North Pole Grand Slam

7-Summits Update #9, April 30th, 2005 from Foresthill, CA.

Adventure Grand Slam Completed

By reaching the North Pole on skis on 19 April, 2005 at 1345 UTC, Randy Peeters became the 2nd American, the oldest person, and the 8th ever to complete the “Adventure Grand Slam.” This project which began in May of 1988 took 17-years to finish and included the 7-Summits (i.e., climbing the highest mountain on each continent) and reaching both the North and South Poles.

In his final expedition on this daunting project, several significant hurtles had to be overcome. Arrangements were originally made through Global Expedition Adventures (Curtis Lieber) who utilized a French organization to handle the logistics of getting the team to the Artic ice flow. Five-days before the scheduled departure, the French reached an impasse with the Russians who historically control logistics to the Artic and the entire expedition was canceled. Not only was trip canceled, but Randy was out a considerable sum of money which had already been wired to the French company. Curtis has been working tirelessly to get the funds returned and has made a personal commitment to refund the money. With the promise of funds being reimbursed, Randy initiated an intense effort involving Eagles Cry Adventures (Robert Russell) to arrange an alternate expedition. Robert worked miracles, Randy procured additional funds, and an arrangement was made directly with the Russians 2-days before the scheduled departure. Randy would join a 10-person team lead by the famous Artic and Antarctic veteran Victor Boyarsky. On April 6th Randy made the arduous 27-hour journey to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard (an international group of islands under Norwegian sovereignty regulated by the Svalbard Treaty of 1920).

Longyearbyen, located at 780 north, is well above the Artic Circle and thus is quite cold and the sun never sets this time of year. It is a fascinating settlement of ~1800 inhabitants where a major form of transportation is by snowmobile. While staying in Longyearbyn, I visited the museum and church, took a couple of snowmobile trips (Temple Fjord and the Russian settlement of Barentsberg), went in an ice cave (3000 year old ice) and a working coal mine, and drove a dog sled. Polar bears are a real issue in the Artic and a rifle must be carried at all times when outside the settlements or on the ice flow. I also had the opportunity to sample raw Whale, Reindeer and Polar Bear meat.

After paying the Russians for the expedition, I left Longyearbyn on April 11th at 11:15 AM aboard an Anatov 74 (high wing twin jet engine cargo plane) arriving at Borneo Ice Base (890 12’ North) 2½ - hours later. On arrival the temperature was -30 0F with winds averaging ~20mph. The resulting wind-chill temperature is -60 0F. That is really cold and exposed flesh will freeze in about 5-minutes. To make things worse, there is no solar heating in the Artic since the sun remains only a few degrees above the horizon 24-hours a day during April. Timing the expedition in early spring is necessary to avoid large areas of open water, known as leads, which progressively increase as summer approaches. When climbing on glaciated land masses, such as in the Himalayas and Antarctica, the sun is much higher in the sky since these trips are conducted in the summer months and therefore daytime temperatures are considerably warmer due to solar heating. Bottom line: The Artic in April is the coldest place imaginable 24-hours a day – much colder then Everest or the Antarctic. The absolute temperature never climbed above -100 F and there was always wind present resulting in an average wind-chill temperature of -400 F for the duration of the trip. It seemed to be a general consensus of those in the know that this season was not only colder then usual, but there was a lot of open water as well. In order to avoid confusion, our expedition remained on Norwegian Daylight Savings time (2-hours behind UTC) throughout the expedition.

