Eric Larsen sets off August 28 for the third leg of an adventure that would bring him to the top, bottom, and roof of the world within the span of one year. He has already been to the South Pole and the North Pole this year and is now heading off to Mount Everest. He is using the expeditions to educate people around the world on the effects of human activity on the environment. He posts updates on his blog, which can be found on www.savethepoles.com.
Grand Marais resident Eric Larsen departs August 28 for the third and final leg of his Save the Poles expedition: a quest to summit Mount Everest. The expedition would make him the first person to journey to the South Pole, North Pole and summit of Mt. Everest in a continuous 365-day period.
In January of 2010, Larsen and his team successfully completed a 750-mile, 48-day ski traverse to the geographic South Pole. Larsen and a separate team reached the geographic North Pole on April 22, Earth Day, after a 51-day, 500- mile push that included snowshoeing and skiing across shifting sea ice and sometimes even swimming across open water sections of the Arctic Ocean.
Larsen’s purpose for the expedition is to connect people to the polar regions and the environmental issues that are impacting them. “I have been to the ‘front lines’ of global warming during my journeys to the north and south poles,” Larsen says. “We can save the poles and our planet if we act now.”
On his expeditions, Larsen has been able to stay connected with thousands of expedition followers across the globe by harnessing solar power to enable daily blog updates, tweets, podcasts, satellite phone calls, and photo streams. Upon his arrival at the top of the world, Larsen also checked in with Twitter and Facebook followers by sending the first ever “tweet” from the North Pole.
A press release from Larsen’s publicist states, “Mount Everest and the north and south poles represent the harshest and most extreme environments on the planet. Yet as inhospitable as these places are to humans, they are also the areas most affected by people.
“Scientists estimate by summer 2030, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free. Recently, the 1,250 square mile Larsen B Ice Shelf collapsed off of Antarctica and disintegrated into the Southern Ocean. A report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts that if current trends continue, 80% of Himalayan glaciers will be gone in 30 years.”
Larsen has spent the last 15 years traveling in some of the most remote and wild places left on earth. In 2006, he and Cook County resident Lonnie Dupre completed the first ever summer expedition to the North Pole. Eric successfully led his first expedition to the South Pole in 2008, covering nearly 600 miles in 41 days.
Larsen travels extensively giving motivational and educational lectures. He is planning a book and documentary about the Save the Poles expedition. He splits his time between Boulder, Colorado, where he trains, and Grand Marais.
To follow his Mt. Everest journey, visit www.savethepoles.com.
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