The North Pole 2010

A week ago I was flying north over the Franklin mountain range, over this frozen landscape of Elsmere island thinking of all those mountains down there that will never be climbed, probably never. I didn’t imagine that I would be coming back a week later. However, I always knew that there always was a possibility that if something went wrong this would be the only way out.

Now coming back from the ice my curiosity of adventure on the North Pole was somewhat eased, having only spent five nights on the ice. The curious longing for this kind of adventure has always been an appeal to experience something like what the old explores to the North Pole would have experienced. In my eyes they are the real adventures. However, I am sure that if we had a rerun at expedition, we would make a lot of changes.

However I am sorry for bringing this expedition to an end and sorry to Clare and Pat and all the work that they and their home teams had put in. It has been a amazing experience for me I had the opportunity to travel to two territory’s, Nunavut, North West, and one Provinces Ontario, and stay over night at the most northern weather station (Eureka) in the Country. Here we met scientists, who are now worried about the noticeable changes that are taking place in the northern territories. This winter is the warmest in record right across Canada showing ten to fifteen degrees warmer.

But for whatever reason people go there whether its ego, adventure, personal challenge, or curiosity, getting to the North Pole is a mammoth challenge. The North has been a pervasive influence on our world and will probably play a major role in our future. I believe that the North will shape our world the way few of us will ever in our lives have the chance to see.Leaving the future of this magical terrain in the hands of a few world politicians is not the answer; rather they should be a group of top scientist from each country making recommendations to these leaders.

The update on my fingers is that they will make a full recovery eventually. I would like to acknowledge IHI Bupa for their quick response in dealing with my situation and I would highly recommend them for future adventures.

I would like to thank my wife Mary for been so patient with me and my home team, daughters Rebecca, Imelda and son Gabriel, who did a fine job on my blog. Also Cathal Cudden for setting up the blog.

And finally thanks to all of you for logging in, John.