’re T minus 11 hours now, so after 8 months

of waiting and planning and suspense and, you know,

whether sponsors will come through or not

and all the training and everything else,

and if weather permits and everything goes according

to plan, of course, which in these parts, often doesn’t,

but right now anyhow, we’re leaving tomorrow morning at 7.

It’s 8 o’clock now,

so the evening [inaudible] 7 a.m. tomorrow.

>> And could I just ask [inaudible].

For me, [inaudible] camera, but why have you chosen to do this?

>> Well, other than the, you know,

the obvious answers are it’s the centennial of Peary’s reach

of the North Pole in 1909.

It’s clear that there won’t be a bicentennial

because the ice is just changing so rapidly.

It’s melting so quickly, and it still gets very cold

in the winter, but it just warms up very rapidly and then all

of a sudden it’s gone,

and anytime soon it will be gone in the summer months.

But I think the underlying story of any those arctic stories,

and I think anyone who travels in these parts would know is

that you, part of those trips is also just trying

to find yourself in the process.

So, it’s a, a kind of adventure, and it’s of a climate message,

and at the end of the day, it’s a personal journey.

>> What are you expecting to get out of it as a personal journey?

>> Um, well, hopefully not frostbite anywhere,

but piece I think, what I like especially

about those long solitary days walking is the meditation,

just to be in a mental space that’s just your own

in communion with nature and feeding your soul

in that process where you are seeking to soak up everything

that surrounds you and the beauty and the uniqueness

of that situation, and by virtue of that,

I think one feels pretty unique in that moment

as well, so that’s the idea.

[music]

>> You’re off tomorrow?

>> We go tomorrow, yeah.

>> How many?

How many hour?

>> Ah, 7.

>> Seven o’clock?

>> Seven o’clock.

Yeah, we leave tomorrow morning at 7 and uh.

[ Music ]

>> Our 6 a.m. weather report comes in negative.

Our team on the ice reports low vis, and we’re back to bed

until an 8 a.m. update.

>> All right.

Beautiful downtown Resolute.

This is the South Camp Inn.

They’re giving us a sendoff.

Huh, you’re giving us a sendoff.

Oh yeah.

>> At 9:30, Steve [inaudible] calls asking us

if we’re ready to go.

Like 2 bats out of purgatory, Keith and I are on the go.

>> Here we are in the van, first step of process,

getting out to the airport.

>> Reality sets in on the way,

and we both contemplate our impending experience.

Our friends at the South Camp Inn give us a solemn blessing,

and we ride in silence to the airport.

>> This is a good place for doing a bit of thinking,

personal thinking, and I love, I love this space up here

and then go back to UKA with new ideals

and [inaudible] for the next year.

>> [inaudible].

>> Thank you mate.

[ Background Noise ]

>> March 24, 2009.

Troy and Kevin, our pilots, great us by the hangar.

>> Hello.

>> Hey.

>> I just had a little conversation with Troy.

The weather has been steadily improving throughout the day.

The wind has shifted around the southwest and blowing out front.

That kept us from flying away yesterday

up north over the pole.

>> So we’re going?

>> So, it’s good news.

Yeah we’re going.

It’s all loaded up.

There’s nothing in there.

I just did a double check of all of our equipment

in the corner there, and if it’s not on the plane,

I don’t know where it is.

[ Background Noise ]

>> I’m all ready [inaudible].

>> You ready?

>> All ready?

>> Yeah. All ready.

>> All right, mate.

I’ll see you on the other side.

>> [inaudible]

>> There’s a safety card in the back.

It’ll tell you about no smoking as well.

>> [inaudible]

>> In here with us.

And about 2-1/2 hours to Eureka.

>> Excited?

>> Always a little bit of nervous energy on this,

on the start of something like this,

but [inaudible] moving out there.

[ Background Noise and Music ]

>> Two and a half hours and we land in Eureka for refueling.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Is this it?

Eureka.

>> Here we come.

One more stop.

Stepping out of the plane,

the minus 43 Celsius temperature is a stern reminder

of what lies ahead.

A slight breeze, and that air stings like a fist of needle.

[background noise] A seam of the fuel pump malfunctions,

and Keith and I, both giddy and cold,

run around the runway to keep warm.

>> How many missions have you flown to the North Pole, Troy?

>> Ah, you know, I would say probably about a half a dozen.

