This past fall we followed one of the most difficult, dangerous, and awe-inspiring expeditions in recent memory. That's when Swiss explorer Mike Horn and Norwegian Børge Ousland set out on an attempt to traverse the Arctic icecap, via the North Pole, completely on foot. The duo started on the Alaskan side of the ice, with the expedition actually starting when they sailed out of Nome aboard Horn's ship the Pangea. After getting dropped off on the ice in late September, they then skied for weeks on end before finally getting picked up on the Norwegian side of the ice by a rescue ship dispatched to retrieve them even as they ran low on fuel and supplies. The adventure wasn't quite over even at that point, as the vessel sent to bring them home ended up staying stuck in the ice for three weeks
Since then, Horn and Ousland have returned home, rested up briefly, and embarked on other adventures. They have shared their tale with a few media outlets, but even now, three months later, the story of their adventure is still making its way out. Recently, Horn sat down with the crew over at Adventure Journal to provide even more details of what it was like to spend weeks on end in the harsh environment that is the Arctic. That interview is available in a podcast, which provide some harrowing details of just how close the two legendary explorers came to actually perishing out on the ice.
In the podcast, Horn covers a wide array of topics, including the challenges of traveling in the Arctic, the impact that climate change is having on that region of our planet, and what it is like to find yourself suddenly immersed in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean. He shares details about his and Børge's journey, which was fraught with difficulty from the beginning and required more time than they expected to complete. So much extra time that they were essentially out of food and fuel by the time the rescue ship arrived to retrieve them.
Right now, there aren't a lot of expeditions to follow or cover all that closely, but if you're looking to get your adventure fix, this should suffice. Find out more by clicking here.
