Ice Warriors of the Arctic When you travel north into the land of the midnight sun, you find a world of deep fjords, snow-capped mountains and massive ice sheets. This is the Arctic – labelled Ultima Thule (farthest land) by ancient explorers. For centuries the Arctic has been a magnet, a nagging obsession for polar travellers, adventurers and lost souls. It is still the most remote and unique environment on earth – one of the last great wildernesses in our world. Whether you look for solitude, local wildlife or to push human boundaries, it is simply spellbinding.
Jim McNeill, an Arctic explorer and founder of Ice Warrior, has studied its magnificent landscape for many years. The Northern lights are like an old friend, and he has grown accustomed to (although still not fond of) bone-chilling temperatures and a never-setting sun. McNeill has also witnessed a changing Arctic over the years, spurring him to launch The Ice Warrior expedition. McNeill believes polar expeditions should not only push the boundaries of human endurance; explorations of the coldest and most remote regions of our planet should also serve a useful purpose.
“In this modern age, our discoveries are more about subjects such as the reality of global climate change, changes to flora, fauna and topography,” McNeill says. He has assembled a group of amateur adventurers under the Ice Warrior banner, and next month they are venturing to the North Pole of Inaccessibility.
The North Pole of Inaccessibility, situated at 84°03′N 174°51′W, is located on the Arctic Ocean at the distance farthest from any land mass. It is 411 miles from the North Pole and 680 miles from Ellesmere Island, the closest point on the mainland. “The North Pole of Inaccessibility is the last place on earth where no-one has ever been,” says McNeill. “And that's the reason why it's so valuable."
According to Björn Erlingsson, one of the expedition's scientists, for the last 40 to 50 years the Arctic region has been recognised as the central point of climate change and this expedition will attempt to measure that change. “The Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility is at the furthest distance from the coast and therefore the associated coastal impact is at a minimum. It is the place where the thinnest ice is also subject to ridging and rafting and is therefore a unique study area.”
The climatic condition of the Arctic is inextricably linked with the thickness of the ice, and any questions about climate change can be answered by measuring the thickness of that ice. The amount of ice that survives the summer melting is directly related to its thickness during winter freezing. “The scientific programme has two objectives,” Erlingsson says. “The one is to determine the ice conditions, thickness and type. The other is to study processes where braking forces in the ice change the ice thickness. And the more data we can recover from the polar region the better we are.”
Clawing back from the depths
At 49, Jim McNeill is the oldest, and yet the only experienced member, of the expedition team. He has explored the world's polar regions for the past 25 years. In 2006 he made a solo attempt at the Pole of Inaccessibility but horrible weather conditions changed that plan. As the ice broke up around him, McNeill slipped and fell into an ice crack. It took him three attempts to climb back out, by which time he realised he had better turn back. “I already had a near-death experience in one of my previous expeditions where I fell into a mush and had to fight for half a mile to get back on the land. There was a point where I sat down utterly exhausted; every cell in my body was stretched and strained. I had all these flashes. I wanted to let go but I carried on. It's amazing what your mind can do.”
Maybe that's the reason it hasn't been easy to find the 28 team members needed for the Ice Warrior project: even now, with D-Day getting ever closer (they are scheduled to leave on February 3rd), there are still spots available. So what do you need to become one of McNeill's fellow explorers? A reasonably fit body, commitment and the ability to raise around £25,000.
Ali L Kershaw has already signed up. She says the main reason she joined was the thought of delivering true and representative data of the state of the ice cap so we can better understand the effect we are having on our planet. “Secondly, it’s for the personal element of realising I can cope in environments that I’m not comfortable in, both mentally and physically, and knowing I can push myself to achieve things far beyond the limits I set myself,” says Kershaw.
The international team will meet for the first time later this month in an Arctic 'boot camp' where 28 volunteers will be divided into four teams based on competence: the most competent and strongest team will go first – into an Arctic wilderness with little or no sun.
The Polar night begins around September 23rd and reaches its climax around December 21st when the sun can no longer be seen above the horizon, even at noon. The landscape will be all white from the snow and frozen sea. The stars, the moon and the Northern Lights will provide natural illumination and temperatures will drop to -46 degrees. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted.