>> What do you like about this region?

>> Actually, this is probably the best part of the planet.

Yeah. It’s unspoiled, picturesque,

and yeah, totally remote.

>> We’re not going today, so got to run out a little,

got to run out a little steam, stay warm.

Possibly a little frustration in there, but hey,

we’ll have plenty of time on the ice.

>> Well, the weather closed in on the ice, so we’re in Eureka.

We’re about to take off, and now we’re going to have

to wait a couple of hours and see what happens

and perhaps stay overnight here, which could spell trouble.

Sometimes you’re overnight, and then it becomes over 2 nights,

and over 3 nights, and over 4 nights.

>> Well, the weather went out at the resupply point,

and basically fogged in, so we can hold for a couple hours,

and then we’ll be out a duty day by then,

and we’ll have to wait for tomorrow.

So possibly, we’ll end up overnighting here.

Or else having to go back to Resolute.

>> The last bastion of civility before heading to the ice,

Eureka, is a station battered

by the merciless lashings of the great north.

The vehicles that make it there know they’ve reached the end

of the line and are resolved to finish here without ceremony.

The men who drive them have stern faces shaped

by their pioneering spirit as with frontier towns of the past,

people here are lured by opportunity.

But as the lines on their faces deepen, they all seem

to soften internally, moved by the power of this harsh desert

and surprised by the answers that come to them

from questions they had not sought to ask.

Eventually it would seem everyone is forced

to ponder the same question, who am I and why am I here.

In the white, stark vastness of the great north,

answers come easier because there aren’t

as many places to hide.

[background noise] Out of the cold, dinner is served.

At our table, much of the talk is

about how multi-year ice has become fleeting,

systematically being replaced by new ice.

This confirms the scientific data I know all too well,

but it is interesting and refreshing to hear it

from their point of view.

In fact, arctic multi-year ice, ice that is 10 years old

or more, went from 80% twenty years ago to 3% today.

New ice accounts for the fragile conditions of the sea ice

and how rapidly the arctic summer ice can simply

break entirely.

It also factors why in a short matter

of time explorers will likely no longer have a window

to reach the pole as we are attempting to.

We will spend the night here tonight and pray

for our marching orders in the morning.

Next update is at 7 a.m. Hopefully, Sedna,

the inward goddess of the ice will be on our side.

>> [background noise] I think that’s finally it.

>> [inaudible]

>> You mean Eureka?

>> I’m dropping to the ice.

In about 2 hours we should be on the back ice

on our way to the North Pole.

[ Music]

>> [inaudible] on the ice.

Troy is trying to get us a nice pattern [inaudible].

It’s not easy around here because it’s filled

with rubble [inaudible].

[ Background Noise ]

>> That’s what I call a rock and roll landing.

>> [inaudible]

>> There’s no getting your seat in the upright position

and making sure your seatbelt is fastened on these planes.

This thing landed on this really rough ice,

and Troy is an ace pilot.

He got us down here on the ice.

We are officially on the arctic sea ice

about to begin our journey.

>> It’s pretty exciting.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Like I said to another group, welcome to nowhere.

[ Music and Background Noise ]

>> This is it.

>> It’s like stepping on the moon [background noise].

>> We’re here, 86 degrees, about 300

and some nautical miles from the north pole.

We’ve got about 34 days ahead of us, and the journey begins.

[ Music and Background Noise ]

>> That was an awesome flight, Troy, thank you so much.

>> Well, best of luck, you know.

Best of luck getting to the pole.

[ Music and Background Noise]

>> These are the luxury accommodations here

at the Polar Inn.

A little short on amenities though.

We called in for a shoe shine but nobody picked up, so,

there’s no late night snack.

>> Yeah there is.

>> Yeah? What is it?

>> Leftover dinner [laughter].

>> Yeah, frozen.

>> Frozen.

>> Yeah.

>> No microwave.

>> No microwave [background noise].

After a day on the trail, when virtually every single stitch

of item is wet, this is what we use to dry it.

This line right here.

And this goes for long johns, base layer, the second layer.

>> Do you dry all that?

>> Third layer [laughter], fourth layer,

fifth layer [laughter].

So that’s going to be my complaint to management,

is I’m going to tell them

to build a more, more cabinet space.

[ Background Noise ]

>> What happened to the snow?

[ Background Noise ]

>> As you can see, the ice frost inside the tent overnight.

