A Woman Will Solo Trek To The North Pole
Rosie Stancer, a British woman, is preparing to trek across the Arctic by herself on a journey that will take her from Ward Hunt Island in Nunavut to the North Pole, a 769-kilometre trip. She walked to the South Pole by herself in 2004. If this next trek is successful, she will be the first woman in history to walk solo to both poles.
Rosie plans to consume 6,000 calories per day during the 769-kilometre trek, which she expects to complete in 60 days. She will walk, climb, ski and swim across the Arctic Ocean to get to her destination, 90 degrees north latitude. She will brave polar bears, bone-chilling temperatures and shifting Arctic sea ice. Temperatures, according to her website, could dip below -45 C, not including the effects of windchill.
“My greatest fear is not the physicality of it. It’s not the cold, it’s not the bears. It’s not the hazards of the water. It’s really more the fear of doing something stupid and making a fool of myself,” she said. “It’s the same fear that you have to contend with in any big challenge. It’s the fear of failure.”
Stancer said she is not concerned about being alone and is looking forward to being close to nature. She said she will talk to the environment around her as she makes her trek.
Stancer, whose patron is Prince Charles, is packing two pulks, a Norwegian name for a sledge used for polar travel. Her gear includes fuel for her stove, a two-person tent, a radio, a gun and flares, protective clothing, and an immersion suit to enable her to swim through any open patches of water.
She will also bring along enough food so that she can consume up to 6,000 calories a day. Her food will include butter, Mars bars supplied by one of her sponsors, a mixture of nuts, and fudge donated by Prince Charles. She gathered supplies in Toronto before taking a flight to Nunavut, where she will go to Resolute Bay before heading to Ward Hunt Island, the most northerly point in Canada.
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