Polar adventurer heading for Mount Tyree in Antarctica
Jun 1, 2004 14: 10 EST
American Doug Stoup returned last month from the Geographic North Pole; after completing the first phase of Pole Track an expedition that sets out to support climate change research and to call attention to the changing Arctic and world climate.
This coming November Doug, Mark Synott (of Jannu fame), and Kristoffer Erickson will fly into the Ellsworth Range and land on the Crosswell glacier to attempt a new route on the SE face of Mt. Tyree (4852m Antarctica's 2nd highest peak).
Then Doug will ski to the South Pole with Marc Cornelissen in December.
While trekking over the frozen Arctic Ocean, Doug was confronted by numerous leads that could well be the precursors of ice melt in the region. Doug returned with video footage and stills that he hopes to present to help promote the full expedition scheduled for next year. During Pole Track 2005, a team will set up satellite beacons and take detailed readings to report back the effects of climate change on the Arctic and the planet.
Doug joined Marc Cornelissen (The Netherlands), Petter Nyquist (Norway) and an international team as they hauled gear and equipment, skiing the last degree to the pole from Ice Station Borneo, a 'floating' base located on the Russian side of the drifting ice pack. It has been set up every year in April since 1993. It is approximately 55 nautical miles from the geographic North Pole (depending on daily drift).
Doug Stoup has climbed 3 of the 7 summits and has explored the continent of Antarctica. Last year, he received national media attention for his 'Ice Bike' adventure in Antarctica. Currently he is working on an autobiographical novel. He was also expedition leader for The North Face Beyond Endurance Expedition, leading 5 professional ski, snowboard mountaineers and film crew on a 19 meter sailing vessel from the Faulkland Islands to the South Georgia, featured in Warren Miller's 2002 feature film, STORM.
Pole Track 2005 is an international North Pole expedition setting out to support climate change research and to call attention to the changing Arctic and world climate. Next year the expedition will go all the way to the Pole (from Russia, probably with air support). During this ski-trek the expedition will deploy a new generation of meteorological instrumentation and make daily readings of the snow cover.
During the last few years, ExplorersWeb and the polar- and scientific community has published reports concluding that the ice mass on the Arctic Ocean has reduced significantly over the last several decades. Scientists documented signs of rising temperatures as well as changes in the atmosphere and sea currents in the Arctic region.
The Polar community has reported on increasingly larger sections of open water, introducing the habit of actually "swimming to the pole" in recent years. According to some, these trends may result in an ice-free Arctic Ocean by the mid of this century.
Team members: Marc Cornelissen(NL, North Pole and South Pole both supported) - Project Leader, Doug Stoup(US, SP supported) and Petter Nyquist(NO)
Image of team crossing lead courtesy of Doug Stoup and Iceaxe.tv
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