Um, we get the heat up with the heaters in the evenings and then

in the morning again, but during the night,

we’ve got to obviously turn them down to save on fuel

and the temperature drops pretty considerably in the tent.

And everything gets pretty frosty, as you can see

from all the stuff over here.

This is what we get our water from, the water reserve here.

And this is our local chef here.

>> Hey.

>> Hey. I got some breakfast brewing

and getting it all figured out here in the morning.

>> That’s it, life in the tent.

It’s a little tight, not glorious,

but the company is fine.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Second day, and we are bushed.

The ice is clumpy as we negotiated a field of rubble

that was pretty discouraging.

[ Background Noise ]

After 2 hours of pulling our heavy sledges

across these pressure ridges the size of trucks,

I looked up to see the same landscape

for miles in all directions.

>> Well, this is day 3.

It has been pretty cold so far.

It’s sunny every day at least.

That’s pretty good.

But we’ve have between minus 34 and minus 40.

Both Keith and I have little frost nips on our fingers.

Like I said, it’s been pretty chilly.

On our third day, we were trudging along

and hopefully this will be,

this will be a good omen for the future.

[ Music and Background Noise ]

>> Like [inaudible] rock, we pull our heavy sledges

across this uneven icy landscape,

one step after the next,

occasionally cursing our decision

to be here in the first place.

>> Thirty-five north [laughter].

>> Oh what the [beep].

[laughter]

>> [inaudible].

>> It’s common for the first few days of any expedition

to be the hardest as you get acclimated and enter a rhythm.

We’re up for the challenge and hoping

that the temperatures warm up a bit.

Like nomads, trekking across the white desert of another planet,

we advance one laborious step after the next.

[ Music ]

A gale grew from the west.

Even 5 knots of wind lashes the face like frozen razorblades.

If indeed the human body has 100 million trillion cells

in constant communication with one another,

then mine were all screaming, I am cold.

[ Music ]

The cold temperatures crystalize the water deposits,

preventing them from bonding with the ice.

The result is like pulling the 200-pound sledge through sand.

The terrain is never flat,

even when hitting nice pans, which has been rare.

Mostly it has been rubble fields which slow us down

and can be quite discouraging when they sprawl on for miles.

[music] The mood varies between euphoric and upbeat

and frustrated and doubtful.

[ Music ]

Still, the arctic desert reveals itself to us

and all its majestic and endless subtleties in the way

that it only does to those committing to traveling

in its unforgiving realm.

The luna vistas are simply breathtaking.

No life here and no sounds but for the [inaudible] break

of our feet on the ice and our constant marching companion,

the steady and heavy rhythm of our breath.

[music] The sun does not rise above 15 degrees

from the horizon at its apex but no longer sets either.

[ Music ]

All this in the silent and lonely universe

of the intense effort punctuated only by the sound

of heavy breathing and the endless sunset

of the midnight son.

[ Music and Background Noise ]

>> Time to get up.

[background noise]

>> We started late today as the wind

from the south was shaking the tent all night.

Also, I think today is Sunday,

and on that day we felt we too could get some rest.

>> Every morning [inaudible] just grabbing stuff

out of your sleeping bag and hanging it on the line to dry

so we can repeat that process again the next day.

>> We felt no rush in getting beat up by the elements

and we’re slow out of the tent.

>> Um. Porridge.

[background noise]

>> Sesame seeds, oats.

[background noise] We render it with some Pemmican,

which is basically just bacon fat, bacon bits,

and we’ve thrown in cranberries just to spice it up.

>> Lots of calories here.

[ Background Noise ]

To make up for what we’re going to burn today.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Hey, hey, hey.

Lovely day on the arctic ocean here, 87 degrees north,

3 more to go, 2 weeks in.

>> That’s our loud commentator for you.

b

>> Three hours in, we came across our first lodge,

open lead, and with it came the black color of the arctic ocean,

which of course is constantly below our feet.

[background noise]

>> It’s all open water.

That’s why we’re seeing steam in there.

It’s open from all the way there and back here.

About here, it looks like it closes,

so that’s what we’re going to try

and do is cross it over there.

>> It was a complex system of cracks in the ice generated

by the awesome power of currents and winds,

and after following its banks for a while,

we finally found a crossing point.

