Our Goal

The goal of this challenge is to successfully reach the North Pole with four wounded soldiers, of which two are amputees. They will become the first amputees to reach the North Pole unsupported. This achievement will perfectly illustrate just how remarkable these young men and women are.

Challenges in the Arctic

Expeditions to the Geographic North Pole (GNP) provide their own unique challenges. Unlike its southern cousin, the physical distance travelled over the ice is never a certainty given you are at the mercy of ocean currents which often result in negative gains in distance travelled. In addition to this, the shifting ice results in the formation of open water ‘leads’. These not only pose a physical barrier to a team’s progress, but run the inherent risk of members falling into icy water, causing potential hypothermia & frostbite if not dealt with in haste. The last unique physical obstacle the arctic throws up is the nature of the ice you are crossing. This involves the huge forces of the ice pushing up on itself creating vast swaths of ice rubble and pressure ridges, a phenomenon not encountered on the relatively flat Antarctic plateau.

Then there is the issue of the cold. The moisture in the air due to being located on sea ice makes low temperatures less bearable than the humidity free Antarctic. Add this to the fog and higher incidence of cloud cover you cannot benefit from the suns warming radiation; this is particularly noticeable when camping. In the Antarctic the ambient temp inside a tent can often be close to room temperature, where the Arctic rarely affords a temperature much higher than those experienced on the hostile side of the canvas. Expected temperatures range from -15°C to -40°C

And if all that doesn’t pose enough of a challenge, you also have the added danger of encountering a Polar Bear, which necessitates the carrying of a weapon.