The weather is poor this year, but that’s not stopping Ben Saunders from trying to break the world record for reaching the North Pole by land from Canada this year. All ski teams headed for the geographic North Pole from Resolute Bay, Canada this year cancelled their trips three days ago (March 6th) due to a raplidy dwindling time window for the trip and delays due to poor weather conditions (you can read the story on ExWeb here). That, however, hasn’t stopped world record hopeful Ben Saunders from going ahead with his trip. Saunders should arrive in Cape Discovery in Northern Canada tomorrow, where he will depart alone, on foot, traveling by ski and snowshoe, pulling on sled carrying all of his supplies, in an attempt to break the two current world records for reaching the pole from Canada, which are 36 days, 22 hours by dogsled, and 41 days, 18 hours on foot.
Saunders has attempted the record twice before, but was thwarted by equipment and fuel problems. Thus, he has named this expedition North 3.
Usually, teams require a minimum 60-day time window to be sure they will reach the pole. This year ski teams abandoned their trips because the time window for their trips had already fallen to 51 days, and their departure remained uncertain because of bad weather.
Since he’s working with limited time already, this doesn’t appear to be a problem for Saunders.
Best of luck Ben!
Be sure to check back here for updates on his progress.
Ben Saunders – North 3 from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.
Jesus, that is intense.
Yep, that is going to be extremely serious! He’s lucky Taw’s ‘aint out there gunnin for him tho 🙂
Wow this guy is determined. I mean this is the third time (North 3). thats a lot of day and a lot of cold weather I hope he succeeds so he doesnt have to try for North 4.