Nether Region Chill

Everest and Two Poles Expedition

The North pole, the South Pole, and Mount Everest in a continuous 365 day period: Save the Poles, the expedition led by Eric Larsen, is hoping to be the first to complete this feat and aims to raise awareness for global warming, promoting strategies for carbon emissions post-Kyoto 2012.

Journeying across Antarctica, the Arctic and up Everest, Save the Poles will collect scientific data and record first-hand the damage to our planet. The 1,250 square mile Larsen B ice-shelf recently disintegrated into the Southern ocean, and the snow and ice line on Everest has moved up five miles in altitude since Edmund Hilary’s day.

The expedition to the South Pole is the first leg of the Save the Poles adventure. Larsen is skiing there and back in 52 days. He has built up endurance by training between two and four hours a day with a large tyre strapped to his back. To fuel his journey, he has packed 180 chocolate bars, 720 boiled sweets, 39 pounds of mixed nuts and 18.5 pounds of cheese – large quantities of food, but precious little of other equipment. He is only taking two pairs of underwear on the trip.

Eric Larsen is an experienced polar explorer, having already skied to both poles. In 2006 he and team mate Lonnie Dupre paddled over 600 miles of open sea to complete the first ever summer expedition to the North Pole. The Save the Poles team includes other impressive adventurers – Aron Ralston will be joining Larsen for the Everest climb. Ralston famously self-amputated his right arm after a six day entrapment by a boulder in Blue John Canyon, Utah. 

Scientists predict that by summer 2040 the Arctic ocean will be ice free. Action against climate change must be immediate; Save the Poles has an innovative way of publicising this cause.

For further information and to follow Save the Pole’s journey, go to

www.ericlarsenexplore.com