By Tyler Fish

After a 24-hour stop over in London to join the grand opening celebration of Victorinox's new flagship store on Bank Street, John and I traveled to Norway for a week of busy, time-zone maladjusted days. 

In Norway we met with personal contacts, equipment companies like our official performance apparel sponsor Bergans of Norway and experts in the realm of polar travel.  Norway has a population slightly smaller than that of the state of Minnesota; it is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.   However, it may be the country with the highest concentration of polar explorer-type people anywhere. 

Norway geography is a stunning, diversely packed mix of sea, cliffs, mountains, glaciers, forests and plenty of nasty weather.  Here accomplished adventurers abound.  You never know when you've walked past one of the best skiers in the world or someone who has a few long distance ski trips under their belt.  

We spent last weekend a small town named Hell.  No joke, that's the real name.  Hell sits on a fjord 30 minutes north of Trondheim, Norway's second largest city.  We went to Hell to spend some time with Rune Gjeldnes, John's friend, mentor and teammate from a 2005 expedition on the Greenland Ice Cap.  Rune lives in Hell with his fiance and a boarder collie/poodle puppy.

Rune has skied unsupported across Greenland lengthwise, across the Arctic Ocean via the North Pole and across Antarctica via the South Pole.  He is a wealth of expedition knowledge and is a master at the mental approach to huge expeditions.  He loves John's Mexican cooking and has a great sense of humor.  Two other members of the 2005 Greenland expedition team, Harald Kippenes and Ketil Reiten, also convened in Hell.  The strong social vibe of that expedition was clearly evident all weekend.

After Hell, we flew south to Oslo and met with Sjur Mørdre, one of the founders of modern polar ski travel.  He and Rune are well known in Norway, but because they do not seek the limelight, they are little known elsewhere.  I find this humble nature quite admirable.  Their accomplishments may make them famous, but they don't set out on the their expeditions in hopes of becoming famous.  Like John and I, they are pretty normal people who live typical day to day lives, but chase dreams from time to time.  

Next time more from Norway.  We may start blogging twice a week now, as a lot is happening right now with sponsors, CaringBridge our charity partner and with our outreach events.

By John Huston

In some ways Tyler and I are already on the expedition.  These days as we are becoming increasingly busy with the administrative side of the expedition, we seem to be living our of our duffels bags more and more. 

A few weeks ago Tyler wrapped up season working as Youth Programs Coordinator for Outward Bound.  Since then he has been busy speaking at schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Tyler is a gifted presenter with a creative knack for connecting challenges of wilderness travel to challenges anyone may face in life. 

This Wednesday, Tyler and I fly to Norway with a quick 24-hour stopover in London.  After working and living 600 miles apart during the past few months, we are both looking forward to the time together.  In Norway we will visit with Bergans of Norway and our other Norwegian sponsors and of course spend some good time with our Norwegian explorer friends and colleagues. 

Since early October I've been at home in Chicago for only a few days.  I've been criss-crossing the nation visiting sponsors, meeting with CaringBridge our charity partner, attending weddings and giving presentations.  This is what my past month looked like...

Oct 4-5  Chicago.  Two presentations.    Does fall weather in Chicago get any better than this!

Oct 6-8  Miami, FL.  Presentations Gulliver Preparatory Elementary, Junior High and High School.  A very nice visit with some wonderful people.  HOT and humid down there!!!

Oct 10-13  Nashville, TN.  Wedding of a college friend.   I learn that I don't dislike country music as much as I thought.  Hot, but not as hot as Miami, thank goodness.

Oct 16-17  Monroe, CT  Tyler and I visit with the great people at Victorinox.  Wow, do I love this building, what a cool atmosphere to work in!  A green building and a truly peaceful work environment.  Fall colors are in full effect.  Mornings are nice and chilly.

Oct 21-22  Minneapolis, MN  Visit with the inspiring people at CaringBridge. Working with people who share our values makes for truly limitless collaboration.

Oct 22-Nov 2  San Francisco, CA Big reunion of friends in Sonoma County.  A very busy work week.  Good friends in California fall weather, what could be better!

Nov 3-4 Minneapolis, MN  Video shoot with CaringBridge.  I love my car!

Nov 5-13 Fly to London and Norway  Visit with vikings.  Go to the Fram Polar Ship Museum.  Fram = Forward in Norwegian.

 

 

By Tyler Fish

Over the past two years there have been many “firsts” on this project.  There was the first time John and I talked discussed the idea, the first day we named our website and the first money contributed, to name a few.   Before too long many more firsts will be experienced: the first day of REALLY cold weather (-50° or -60°F), the first night on the ice, the first ice ridge negotiated and the first open lead and on and on.

In his book, The Life of PI, Yann Martel writes something like, “First wonder strikes deepest.”  All the rest fit in the depression left by the first.  It may very well be that way on the expedition; we will so clearly remember the first sight of Ward Hunt Island, where we begin the journey.  After that it will be just a feature in the landscape, fading away.  It's also sort of like the first step into a cold, wet puddle of slush.  After that you just have wet feet.

