Arctic Solo 2006

The most dreadful days of all. In March of 2006, along the coast of Siberia, my dreams shattered to pieces like ice floe breaking apart under my feet. 1800 kilometers, 100 days and two years of preparation – it seemed it was all for nothing and even worse, I suddenly found myself in mortal danger. My plan was to cross the Arctic Ocean from Siberia to Canada but on the second day I found myself on fragile, cracked ice. An oncoming storm was slowly eating away the ice I had rescued myself on to. I had no choice but to make an emergency call. It took another four long days until the Russian helicopter team was able to rescue me off the ice. Hereafter, I sank into slight depression, not willing to accept that I had failed before I had even started.

Read the National Geographic 21-page travel story (PDF) with fantastic imagery.

Also read the National Geographic online article.

I’ve been hooked on this project ever since. After much reflection and many changes, I’ve decided to take it on once again in 2016: Transarctic Solo 2016