A decision was made to spend the night at Borneo Ice Base to allow a large lead (i.e., open water) north of us to freeze over and to give everyone a chance to check out their skis, sledges and personal equipment. That afternoon a helicopter rescue was mounted to retrieve George (Swiss) who was on his second day of a solo attempt to ski the last 20 (~120 miles to the pole. He had had a tent fire the night before and thus had no shelter – a very serious problem in extreme Artic conditions. That evening Meroslav (Check) and Eric (Australian) played the guitar and sang – I was amazed at their talent. The next morning 4-Swiss members of the expedition dropped out after spending a very cold night with us in a large unheated tent convinced that their equipment and preparedness were not adequate for the extreme conditions. Next, George decided to join our expedition and complete the last degree to the pole with our team. We left the ice base around 2 PM and within ½-mile the only other American (my tent partner) also dropped out. He was afraid and just did not feel that he could survive the trip without sustaining serious injury. I was then paired with George who was still planning to go solo within our group. This left 2-Russians: Victor Boyarsky (expedition leader) and Victor Serov (co-leader); 2-Checks: Meroslav (guide on 7th trip to the pole), Vaclav (42-year old film maker), George (40-year old Swiss training for solo trip to the pole from Siberia next year) and Randy (59-year old American). In this mix of very strong and experienced Artic explorers, I was the weakest member of the team.

The expedition was really amazing - very difficult and deeply moving at the same time. First of all, we were traveling on a 5 foot thick sheet of sea ice floating over 12,000’ of open ocean. The ice is in constant motion due to wind and ocean current so your position changes even if you don’t move. Navigation is by GPS. Since the ice is moving, pressure ridges (up to 8’ high) form everywhere and leads (sometimes as wide as 100 yards extending out of sight in each direction) open and close daily. Occasionally while climbing over a pressure ridge a loud noise would be heard as the plates of ice moved relative to each other resulting in the entire pressure ridge shifting while you were standing on it. All of this makes progress extremely difficult. Each day consisted of between 6 and 8 hours of travel on skis with skins wearing a pack and pulling a sledge during which we would gain a net distance towards the pole of 5 to 12 miles. I use the term net distance because travel was rarely in a straight line and the drifting ice flow seemed to always work against us. One day we netted 12-miles toward the pole only to drift 3-miles further away from the pole overnight. Crossing the leads was very tentative and we often traveled on young sea ice only a few inches thick. In fact you could see the ice bend under the skier’s weight as we traversed many of the leads. On one occasion Vaclav, who was 15’ in front of me at the time, broke through the ice and was submerged chest deep before he was able to slither out. In this case we immediately set up camp and Meroslav began the long process of drying him out. Typically it took 1 hour to set up camp and another hour the next morning to break down camp and pack the sledges. Cooking and drying gear required about 3 hours at night and another 2 hours in the morning. By using the stoves inside the tent it was actually relatively warm during these periods. This left about 10 hours to sleep each night and amazingly enough, I slept pretty soundly since unbelievable amounts of energy are lost each day just moving and keeping warm. In general, you either remain in motion or seek shelter – resting longer then a few minutes gets you cold very fast. Just going to the bathroom was a real chore that needed to be carefully timed. While traveling or working you must dress so that you are on the verge of being cold or you will begin to sweat and this sweat will then freeze turning you into a human ice cycle. This ice on your body drops your core temperature. If this ice melts when vigorous activity resumes, you become wet and your body temperature drops even faster. Diet is extremely important – lots of liquids and fats are required to generate the energy required to survive and work in this hostile environment. I had been warned about the food the Russian supplied (not varied and quite basic) but decided to stick with their program. It was adequate but did involve eating raw meat and lots of chocolate. One highlight of the ski trip was coming across fresh Polar Bear tracks (16” across) resulting in the immediate deployment of 2 riffles for self defense should the bear track and attack us.

