What are your biggest concerns? Are you nervous before starting out?
Yes. Considering I'm starting from the most concentrated area of polar bears in the world, the bears will be a big concern. But I'm actually more nervous about swimming in the ocean. In my drysuit I'll look like wounded prey to a killer whale or great white shark.
On dry land, I'll be wiring up a polar bear warning system whenever I set camp. This is a perimeter of carbon-fiber poles placed around my tent with NATO trip flares attached by a string. If a bear were to come near my camp, it would trigger a trip flare, hopefully scaring it away and at least alerting me to his or her presence. I won't be carrying bear spray as that's ineffective against polar bears. I will have a gun, though don't know what kind yet. I'll have to negotiate with the people in Khatanga, the northern Russian town where I set out from, to get a weapon, either a handgun, shotgun, or rifle.
How long will it take you to reach the North Pole? Do you have any special strategies to keep yourself going when things get tough?
It should take about 60 days, give or take. Børge Ousland made it in 52 days in 1994, so I might come in around that time.
As for strategies when things get tough, in the past I've found that adversity strengthens my resolve. Things can get really bleak and you may want to give up, but with this expedition I don't have that luxury. To give up is not an option.
What happens when you get there? Do you walk back?
When I reach the Pole, the first thing I'll do is make a phone call to a helicopter waiting at Ice Station Borneo, a floating ice station about 80 miles from the Pole. It will take them about 20 minutes to reach me—depending on the weather. If possible, I hope to make a celebratory skydive over the Pole (I've made arrangements with the helicopter pilot, but I'll have to wait to see what the weather's doing). At some stage on the Pole, before flying back to the ice station, I'll crack open a bottle of champagne. From Ice Station Borneo, I'll change aircraft and board a large Russian jet headed for Longyearbyen in northern Norway. From there, I'll hop south to Oslo, then on to London, where I may stay a day or two before flying back to San Francisco.
If you make it all the way unsupported to the Pole, you'll become the first American to do so. What does this mean to you, and why did you decide on this challenge?
No Americans have even attempted this trek before, so I'll walk into the history books regardless, though this wasn't my primary goal. It's great because it's new and exciting, and thus brings plenty of press exposure and helps add value to my sponsors' participation. But for myself I don't care so much about being the "first." It's more about the personal challenge. I'd still be doing this even if 50 or 500 Americans (or others) had already been there before me. This expedition has been something in the back of my mind since I was a young boy. I rode my bicycle solo across America in 2000, and after that wrote two books. After sitting on my butt for a while I decided it was time for another challenge, and I started looking at things I might like to attempt.
When I first thought about doing this, I found that you could fly right to the Pole, just like a tourist. Then I found you could ski "the last degree," a weeklong trip of about 80 miles. That wasn't enough of a challenge for me, so I researched the possibility of going all the way from land to the Pole and found it to be the perfect challenge.
A recent study suggests that thinning polar icecaps threaten the range of polar bears. What is your reaction to this news?
I've always been taught that there is a balance in nature. You don't have to be a scientist to see that we humans don't live within this balance. So, I'm basically upset to begin with as there is too much waste and too many people on this planet.
In doing my own research I learned that the polar ice in the Arctic is not freezing as much as it did the year before, retreating by about 10 percent each decade. That's significant. People want to claim there's no such thing as global warming, but that's ignoring the reality. The Arctic and Antarctic regions are the barometers of the world.
Regarding polar bears, of course I'm saddened that their habitat is being threatened, but it's the same for most species on this planet, except us humans. Just because we have the capability to tear down a rainforest and build a strip-mall doesn't mean we should. Today's greed will be tomorrow's toll.
Is being an "explorer" your day job?
Yes, actually it is. On my business card it reads, "Wave Vidmar - Explorer."
When I decided to go to the Pole, I embraced it with complete conviction. It's not a hobby, it's my job.
I'm living out my dream, not sitting in a cubicle thinking about it. Not to say that my job is better than others, it's just of my choosing.
Preparing for this expedition has occupied nearly every minute and thought since I decided to go in March 2003. Not a lot of people would sacrifice a year, without income, to train and prepare for an adventure that doesn't pay. But once I've gone to the Pole I look forward to coming back and hopefully inspiring others through talks and presentations.
What's over the horizon in terms of your next big challenge?
Well, after the North Pole is the South Pole Solo Expedition starting November 2004 (www.southpolesolo.com). I've been told by several veteran polar explorers "if you do the North Pole, you've got to do the South." It too will take two months through extreme conditions, again solo and without support. Then there's the third in the trilogy, a solo row across the Atlantic. I'll probably attempt that in June 2005, another two- to three-month adventure.
Do you think we've got any adventure frontiers left to explore?
Yes, of course. There's space, which is limitless and we'll increase our exploration as technology is developed. Also the ocean is still relatively unexplored. As far as mapping the earth, that's been done, but there are still many challenges and adventures that await down at ground level.
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