About the author

Tim Moss

Tim Moss has supported over 100 expeditions across all seven continents. He has climbed new mountains, crossed a desert on foot and recently cycled 13,000 miles around the world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society London and a Guinness World Record Holder. He aims to encourage more people to live adventurously. Read more...

39 Comments

  1. 1

    Richard Bailey

    Hi Helen,

    I’m seriously considering an expedition to the North Pole, the one from the coast. But instead of chartering a flight from there I was considering trekking/skiing back to where the start was as they had to do when these expeditions were first attempted.

    Thank you very much
    Rich

    Reply
  2. 2

    Tim Moss

    Hi Rich

    Thanks for your message. That sounds like a bold plan. I think the most immediate hurdle with that idea will be getting back to the coast before the ice starts to melt.

    I’d be happy to help in any way that I can – [email protected]

    Or you can get Helen through her website http://www.polargirl.co.uk

    Reply
  3. 3

    Alex Hibbert

    A NP unsupported return has only been achieved once, in 1995 by Weber and Malakhov and even then they nearly ran out of ice. The only way to repeat their trip would be to start mid-winter in the dark.

    Reply
  4. 4

    Jimmy Malone

    Hi guys,
    I’ve got the North Pole bug badly now,thanks!!Just without sounding at all mean,I was just wondering how much I should expect to pay in total if I was on a bit of a tight budget?!Any advice on the cheaper options would be very much appreciated!

    Reply
  5. 5

    Tim Moss

    Hi Jimmy, I’m glad the article got you excited. I’ve listed basic costs for all the different options above. Were you looking for something else? The cheapest straightforward option is probably to join a Last Degree expedition.

    Reply
  6. 6

    Graeme Joy

    Richard, if you’re still considering the NP return journey then reading the Weber & Malakhov book ‘Polar Attack’ could be useful. It gives clear detail of the level of undertaking to achieve this…. (they’re the guys Alex Hibbert mentioned)

    Reply
  7. 7

    jaffa

    Great site, want to go there myself but why does it cost sooo much to get there ? and why arent there more flights/planes that go there for those of us who want to go ?

    Reply
  8. 8

    Tim Moss

    Hi Jaffa, thanks for the comment. The high cost is almost entirely due to flights. There are reasonably regular flights up to the Barneo base from where you can get a helicopter transfer to the pole or nearby. Otherwise, you can arrange a charter flight whenever you like but that’s where the silly money comes in.

    Reply
  9. 9

    leiah

    The first flight to the north pole is January 6 2013

    Reply
  10. 10

    Ashley Hale

    Hi Tim, Thanks for the book. We’ve had a few adventures, from crossing Africa in a 25yr old landrover to climbing Carstenz Pyramid from Ilaga, including an Iban wedding! We have plans afoot…

    Reply
  11. 11

    mir R

    i am planning to travel to the wild north. Camping for a long time in the dead of the winter. Wish me luck :)

    Reply
    1. 11.1

      Tim Moss

      Good luck! Come back and let us know how you get on.

      Reply
  12. 12

    Jay Schreffler

    Hello is it possible to arrange a trip to investigate the alleged “North Pole Opening” Logic tells,me there is no opening but it is an adventure Id love to undertake regardless of a “hole” or not. Any opinion?

    Jay

    Reply
  13. 13

    Tim Moss

    Hi Jay, I assume you’re referring to the old idea that there’s a big hole at the top of the world? Without having looked into it, I would be fairly confident in saying that such a thing does not exist (bear in mind that the North Pole is in the middle of an ocean so any hole would be under water).

    However, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have fun looking for it!

    A possible approach would be to research areas of the Arctic Ocean that have never been visited on foot (e.g. the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility – http://thenextchallenge.org/2012/06/anyone-northern-pole-inaccessibility/) and then construct an expedition to reach it.

    Of course, as explained above, you can get a plane to drop you almost anywhere on the Arctic Ocean without having to walk there but I’m sure you could come up with an itinerary that required some overland travel. Much of the logistics would be the same as a North Pole expedition so the advice above and in the book would be a good place to start.

    Good luck and do come back to let us know if you come up with a plan!

    Reply
  14. 14

    Varun Gupta

    Quite an informative article. I was wondering if anyone has crossed the Arctic across, i.e., starting from Russia, through the North Pole and finishing in Canada or vise-versa? Or is it something still left for the modern explorer?

    Reply
    1. 14.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi Varun, yes, the Arctic (ocean) has been crossed before.

      Wally Herbert crossed from Alaska to Spitsbergen with dogs in 1969. That was the first undisputed expedition to reach the north pole.

      The wonderful AdventureStats website will fill you in on the subsequent traverses, of which there have been a handful: http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/nptraverses.shtml

      Reply
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  16. 15

    Sofi Vizc

    I am planning a motorcycle trip that would start off at the north pole and end at the southern pole. To get to the northern pole, I know you can go by plane but are they capable of carrying a motorcycle? Also, once I cross the ocean heading south and back onto land, what would be the nearest town capable of transporting a motorcycle out? Thanks

    Reply
    1. 15.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi Sofi, I think planes at the North Pole would probably be able to carry a motorcycle and the Aleutian’s down south would have plenty of space.

      As for where to land, it depends on whether you want to drive as many miles as possible or just take the easiest. For ease, perhaps northern Norway e.g. Tromso. For thoroughness, try any of the start points I list in my article.

