Arctic by Air
(From Long Shot Magazine, Issue One, 2010)
People have been attempting to cross the arctic north in hot air balloons for more then 100 years. The key word here is “attempt.” Ill-fated expeditions over the polar ice cap reach back as far as in 1897, when famed Swedish balloonist S.A. Andrée and his team ran out of hydrogen after only two days of flying. Forced to land the balloon, the three explorers trekked across the ice for more then a month – carrying a 200-pound camera and 440-pounds of provisions in their sleds. They died.
When the balloons didn’t work, adventurers turned their attention to easier methods of transport (sort of). In 1907, American journalist Walter Wellman flew 15 miles out of Svalbard, Russia in a dirigible before deeming it too windy to go on. Ten years later Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen made it to the pole in a blimp – then attempted soon after to recreate his historic journey at which point he crashed and, of course, died.
In 2000, David Helpman-Adams paid homage to Andrée by reviving the balloon mission. He became the first to fly over the pole using hot air – though he traveled only about 15 miles. It wasn’t until 2008 that the first signs of hope began to shine on the icy pole. Jean- Louis Etienne, a French explorer who already held the title for the first North Pole solo-crossing (he pulled his own sled for 63 days), was planning to go the blimp route. He built the Total Pole Airship. A $7.7 million helium-filled dirigible that he believed would transport him a record-breaking 6,200 miles across the pole. But months before the expedition could begin, 70 mph winds broke the ship loose from its moorings and it crashed into a nearby house (no one died).
