Technology

It seems strange to me that so many expeditions see sharing what they're doing, while they're doing it, as a secondary aim. That the only goal that matters is getting there and sticking the flag up, and that anything that might interfere with this goal can be dispensed with.

“If you can't eat it, and it doesn't help keep you alive, don't bother dragging it five hundred miles.”

I couldn't disagree more. After sending back daily updates in 2003, I can't imagine an expedition without this technology mentioned below. I'll be using it again, and seeing just how far I can take it this year.

The Past

Thomas Orde-Lees “No doubt the explorers of 2015, if there is anything left to explore, will carry pocket wireless telephones, fitted with wireless telescopes”.
- Thomas Orde-Lees (Shackleton's Endurance Expedition, 1915)

During my 2001 North Pole expedition, Pen Hadow and I spent 8 weeks on the Arctic Ocean in complete isolation. We carried an old HF radio, a huge battery pack and a home-made antenna that took over 30 minutes to assemble. In eight weeks, we had less than an hour's contact with the outside world. This was the single most amazing event of my entire life, and I couldn't share it with anyone.

Barely six months after I returned to the UK, I watched, captivated, as Tom and Tina Sjogren skied unsupported to the South Pole. Using pioneering technology, they sent diary entries and photos back to their website on a daily basis, live from the ice. This was the future, and I wanted to be a part of it.

When I started my solo 2003 North Pole expedition, I carried (pulled) the latest technology I could get my hands on - an Iridium satellite phone, a digital camera and a PDA running Contact 2.0 software.

At the end of each day, while I was melting snow to make my evening meal, I wrote a diary piece for the day, and attached a small thumbnail photo or video clip. I was the first solo expedition to use this technology, and sent back the first ever video clip from the Pole itself.

The Results

These are the actual, unedited video clips that I sent back from the Arctic Ocean. In order to keep file sizes as small as possible (for satellite transmission) the resolution is low, and there's no sound. The first clip took over 30 minutes to send back. The Pole video turned out a little shorter than I'd hoped - it was a cold day day, I'd lost a lot of feeling in my fingers and couldn't tell if I was pressing the record button or not...

NOTE: Videos are in MPEG format!

video Video 1 - skiing - 18th April 2003

12 sec. MPEG [201kb]


video Video 2 - at the Pole - 20th April 2003

1 sec. MPEG [24kb]


video Video 3 - in the tent - 22nd April 2003

2 sec. MPEG [48kb]


video Video 4 - skis - 24th April 2003

3 sec. MPEG [74kb]


“I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed.” - Robert Schuller