>> Where a lead freshly forms, it can actually undulate,

rubberize, so it had some flex, and we were okay

with how much flex it had.

[ Background Noise ]

>> Looks good.

[ Background Noise and Music ]

>> Open leads and pressure ridges are the biggest

challenges to North Pole travelers.

[ Music and Background Noise ]

We hurried as the environment was rapidly changing

and the lead widening.

[ Music and Background Noise ]

>> Cool.

>> Yeah.

>> Sounds good.

>> Not so bad.

>> Huh?

>> Not so bad.

I stopped there because I wanted

to unclip my harness just in case.

You know, if you go in the drink,

you might not want all this stuff attached to you.

[background noise]

>> By now, both Keith and I have a number of frost bites.

>> Getting better hopefully.

>> One here and one there.

>> This is certainly not uncommon when travelling regions

where men have no business spending any amount of time in,

but those nips have to be carefully monitored

or the risk could be loss.

>> On day 16, got arctic 2, Sebastian 8.

>> This was another tough day.

>> Brrrr.

>> But it will change.

We keep heading north.

[ Background Noise ]

We skied hard and for the first time began

to grow into our rhythm.

We might have done better mileage

but for the many rubble areas we’re still dealing with.

This quantity of rubble and pressure ridges is consistent

with newly formed and therefore weak ice.

Multi-year ice, which is almost all gone in the arctic sea,

tends to be thicker and smoother.

It has more structural integrity.

It is amazing to consider the awesome power of currents

and winds crushing multi tons chunk of solid ice like twigs

and piling them on top of one another

like an auto salvage yard.

[ Background Noise ]

>> That is just unbelievable.

This pressure ridge.

Look at this right here.

Look. [background noise] This pressure ridge is being formed

just as we speak.

The forces are major [inaudible] massive pieces

of ice weighing just, I mean the total [inaudible] billions

and billions of tonsils of ice being moved and crumbled.

It’s really unbelievable, extraordinary sight.

>> Such is the power of nature.

Our focus as a people must be on harnessing

that into renewable energy.

[ Music ]

>> [inaudible]

>> I got the rope.

>> Good. Excellent.

Well done.

[ Background Noise ]

>> That’s not going to cross the lead in the Arctic Ocean.

>> Yeah, that’s a [inaudible] creation [laughter].

>> Not Cancun but God [inaudible].

>> Today was a grind.

There were no gimmees, no freebies, no mulligans.

No this one’s on the house or first ball in.

Nothing but hard-earned slow miles.

>> We had essentially a blizzard.

>> The stress of the cold was challenging.

>> I had the good fortune of fogging both

of my goggles that day.

>> We had temperatures of minus 46 Fahrenheit.

>> I was forced to relinquish my position in the lead.

>> You never know what to expect.

>> Once we got resupplied, there was sort

of a break in our rhythm.

>> And our second ration of 15 days was a little short.

>> Which gave us food shortages.

>> Something out there with someone

when you’re both food stressed.

>> We were hungry a lot.

>> It’s what you focus on so much.

>> Keith was just [inaudible] that day.

>> It really pushed me mentally.

>> What are you doing here [inaudible].

>> Just getting ready to send a dispatch with our PDA unit

and our iridium satellite phone.

[background noise]

>> This uplinks with the satellites and we’re able

to send images and text messages and our position

so that folks back at home can virtually join our adventure.

>> Hi, this is Sebastian reporting

from the Peary Centennial North Pole expedition.

I’m here with Keith.

>> Happy Easter to those that are celebrating.

>> [inaudible] all the well-wishers

for my birthday, which is today.

>> I’ll like to especially say hello to my lovely wife, Stacy.

>> It means a lot to hear that from you.

>> My son, Teagan, and all of my family and friends.

>> We’re beginning to feel a little fatigued,

and we’ve also cut down on our weight

by abandoning some of our food.

We needed to cut down on weight, otherwise we’re not going

to make the pole in time.

And Keith and I are both very grateful for your attention

and for keeping up with the adventure.

>> Over and out.

[ Background Noise ]

>> This is pretty remarkable.

We’re witnessing one of nature’s most extraordinary display

of power here.

This lead that’s been blocking our way is actually closing,

so the 2 plates are coming together,

and it’s in fact what is creating these pressure ridges

around here, but it looks

like if we’re lucky this whole lead is going to close up

and we’re going to be able to cross it over.