      I imagine a bigger hurdle would be the difficulty of riding a motorcycle on the ice. I suspect it wouldn’t be beyond the wit of man in Antarctica but could be a real difficulty on the broken ice of the Arctic Ocean.

      Irregardless, best of luck with your plans. Shout if I can help further and do come back to let us know how you get on.

      All the best,
      Tim.

      Reply
  17. 16

    Mike Wong

    Great article. I got really interested in this kind of trip, though I would probably never attempt to do a full distance expedition.
    As I understood from the article, the Barneo Ice Camp is always set up around 100km from the geographic North Pole. And there are regular flights to that camp, but all I could find were those full-package trips offered by some companies.
    Since there are flights, I assume that it would be possible to just fly to Barneo and then ski the last 100km to the North Pole without one of these tours, right? Where would I have to start looking for just the flight?

    Reply
    1. 16.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi Mike, I think your best bet for getting a flight to Barneo is probably still through one of the polar travel companies. Just send them an email to enquire.

      You should be able to travel to and from Barneo station though, yes. Ben Saunders did just such a return trip in 2003.

      Two things to bear in mind though:

      1. Since Barneo is sited on sea ice, it moves so you can’t guarantee the distance to the North Pole.
      2. I am usually pretty relaxed in my expedition advice but there are few trips I can think that of that would be more dangerous than skiing out on sea ice for the first time near the North Pole so don’t jump into anything like this lightly!

      Best of luck,
      Tim.

      Reply
      1. 16.1.1

        Roy Bliven (@rbliven4)

        I would like to stay in touch with you Tim Moss. You can reach me via email at [email protected] or via Linkedin.com on my profile.

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  19. 17

    Roy Bliven (@rbliven4)

    I believe everything is possible – as long as one is persistent! The North & South poles hold much more mystery than has recently been revealed. I just finished reading “The Hollow Earth” by Dr. Raymond Bernard c. 1991 Carol Paperbacks, New York, NY. It was an accounting about Admiral Richard Byrd’s expedition to the North Pole via plane February, 1947. He logged many hours of discovery and accordingly went into the “inner earth.” Even though the US and Russia are both silent about his exploration, I am searching for the truth of the hollow earth theory. It seems that it does exist but without factual photos of inner earth cities made of crystal, people 7 to 15 feet tall and mastodon elephants along with unusual birds and gigantic trees and plants. I want to see for myself but that sounds almost unachievable.

    Reply
  20. 18

    Richard

    Pretty neat stuff. Another way to see the NP is to take a commercial flight. I lucked out on one from Chicago to Beijing. It went to 89 N and looking out the right side you could see enough of the ice cap to include the site. (Even though I had to tell my granddaughter there was no sign of Santa’s workshop.)

    It was quite a flight over N. Canada and Greenland, seeing the Northern Lights and finally a lot of Siberian mountains. We left in the evening, had the sun rise, then set when crossing hemispheres. Thrilling. The sad thing was, everybody else slept, played video games, or read. Sigh.

    Reply
    1. 18.1

      Tim Moss

      Great tip! Thanks Richard.

      Reply
      1. 18.1.1

        Mohit K.

        Hi Tim,
        I recently read your book How to get to North Pole. Its been very helpful. I want to ski to North Pole and reading your book and your posts here fills me with energy to keep believing i can do this and started working on this. It might take some time before i am completely ready both physically and financially to pull this off but i want to thank you for inspiring us.

      2. Tim Moss

        Thanks for the message Mohit. I’m glad the book was useful and has got you fired up about it. Best of luck getting yourself ready.

  21. 19

    Pamela

    Just wanted to let you know that the links for The Polar Challenge and the North Pole Race are broken.
    And also there is this strange thing that when using my iPad, if I were to go back and edit my comments, then I wouldn’t be able to input anything.

    Reply
    1. 19.1

      Tim Moss

      Thanks for letting me know Pamela. Unfortunately, I believe neither of those races are running any more. I’ve updated all the information in my ebooks but not managed to update everything in this article yet.

      Reply
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  24. 20

    Krzysztof

    Hi Tim

    Maybe do You know how much dose it cost to organize full Expeditione from Canda to Noth Pole and back by helicopter
    approximately off corse. Maybe do you have estimate of such expediton.

    I will be gratefull for answer.
    Krzysztof

    Reply
    1. 20.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi Krzystof,

      Thanks for the question. I don’t think it is possible to reach the north coast of Canada (e.g. Ward Hunt Island) by helicopter. You need to charter a plane. I have not checked prices recently but that would cost over £200,000.

      It is sometimes possible to get picked up from the North Pole by helicopter, if you arrive early enough in the season when the Barneo base is still there. However, I believe the airline will still require you to have enough money for a plane pick-up, in case you arrive too late for the helicopter. As such, you would still need enough money to pay for a second charter flight.

      All of this stuff is in my book: How To Get To The North Pole which you can download for £10.

      Cheers!

      Tim.

      Reply
  25. 21

    James

    Hey I am interested in joining an expedition in the future for a full distance trip. Aside from commercial companies is there somewhere to find expeditions to join?
    Thanks

    Reply
  26. 22

    Annie Aggens

    After two seasons with no North Pole expeditions due to COVID we are VERY excited for the April 2022 season. We recommend that anyone interested in traveling to the North Pole in 2022 book their expedition early, as space is extremely limited due to the backlog of expeditions that were canceled due to COVID. That goes for North Pole Flights, Last Degree Expeditions, Dogsled Expeditions and any other North Pole related travel. http://www.polarexplorers.com has more details.

    Reply
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