Today was the first day of snow in northeastern Minnesota, enough to cover the ground, stick in some of the trees, and make the driving treacherous as the snow hit the warm ground, then melted and then froze into a sheet of ice half an inch thick.  In a way, all other snow that falls after this will be significant, but not as memorable as this.  It was the first time I saw a skim of ice on puddles, the first cold blast of northerly winds, a reminder of winter's grip, and the first scraping of the windshield and the first very cold, wet foot.  Today my wife, Sarah and I opted out of driving a couple of hours to an engagement, and instead we spent the day together.   It was also my son Ethan's first significant outdoor adventure, in a life that will hold many, I hope.  

This was the first time that our entire family, Sarah, myself, Ethan and Bud (German Shepherd) went for a walk outside.  We suited up Ethan in an outfit we call his blue bear suit.  The hood has two small bear-like ears.  Since his birth, we hadn't all been outside together--something that's pretty important to us. 

Today Sarah walked with Ethan strapped to her, Bud followed dutifully along side, and I pulled a tire for two and a half hours through the melting and flurrying northwoods.  Sarah mentioned that she would rather be nowhere else than out in the woods with all three of her boys.  In response Bud sniffed at things and Ethan, for the most part, slept.  I plodded onward with my wet foot, listening to what she had to say, basically that happiness is best when shared. 

Chris McCandless, from the popular book and film Into the Wild, after months of soul searching, wandering, watching for beauty, seeking the wisdom of others, and eventually starving to death alone, admitted the same thing.  Happiness is best when shared with others.  

I would never trek to the North Pole alone.  It's a wonderful thing that John will be there with me to share the difficulty, the beauty, the moments and, of course, the firsts.  And so I think about the classroom visits that I have coming up this week, because I'm sharing my experience with so many students.  For some it might be the first time they hear about the Arctic Ocean and polar bears, winter camping or an unsupported expedition, Global Warming and the impacts of our society's actions.  This whole expedition project experience means more to us when it is shared with others.  

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D58vWQBmH-Q 425x344]

By John Huston

Alphonse Podgorski, a photographer at the Chicago Sun-Times, posted this video on YouTube.  Special thanks to his son who helped him with the uploading process.  

You can the video here in normal resolution or you can watch it in high resolution on this youtube page.

by Tyler Fish

Last night at 7pm I went out into the drizzle to run and walk with ski poles for two hours in the dark fall of northern Minnesota.  Physical training isn't always easy to fit into a person's full life, so sometimes you find yourself in less than ideal conditions.  As I plodded and bounced and breathed up some of the hills at the nordic ski area, retired ski jump slopes to my right and the forest to my left, I thought of one of my skiers on the ski team I coach.  What message I would tell him about training?

Some good skiers have talent and don't have to work at it very hard at it.  
The rest of the good skiers don't have a lot of natural ability, but really dedicate time and effort to be good.  
Great skiers have talent and work hard.  They work hard not only in practice, not only when it feels good to train and not only when it's convenient.  They train when they don't want to, when it hurts and when it doesn't really fit into the schedule.  
People say that you shouldn't fear your own greatness.  I think it's perfectly natural fear your own potential, because to accept your own potential for greatness is to simultaneously take on a lot of blood, sweat and tears.  Ultimately, that's how you really achieve.

Many athletes, coaches and armchair fans have strategies for training.   Admittedly, it's not always easy and sometimes downright depressing to have to go and trudge along for two hours or more.  As I ran last night I came up with a few tips that work for me.

1.    Have someone force you to get out there.  Whether it's a coach, a friend who meets you for regular training sessions, or your wife, you are accountable to someone.  They can give you the extra nudge to put your heart into action.
2.    Force yourself to complete a route or goal.  You usually don't quit within the first half an hour, so if you begin on a loop, destined to end where you began, at some point you find yourself out there with slightly more to go forward than backwards, but forwards is more interesting.  That can be the difference between an hour and a half or a two hour workout.  That extra half an hour, when added consistently, really boost the training times.
3.    Make it interesting.  Bjorn Dahlie, legendary Norwegian cross country skier, Olympic and World Cup champion, believed that training must be fun.  You have to do what is interesting; have enough options to add variety to the routine.  For example, I can run, bike, rollerski, pull a tire...just to name a few, somewhat interchangeably.  
4.    Be consistent.  Training leads to more training.  It's easier to motivate when you are successful, because you see the differences that it makes, but also because you become addicted.  Your body wants to be physically active.  For me, I can go two days without training, but after that two things happen:  Either I begin to be overwhelmed by guilt or by either physical and mental restlessness or lethargy.  The first drives me crazy and the second one disheartens me.
5.    Prioritize training in your schedule.  Everyone has a time that works best for them.  Know what that time is and schedule your life around it so that you are more likely to train.  Personally, if I don't train in the morning it gets exponentially harder to see it happening as the day wears on.

Much like a connect-the-dots page in a children's book, it's a lot easier to see the big picture if you have a lot of dots to work with (many training days) and connect them regularly. Unlike a connect-the-dots, when training you can't just sit down one day and draw a picture the day before the race and win.  You have no choice but to connect one dot at a time.  The trick is in making it as easy as possible to do so, the say can be said for connecting the dots to the North Pole, but more on that later.