[ Music ]

>> [inaudible].

>> The arctic terrain can be unrelenting and unflinching.

Yard by yard, we negotiated the broken ice boulders.

A mix of cruddy, powdery snow swallowed up the sledge’s rails

as it dragged [inaudible].

Each section let another chaotic

and random display of nature’s forces.

>> Yah.

>> In this grand theater it is hard not to feel insignificant.

The purpose of our mission

and its simplicity felt all the more absurd.

>> Nice job.

>> [inaudible].

[ Background Noise ]

>> Try and imagine a giant crumble cake.

Throw it in the deep freeze and now reduce your size

to about an inch, strap on some skis, and decide to cross it.

Sometimes the best thing to do is just to put one foot in front

of the other and move forward without thinking.

[ Music ]

>> This is us after 14 hours of travel, pretty exhausted.

We’re going into the negative drift at this point,

so it feels like walking on a conveyor belt.

Every mile we do we lose about a tenth of that mile

to the drift pulling us backwards.

>> We’re traveling on the Arctic Ocean, so we spent 35 days

without touching land.

>> Plus there is no point on the sea ice

where there’s an actual geographic North Pole.

That night we realized that we’d started drifting south.

>> That point is at the bottom of the ocean and everything

above it is essentially floating.

>> So the miles that we were making, you know,

they were being taken away

from the sort of, the arctic treadmill.

>> So we’re pretty exhausted.

The wind’s been whipping us like [inaudible] all day.

It’s blowing about 25 knots right now.

And although the temperature’s not that cold,

the wind is dropping it by 20 or 30%,

so it’s about 25 degrees minus right now,

but it feels like about 35 minus.

Although we’re happy to be here, we’re pretty beat

up right now, right Keith?

>> I agree with that.

>> The drift was so strong that day that we woke

up the next morning behind the spot

that we had woken up the morning prior.

>> From morning until evening, hardly a word is exchanged.

The terrain was friendly

and relatively flat and the scenery epic.

As each day rolls into the next, there are no signs of life

to break the quiet sanctity of our journey.

Not a bird.

Not a bug.

Not a plane high above in the sky.

The feeling of solitude in this white stillness [inaudible] some

screaming louder than despair, but mostly I immerse myself

in complete communion with the ice and feel at one with it.

One in 30 million species inhabiting the earth, no more,

no less, and I get lost in the unique privilege

of finding myself here, nourishing my soul with the pure

and raw power of nature.

[ Music ]

We came upon an enormous system of meltways frozen over,

remaining most likely from the summer.

Huge waterways looking like rivers stretching

for miles east and west.

It spells the ominous demise of the artic summer ice.

Indeed, while it is predicted to break entirely

in the summer period by as early as 2013,

privately scientists fear it might have happened last summer

and could any time hereafter.

[ Music ]

The broken ice in the summer means the end of multi-year ice

and a rapid breakdown of the structural integrity

of the sea ice regardless of seasons,

but for us today it was eerily beautiful.

[ Music ]

All cold environments are challenging to shoot in,

but out here each opportunity to shoot has to be measured

against one, the time to stop, open the sledge,

and set the gear up, and two,

the cold that sets in from stopping.

Consequently, shooting is extremely challenging

and made all the more frustrating for the fact

that there are quite literally hundreds of shots daily

that cannot be captured but to memory.

[ Music ]

Eerie and ominous with a profound beauty

of the simplicity of void, this lead spells the future

of the Arctic Ocean as it breaks up,

its ice thickness further threatened

by the exponential factors of warm air and warmer water.

This lead was enormous.

Two miles across and its length unclear as it stretched east

and west, well beyond what the eyes could see.

The ice is rapidly changing, and I wonder if generations

to come will have the chance to do what we’re doing.

My one great privilege, which will undoubtedly live

to be a great frustration is that whilst witnessing

such unique signs, I know that it is impossible

to capture its scale and breadth on film.

[ Music ]

When the sky is overcast out here, all manners of depth,

perspective, and height disappear.

The pale shade that normally gives the icy terrain its detail

is completely gone.

What remains is the seemingly posturized ice blue color

of most pressure ridges and pure white.

[ Background Noise ]

The morale was low as yet another reality sunk in.

At the rate we’ve been going, we’ll not make the pole on time

to exit through Barneo, so the additional challenge is set,

the race against the clock is on.

