Brit Explorer Recreates Possible First Historic Journey to the North Pole
British explorer Tom Avery recreated possible first trek to the North Pole.
April 2, 2009 — -- A century ago, American explorer Robert Peary claimed to be the first man ever to set foot at the North Pole on April 7, 1909, after a 37-day journey.
In the 100 years since, his claim has been challenged by some that say he never could've made it and others that say another man got there first.
Nevertheless, one man decided to do something extraordinary to celebrate the controversial accomplishment.
British explorer Tom Avery recreated the entire journey, step by step, forsaking modern transportation and braving the wild to successfully put his feet where so few have been.
"We still did not really know who was the first guy to get to the pole, but the more I read about it, the more I was convinced that this amazing man, the Perry and Matthew Henson team, they did it," Avery said. "So we set out to recreate that journey and see how close we could get to that 37 days. And incredibly, against all of the odds, we actually beat their time."
Avery was not satisfied to go where Peary reportedly went, but to get there the same way he did. Avery chronicled the harrowing journey in his book "To the End of the Earth."
"You know we wanted to recreate that journey by using replica wooden sleds, which we lashed together with rope just like Peary had done. [We] used the same breed of dog, these Canadian Eskimo dogs... and we were finding as we got closer to the pole, [there was] lots of open water to deal with. And the dogs were falling in and we were falling in ourselves. As soon as you touch that freezing cold water, you are just overcome by this wave of fear and adrenaline. It just gave us some idea of what Peary and Henson and the guys went through," Avery said.
Matthew Henson, Peary's teammate, was something of an unsung hero of the original expedition, Avery said.
"[He was] an amazing man but sort of written out of the history books a little bit," Avery said. "What our expedition was trying to do was show what an amazing man he was. Without Henson, Peary would not have been able to make it to the pole and visa versa as well. They were an amazing double act."
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