We’ve mentioned Eric Larsen and his Save The Poles Expedition on more than one occasion here at Gadling. He’s the explorer who has set out to become the first person to visit the “three poles” in one calendar year, with the three poles being the North and South Geographic Poles and the summit of Mt. Everest.
Last week Larsen took another major step in his quest by reaching 90ºN, otherwise known as the North Pole. He, along with teammates Antony Jinman and Darcy St. Laurent, spent 51 days out on the ice, battling high winds, sub-zero temperatures, massive rubble fields, and ice flowing away from the Pole that made it seem like they were on a treadmill at times. But in the end, they reached the top of the world, putting Larsen two-thirds of the way toward his goal. Eric, and two different teammates reached the South Pole back on January 2nd.
The main objective of the project is to raise awareness of global warming and its impact on the Earth’s Poles, while promoting the use of new, clean energy sources and carbon offsets. In that light, it seems all the more fitting that the team arrived at the North Pole on Earth Day.
With the North and South Pole under his belt, Larsen will now turn his attention on Everest. It is too late to make the climb during the spring season, so he’ll be planning a fall ascent. If all goes as planned, he’ll be making history later this year.