What follows next can only be described as unbelievable. George hated Americans, had no respect for me and proceeded to make my life hell for the 7 of the 8-nights we spent together on the ice. He was extremely rude, condescending and arrogant. His attitude was that he was always right and that any problems were created solely by me. He made it abundantly clear that he did not want to engage in any conversation other then the ones he initiated and repeatedly belittled and taunted me. He ordered me around and treated me like a servant and not a partner. I was also physically intimated by him since he was the 3rd place European champion in kick-fighting in the mid 90’s and was a body guard by profession. I also think his actions sent the wrong message. In fact he was never physically abusive to me and was quite surprised when I asked him if he would beat me up if I pissed him off. In all fairness to George, he was very strong physically, carried more then his share of the equipment, did not want a tent partner in the first place and had done virtually all of his previous outdoor activities solo. Interspersed with long hostile periods, there were occasional kind moments (e.g., loaned me his Iridium phone for a call home, etc.). Ironically, in the presence of any other members of the expedition he was quite friendly which only added to my frustration. But it was what it was – the single most outrageous and hostile experience in over 45-years of adventure travel including hundreds of climbs and expeditions. Interestingly enough, by the end of the expedition, George said I had earned his respect and actually engaged in friendly conversation during our last night together in our tent back at the ice base. Bottom line – it was a character building experience - My deep faith in Jesus combined with my background allowed me to rise above the situation and enjoy the trip in spite of George’s actions. I am also thankful it was me that was subjected to this behavior rather then someone else who might not have been able to cope under the additional stress. It is important to point out that this situation is not something that anyone should be blamed for – it just happened. I did not even mention it to anyone until the 4th day of the ski trip, and then only discussed it with Victor Serov. I knew while on the ice the options were limited and I was prepared to go with it until the expedition was complete. Following the expedition, I did go into some detail with several other people (Victor Serov, Rick Switzer, etc.)

We reached the North Pole on the 8th day after leaving Borneo Ice Base just before 2 PM UTC. I had a real sense of accomplishment – I had reached the North Pole on foot and in spite of the internal conflict created by my tent partner, I really enjoyed the experience. I had overcome tremendous hurtles, both physical and mental, and knew Jesus had protected me throughout this incredible journey. We were picked up form the pole in the afternoon by helicopter and returned to the ice base. The afternoon of April 20th I flew back to Longyearbyn to await my flights home on April 25th. Before leaving Borneo I had the opportunity to make 7 amateur radio contacts with the base short-wave equipment, visit with other expeditions and the staff and received a very nice trophy commemorating my trip to the North Pole. It was suggested that I get credit for 3 trips to the pole – one for doing it, another for doing it only on Russian supplied food, and a third for having to tent with George! I did get some frost bite on 5-fingers and my throat, as well as some frost numb to my ears and face. As for George, I sincerely pray that he is richly blessed and has a safe and successful solo journey to the pole next year.

The completion of the Adventure Grand Slam was a lifetime goal and I am both satisfied and relieved at its completion. I feel I finished it in the best manner possible for me personally. Doris, my wife of 40-years, has been a constant source of inspiration and support. She is not only my wife, but my lover and my best friend. I really appreciate her support and understanding – Thank you honey.

Quick Summary: 7-Summits Kosciuszko-Version, South Pole by plane, North Pole from Borneo Ice Base.

· Adventure Grand Slam: Date: 4/19/05, Age: 59-years, 131-days, oldest person, 2nd American and 8th person in the world.

· Seven Summits: Date: 10/27/04, Age: 58-years, 321-days, 91st person - Kosciuszko Version, 2nd oldest American.

I still plan to complete an undisputed version of the 7-Summits as soon as possible by climbing Carstenz Pyramid (16,023’, also known as Puncak Jaya), Indonesia. The political conditions in Indonesia make this problematic, but I am currently working to get there in June of 2005. I’ll keep you posted.

Once again a big thanks to my sponsors. Without them I could not have done these expeditions. Please give them your support. They include: Abram Interstate, Donner Ski Ranch, Epiphany Sales Inc, Foresthill Beacon, Foresthill Messenger, Foresthill Telephone, Grant Hardware and Plumbing, Guard Transmission, Klinger Construction, Monte Verde Inn, Power Play Energy, Ragen MacKenzie Investment Services, Pasco Scientific, Power Play Energy, SciTech Astronomical, Townsend Design, VG Donuts and Bakery and numerous individual contributors. Keep in mind that the Foresthill Divide Web page has copies of all of my 7-Summits updates at http://www.foresthilldivide.com/7summits.htm.

Randy Peeters
4404 Morning Star Place
Foresthill, CA 95631 USA
(530) 367-5561 Home
(916) 390-4464 Cell
rlpeeters@msn.com

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