The Polar day begins round March 21st when the sun is right above the equator. At the Arctic Circle, the Polar day reaches its climax around June 21st when the solar orb is so high that it never drops below the horizon. It is daylight around the clock, and at what used to be night-time, soft, warm light and the long shadows from the low-hanging sun bring the scenic backdrops into dreamlike and almost supernaturally beautiful relief.
Getting prepared
To be physically ready for the long journey, all team members are responsible for building up their own strength. “I have been going to the gym and have been attending British military fitness camps to improve my general fitness level. At weekends and evenings I try a couple of times a week to go tyre pulling for a couple of hours to help build the right muscles,” says Kershaw. “Mentally, we have been working as a team to ensure we all understand how each other reacts in stressful situations and how we react best to communication. I’m also trying to prepare myself for the solitary nature of skiing for 10 hours a day and the absence of communication with friends and family back home.”
The expedition reaches Wrizley Bay on the February 15th. This small Inuit village – the second most northerly habitation in Canada – will be the team's base camp. From there a small aircraft will take them 300 miles north Windnorth Island, the very last landmass in Canada. There are no people living on Windnorth – just a run-down weather station. After that, it'll be the frozen Arctic Ocean beneath their feet. When you walk on this snowy surface you can feel it swaying a little, reminding you of the fact that it's not solid ground you're standing on but a piece of ice swimming on water.
“You can get seasick on that ice,” says McNeill. “It's constantly in motion.” With good weather conditions the expedition will take 80 days – it's 793 miles to the pole, one way. Once they reach it an aircraft will pick them up. Each member will have to ski and pull their own sledge. Teams plan on covering minimum of 10 miles a day. In reality they walk as much as they're physically able. By the time team stops and has their food, fixes any broken equipment and pitches their tents – are very energy consuming tasks in the Arctic – the only thing they'll want or be able to do is hit their pillows.
Diet is simple – 8,000 calories of freeze-dried food each per day. “We have been asked to put on weight to help give us some vital stores of energy and insulation against the cold,” explains Kershaw. “Despite training, the food intake has increased and weight is on the up as when we are on the ice we will be burning up the calories so it’s important to have some reserves.”
Euphoria and desperation
Ironically, in Arctic the problem is not a lack of food but a lack of water. Every drop needs to be melted. Because of that, everyone gets just two litres to survive the day. Part of their training is to teach the body to cope with this amount. “Everyone goes up and down huge peaks of euphoria and fun and troughs of desperation and depression,” says McNeill. “People have to look after each other.” The hardest part comes when the storms hit and the teams need to bunker down in the little tents with little to do.
“When people reach a point where they have slept as much as they possibly can, I use two very simple things: one, I ask everyone to bring along a treat and not tell anyone what that that treat is. We come out with our treats a different times. Secondly I ask them to prepare something to entertain everyone with."
There are numerous dangers in the Arctic. The ice sometimes opens up, creating cracks and crevasses which you can fall into. There is snow blindness, sunburn and the biggest danger – frostbite. Apart from that there are hungry polar bears walking in the vast emptiness looking for food. When something does happen in good weather, an aircraft can reach the base camp in six hours. When the weather is bad, this can stretch to days.
Advance base camp is 1,100 miles away, which is why it's called Pole of Inaccessibility.
McNeill believes this expedition will be a life-changing event for all participants. “Cut off in the Arctic, people have a chance to get to know themselves – the core of your being, so to speak.
There is no room for personal agendas and no room for egos,” he says. “These are truly life-changing experiences and they show that with the right attitude, preparation and training, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things – like walking to the North Pole.”
Before this expedition has even started, McNeill is already thinking about his next adventure.
“There are other poles of inaccessibility around the world. There is one in the Pacific Ocean called Nemo – the furthest point from land,” McNeill muses. “Who knows. People think the world is getting smaller because we can travel which is true but nowhere near the extent people think. When we start off from base camp we'll travel through land where no one has ever been. It's so remote. There are so many remote places on this earth. It's just an amazing world to be explored.”