Explorer Eric Larsen is the first person ever to reach the South and North poles and the summit of Mount Everest within one year.
Larsen, a Cedarburg, Minn. native, traveled to places he calls "the top, bottom and roof of the world" with the goal of boosting public awareness of the impact of climate change on the most remote environments.
His Save the Poles website provides photos, video and reports from each leg of the expedition.
Larsen and a team made it to the top of Mount Everest on Oct. 14, after 44 days on the mountain.
Larsen and a different team reached the Geographic North Pole on Earth Day, April 22. They used snowshoes and skis to traverse 500 miles of shifting sea ice on a 51-day journey.
On Jan. 2, Larsen and a separate team arrived at the Geographic South Pole after skiing 750 miles in 48 days.
His firsthand look revealed how each place is changing with the climate, Larsen said. He plans to chronicle the expedition with a documentary film and book.
In the last year, scientists reported the collapse and disintegration of an 1,250-square-mile ice shelf off Antarctica while other researchers estimated the Arctic Ocean would be ice free in summers by 2030. The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that 80 percent of Himalayan glaciers will be gone in 30 years.
Larsen joins only 15 other explorers in history - and he is the first American - to have successfully traveled to all three places. None of the others did it within a year's time, according to www.adventurestats.com and other international explorer websites.
In July 2006, Larsen and Lonnie Dupre became the first explorers to reach the North Pole in summer without the aid of a submarine or icebreaker or sled dogs. They did it on skis and in canoes.
Save the Poles: www.savethepoles.com
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/27/2358196/american-breaks-record-by-reaching.html#ixzz13ebLjdAo
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