Polar Expedition Resources

Links and resources for Arctic and Antarctic expeditions

North Pole

South Pole

Introduction

I’ve been fascinated by polar journeys for many years. I organised several Arctic expeditions for the British Schools Exploring Society and visited Svalbard a few times.

I’ve twice planned and researched polar expeditions, North and South Pole, which sadly never came to fruition. I also walked across the frozen surface of Lake Baikal in Siberia which, although not polar, is a similar environment.

Separately I supported the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition and did a little work for The Scott Expedition. Since then I’ve written a book called How to Get to the North Pole which also has a chapter on the South Pole

Articles

How to Get to the North Pole – An overview of everything involved in North Pole expeditions. The article formed the basis of my later book.
How to Get to the South Pole – All the basics for the South Pole. Again, much more detail is available in my book. (Ann Daniels has also written a short article of the same name).
10 Tips for a North Pole Expedition – Advice from polar pro Charlie Paton of Extreme Outdoor Adventures.
10 Tips for Your First Polar Expedition – Advice from Helen Turton of Newland.
North vs South – Differences between Antarctica and the Arctic.
Where is the North Pole? – Explanations of the Geographic, Magnetic, Geomagnetic and Pole of Inaccessibility.
Has anyone been to the Northern Pole of Inaccessbility? – Ice Warrior Jim McNeil shares his thoughts and research.
The Language of Polar Expeditions – Last degree vs full distance, unsupport vs unassisted and other terminology explained.
Navigating at the North Pole – Compasses point at the Magnetic North Pole, so how do you navigate to the real one?
Gloves for Antarctica – Polar veteran Mike Thornewill gives his advice on glove use for the South Pole.
Training for a South Pole expedition – advice for polar getting fit for a polar expedition
An Introduction to Arctic Exploration – the story of my first experience of polar travel

Polar People

Below are a list of people involved in polar expeditions. The ones nearer the top are the more active and/or those who maintain regular blogs.

Alex Hibbert – Longest unsupported polar journey. Blogs regularly.
Ben Saunders – Youngest solo North Pole. Trying to break speed record. Regular Tweeter. Not blogged for a couple of years but some great stuff on his RSS feed archive.
Antony Jinman – Been to North Pole and lots of stuff on Baffin. Runs Education Through Expeditions.
Rosie Stancer – In race to become first solo woman to the North Pole.
Felicity Aston – Magnetic North, Commonwealth South, and only solo female to traverse Antarctica.
Børge Ousland – Arctic solo traverse, North Pole in winter, alone across Antarctica. Really hard.
Dixie Dansercoer – Experienced polar traveller who wrote the Polar Exploration Handbook.

Other polar adventures include: Matty McNair , Helen Turton, Sarah McNair, Robert Swan, Mike and Fiona Thornewill, Ann Daniels, Hannah McKeand, Charlie Paton, Jim McNeil and Pen Hadow.

Newland expeditions run North and South Pole expeditions, Greenland traverses and polar training trips in Scandinavia. Mention my name, Tim Moss, if you contact them.

Visit Newland website

Polar Companies

Here are a few companies that offer guided expeditions:

Adventure Network International (ANI) – The main company for anything down in Antarctica. Twinned with Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE).
Newland – These guys run North and South Pole expeditions, training trips in Scandinavia, Greenland traverses and other expeditions including Kilimanjaro and Elbrus. My friend Helen Turton is the UK Expedition Manager. Mention my name, Tim Moss, if you contact them.
The Polar People – Less extreme Arctic Holidays from Sarah and Jim Meyer, including sailing, photography and art.

There are lots of companies you can find easily on Google. If you can recommend others or would like your company listed, just email me.