North Pole Tenderfoot. Doug Hall

Чтение книги онлайн.

      In 1909 Admiral Peary succeeded where 578 other expeditions failed.

      Frankly, a big part of my inspiration for going to the North Pole was a six-foot Naval Officer from the Great State of Maine—Admiral Robert E. Peary.

      Unlike the instant heroes of pop culture, Admiral Peary is the real thing. For twenty-three years, he dedicated himself to a single goal: standing on the top of the world. When he was not on an expedition he spent most of his time raising money and preparing for the next journey.

      His wife called his compulsion “Arctic Fever.”

      He succeeded where some 578 expeditions before him had failed. His success was driven by persistence and a dedication that is especially inspiring when compared to today’s need for instant gratification, with short-term business success, and our general lack of sustained dedication to grand and great causes.

      I believe the admiral ranks as the greatest all-around explorer in American history. Apologies to Lewis and Clark, but they didn’t travel in conditions that were nearly so extreme. Apologies, too, to John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and all the other great astronauts who had the brilliant support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

      Peary did it all. He raised the money, designed the equipment, selected the team, and led the expedition. He was a one-man NASA complex.

      My focus on Peary is based on my respect and emotional awe of the man. Plus, I just plain like the guy.

      I’m not saying he was perfect. He had his faults like all of us.

      However, when I add up the balance sheet of his assets and liabilities I come out on his side. I believe he’s a rich source of wisdom and inspiration that deserves a deeper look and understanding than he has received up till now.

      When it came to inspiration, there may be no grander figure than Admiral Robert E. Peary. The admiral “rocked” when it came to THINKING BIG! In a commencement address at Rensselaer Polytechnic on June 14, 1911, he described his dreams this way:

      I have dreamed my dream; and working incessantly with all my strength, have done what it is given to few men to accomplish fully. The determination to reach the pole has been so much a part of my being that, paradoxical as it may seem, I have long ago ceased to think of myself save as an instrument for the attainment of that object. An inventor can understand this, or an artist, or anyone else who works for an idea.

      Sadly, five days before Admiral Peary announced his achievement of the pole, his former assistant, Fredrick Cook, announced that he had been to the North Pole the year before. The result was a frenzy of questions and scrutiny that continues to this day. Who was first? Who lied? Who told the truth?

      The explorers were supported by competing newspapers, the New York Times (Peary) and the New York Herald (Cook), which fanned the flame of controversy.

      Having been to the pole by dogsled, I can’t see how Cook could have traveled the distance he claimed with the supplies he claimed to have taken. Most Arctic enthusiasts have reached the same conclusion.

      Some feel that Peary chose to take Matthew Henson (above) with him to the pole instead of Captain Bob Bartlett because he had something to hide.

      Admiral Peary’s place in history is still not certain. Three mysteries hang over Peary’s expedition, and part of my goal in recreating his “last dash” was to find answers to those questions.

      1. Why was he so silent upon his return to the ship? After returning to the ship, he was very quiet and did not talk to anyone about what happened on the “last dash” from 88 degrees to the pole. It’s been speculated that he had something to hide.

      2. Why did he take Henson instead of Bartlett to the pole? The decision to take Henson, a black man, instead of Bartlett, a white man, sparked great controversy in the racist world of the time. Matthew Henson was Peary’s most experienced expedition aide. Bartlett was his most trusted friend and confidant on the expedition. Peary naysayers feel that his decision proves Peary had something to hide.

      3. Did he actually make it to the pole in 1909? The fundamental question: Is there evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah actually reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909?

      Responses to other Peary controversies, such as his sled speeds from 88 degrees to the pole and his method of navigation, have been addressed by others in the hundred years since Peary’s expedition.

      Finding answers to these questions about my hero made up a big part of the answer to the question people asked about why I was going to the pole. And, okay, turning forty may have played a role in it too. But even before I left I knew at some level that I didn’t really know the answer to the question. Though all my answers were true, they didn’t quite add up to the full answer. Before I could truly understand why I was going to the North Pole, I would have to go.

      Chapter 2

      The Adventure Begins

      DECEMBER 1998

      AS AN EXPLORATION ROOKIE, my first challenge was to prove that I had the “right stuff” at an Arctic try out at Paul and Sue Schurke’s Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge in Ely, Minnesota. It involved a week of training, spiced with a handful of oddball challenges created by our expedition leader, the world’s leading authority on high-Arctic travel, Paul Schurke.

      The purpose of our week in training was to see if the candidates—one woman and eight men, including myself—would “make the cut” for the expedition, although the real test would be whether we each could write a $20,000 check to pay for the privilege of freezing our fingers, toes, and noses. It was here that I would meet the other candidates. It was here, too, that we would bond as a team and determine our roles.

      Craig Kurz, fellow tenderfoot on the expedition

      My friend Craig Kurz agreed to join me. Craig, who was thirty-seven, was the perfect companion for a wilderness expedition—a dynamo with unlimited energy. A natural leader, a go-to kind of guy, Craig has never known a favor he can’t do for another. He СКАЧАТЬ