We need to average 12 nautical miles a day,

which we’ve not done so far and not for lack of trying.

There are signs we’re drifting south.

We lost a mile last night, and by the time we wake up,

we’ll have lost another mile.

The drift is taking us backwards, which is not unusual.

We’ll restrategize, but for now, we’re dead tired

and we’ll seek sleep for counsel.

[ Background Noise ]

>> I look forward to frosty sleeping bag

out of its compressive bag.

[ Background Noise ]

>> I’m actually shivering right now, so [background noise]

and I’m not fully cocooned.

>> All right.

Good night.

[ Music ]

>> I cannot help but think of Peary, Henson, and the 4 Inuits

on their team and how after reaching the pole on April 6,

1909, they then had to face the unassisted return to land

for many more months of journeying.

There were no satellite phones, no blogs, no power bars,

no technology developed fabrics, no nylon tents.

Just 6 brave men facing the unknown

with no safety net and no backup.

[ Music ]

The race for the pole is still on.

We hope for good luck in the terrain again

so we can maintain our speed.

We’ve been told categorically

that our flight off the ice will be no later than the 26th

in the a.m. as Barneo closes.

Barneo used to close later in May,

but the rising temperatures have made this too precarious

for this floating station servicing expeditions

and scientific research on the ice for 4 weeks.

[background noise] Yesterday I said that the ice

on the lead generally doesn’t break at once.

Well, sometimes it does.

And today it did.

>> So we were investigating something

that looked potentially passable.

>> I took a chance on it because I was trying to make time.

>> The only way to find out is if you, you know,

take the initiative to walk out there and see

if it’s going to hold your weight.

>> We were trying to make time and had a good start

until a small east-west lead blocked our way.

A narrow sectioned looked questionable but doable

as it was only about 10 feet wide.

Unhooked from the sledge, stepped carefully

on the flexing ice, took one large step forward,

and [inaudible].

The ice gave in from under me and I slowly

but inescapably sunk to my neck in arctic water.

It was fortunate that he had loosened his skis.

>> I kicked them off and they floated up to the surface.

>> It took about 2 paddle strokes to get

to the edge where I was.

>> I got to pull myself up with Keith’s assistance.

>> Keith quickly threw me a line and pulled me out,

which left me drifting in negative 35 degrees Celsius.

It goes without saying that getting down to your skivvies

under those conditions isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time.

>> And I rolled into the snow, at least the ice to absorb

as much of the moisture as possible.

>> The powder snow is so dry

that when it hits the water it acts like a sponge.

>> You know, it was unpleasant,

but it was a quick moment in time.

>> There is no other better remedy

for hypothermia than activity.

>> There are funner things to do to be sure in the arctic

than to change and get naked in those frigid temperatures.

>> One of the great lessons of this environment is

that there are no timeouts, no quitting, and no savior.

The mess you’re in is your to clean,

and this responsibility works anywhere.

[ Background Noise ]

With nothing but open space in front of me, a motive

and skied hard, my legs got sucked into the rhythm

and never complained nor did Keith though I knew

that his hip bothered him, but the day was set to put a mark

on our vanishing legacy.

Each hour that passed was punctuated by the pleasing speed

that would define our last traveling day and the looming

and steady creep of a countdown that brought a mix

of relief and sadness.

The last few days have been the toughest, but today,

in spite of the wind’s chill,

we’re eating miles and feel unstoppable.

[background noise] As if

to teach us one more time the meaning of the word respect,

the pack ice through a field of junky, powdery blocks at us

and the clouds overtook the sun to flatten out the detail

in the terrain one more time.

I was anxious pushing forward,

intent in reaching our farthest north.

[ Background Noise ]

Then it all cleared.

The sky, the wind, the rubble, and the end came abruptly,

systematic, and unapologetic.

Ahead of us and within reach on a flat pan framed

by pressure ridges stood my childhood dream.

The point that makes explorers through the ages squint

with wonder does not surrender easily.

I was determined, GPS in hand, to see those numbers line up

and on Peary and his men and where they stood 100 years ago.

>> 598. 599.

Zeros. This is it.

Right here.

This is it.

This is right, the north pole, right here.

From this point forth, no matter where you go,

no matter what direction I go, I’m going south.

And here’s the other thing.

If I do this, let’s see, uh [background noise].

All right.

And in doing this right now.

[ Background Noise ]

I [inaudible] through every single time now on the planet.

This is it.

That’s the North Pole right here.

The top of the world.

I made it.

It’s pretty exciting.

>> And then seconds, just like that, it was gone.

That point from which any step heads south,

the top of the world, where all longitudinal lines blend

and all time zones meet,

where the world rotates below your feet.

That point was mine for one brief ethereal instant,

and then no more.

Beneath the crusty face mask,

and under my icy rough [inaudible],

the breath I took filled my heart with the essence

of purpose and a mission accomplished.

For a while I stared in silence at the field in front of me,

taking in the open, unrestricted ice kingdom,

committing to memory its vastness and the contours

of the mounds and riches framing it.

Noting the way that the sun defined the terrain,

feeling the wind biting my left side.

I heard my heart pounding fresh from the effort, tugging at me

with undecided trepidation, not sure whether to weep

in relief or beg for more.

[music] Any moment now the solemn

and suspended reality would be broken by the distant flapping

of the helicopter’s rotors, and the dream would end.

As Keith and I stood there in the silence that had come

to characterize our solitary travel,

I knew that this image would define my experience

up here, and I relished it.

The north pole is so ephemeral,

so fleeting that it can feel like an illusion.

While the pole itself is a static geographical point

at the bottom of the ocean,

up here on the sea ice constantly drifting, nothing is.

In fact, sometimes as it happened to me then,

the dream feels more real, and as the ice shifts,

unmoved by the human desire to pierce its crust

with a marking post, what is left is the image that we choose

to retain, and to me it will be that open field staring me

in the eyes as if to say, I’m leaving too, soon.

[ Music ]

In the distance the wind carries the unmistakable flapping

of the MI8’s rotors.

Invisible at first, the heavy craft appeared south of us.

[ Background Noise ]

I stared out of the porthole of the helicopter as we lifted off

to Barneo, feeling real fondness and nostalgia for this tough

and unforgiving environment.

We were leaving the pack ice, its ridges, rubble fields,

and open leads, its frigid humidity and freezing winds,

its cloud cover and zero visibility, and its canvas

that challenges the human spirit and pushes the limit

of its physical potential, and a thought troubled me

as it slowly sunk in that I would likely not be back here,

at least not like that.

[background noise] Intense and epic,

the North Pole is one tough, tough mission.

The legendary Reinhold Messner said, Everest is very dangerous,

but crossing the North Pole, which I attempted to do,

is 10 times more dangerous.

I knew flying away that what I brought back

with me was an experience that has marked me

and perhaps changed me for life.

[ Background Noise and Music ]

After 5 weeks of this epic adventure,

I know that reentry will be a challenge,

but all things do come to an end,

and I could really use a sandwich.

[music] I reflect on humans’ amazing ability to survive

in one of the harshest environments on earth.

As the world celebrates Earth Day,

I think of how important it is to get out of this false sense

of security that we’ve developed as city dwellers,

lulled away by the convenience of technology,

for the responsibility and the connection we have

to the land that hosts us.

Where does our garbage go?

We don’t know.

What is the true impact of our electrical power source

and what is our consumption?

Indigenous cultures have an innate sense of renewable

and sustainable living because it is logical.

Western cultures have mostly lost that

>> And I hope that this experience

in the arctic raises people’s awareness

of how fragile this is,

and while the arctic is melting away, our societies,

our governments, and our economies are all vying

to exploit its resources made more available and accessible

because of the melting and in such way

of perpetuating a cycle, which was the genesis for the undoing

of this environment to begin with.

It’s a profound link.

It’s one of the multiple links that tie us

to this natural order, and every weakening of any link

in that chain puts everything in jeopardy, everything except

of course for nature or for the world, which carries

on in the way that it will.

Ultimately, this is not about protecting the planet.

Ultimately, this is really

about protecting ourselves from ourselves.

[ Music ]

With each steps into the white vastness of the Artic Sea,

I am reminded of how small and vulnerable we really are,

and confronted with the mirror

of my own footprint while the snow drifts govern my tracks,

I know that I too would soon drown in the tears of the earth

as its ice melts and floods our cities,

forcing on us the reckoning of an order that we lost.

I am left to ponder in amazement at the power of the nature

that surrounds us

and to appreciate the freedom we are afforded

to journey unrestricted through it.

What an adventure.