Posted: Feb 23, 2006 12:35 am EST
(ThePoles.com) British “Ice-Warrior” Jim McNeill is set on reaching “three North Poles” in one shot. If he succeeds, it would be the longest Arctic expedition this year, not to mention a world ‘first’: Reaching the Arctic North Pole, also known as the North Pole of Inaccessibility.

Jim’s solo quest is expected to last 4 months and will take him across 995 miles (1601 km). To make things even more difficult, Jim was dropped off by plane on Monday, hitting the ice 40 miles (64km) behind the agreed starting point.

Double-the-distance of NP trips, one resupply

The “Ice Warrior’s” planned trip is more that double the distance to the North Pole from Ward Hunt Island. The traditional starting point for most teams, Ward Hunt Island is 775km (481 miles) from the North Pole; it is this route that Conrad Dickinson and Richard Weber will be doing come March.

Jim’s route is also much longer that Borge Ousland and Mike Horn’s. The duo departed from Cape Arktichevsky on Jan 23, and is currently headed for Geographic North Pole, a distance of 950km (590 miles). While both NP teams are going unsupplied, Jim will have a resupply at the Arctic Pole (in spite of the expedition being announced as unsupported). By the time he reaches that point, Jim will have covered about 1210km (752 miles).

Unlike the other teams, Jim will be alone on the Arctic ice – but that doesn’t mean he’ll be out of reach: Thanks to the brand new interactive Contact 4.0 Geo software, we’ll all be able to follow the Ice Warrior’s tracks on the ice on a daily basis.

A bad start: 40 extra miles to go

Jim has just set off from the Canadian Coastline, loaded with a 155kg sled. But it was a bad start on day one of the expedition. “The pilot who was employed to drop me at my starting place was not willing to go to the agreed point, so I now have an extra 40 miles to travel, this will add another week to my journey,” Jim reported. He had hoped to start at 79° 25' N, 105° 30' W, on Isachsen Island, but actually had to set off from 78° 46’ N, W 103° 29’ – that’s virtually one more degree to cover!

First, he will head off for the Magnetic NP, situated some 294 miles north of his original starting point – now 334 miles. Then he will proceed to the Arctic Pole, a further 418 miles to the center of the Arctic Ocean, and the agreed point where he will get a resupply. If he succeeds, Jim will be the first explorer to reach that point. According to his home team, there is no news of a plane ever having landed there either, so the supplying aircraft might accomplish another world first.

Immediately afterwards, Jim will resume his trip to the Geographic North Pole, another 275 miles away. That will be the end of Jim’s ski trip, but not the end of the expedition. He expects to stay there another 3 to 4 weeks, waiting for a Russian Ice breaker to pick him up.

Hot on the Ice Warrior’s trail

McNeill is using the new Contact 4.0 Geo software for his trip. In addition to live written reports, images and videos, Jim’s progress can be easily followed through an interactive, 3D map. Like other Contact GEO map’s, this Arctic Circle graphic shows Jim’s route. Each time McNeill posts a live dispatch from the ice, the coordinates will be automatically highlighted on the map. By clicking on that point, visitors will access the corresponding spot.

But here’s the coolest part:

The map has different layers which can be switched on and off. When on, visitors will see the explorer’s current position, the names of places, lines showing latitude and longitude degrees, even the ocean floor! Moreover, a NOAA satellite image, updated daily, can be layered over the map to show the oceanic ice conditions. The map can also be zoomed in and out, from the entire Arctic Circle, to much more detailed views.

Jim’s route-map can be seen on Ice Warrior’s website (check Jim’s dispatches).

How about the ‘fourth North Pole’?

The fact is Jim’s expedition is called “4 Poles” – that leaves one Pole: The Geo-Magnetic North Pole. Jim himself won’t make it to fourth Pole, at least not this year. Two ‘Squads’, namely two teams of polar novices that Jim has been training for the last 14 months will however attempt to make it there. The squads will set off on the 400km (250 miles) trip to the GM North Pole in March. So according to the expedition’s home team, the Ice Warrior expedition (between Jim and the Squads) will reach the four North Poles in one season.

The Arctic Pole (or North Pole of Inaccessibility) is defined as the furthest point from land or the very center of the Arctic Ocean, and lies 685 miles from the nearest coastline.
The GM North Pole, situated on the Darling Peninsula of Ellesmere Island.

The brand new Contact GEO system includes affordable, truly interactive maps for polar, oceanic and climbing expedition which allow you to:

- Zoom in and out
- Follow the route
- Switch different layers of data on/off such as history of positions reached, relief, altitude, latitude and longitude, names of places, etc.
- See real time satellite images

The magnetic poles are point areas of Earth's magnetic field, generated by the earth's iron core and spinning motion. The Magnetic Pole sit where the magnetic field lines come together, become vertical and enter Earth. The MNP has become trickier to reach these days. For the first time since the 1600s, the Magnetic North Pole has now left Canadian territory and crossed into international waters, heading for Russia at more than 40 kilometers per year.

The North Pole of Inaccessibility (the Arctic Pole for Jim) , located at 84°03'N, 174°51'W, is the point farthest from any northern coastline, about 1100 km from the nearest coast.

The Geo-Magnetic Poles are the poles of the Earth's geo-magnetic field. The first order approximation of the Earth's magnetic field is that of a single magnetic dipole (like a bar magnet), tilted about 11° with respect to Earth's rotation axis and centered at the Earth's core. The Geomagnetic Poles are the places where the axis of this dipole intersects the Earth's surface.

Because the dipole approximation is far from a perfect fit to the Earth's magnetic field, the magnetic field is not quite vertical at the geo-magnetic poles. The locations of true vertical field orientation are the magnetic poles, and these are about 30 degrees of longitude away from the geo-magnetic poles.

British fire fighter Jim McNeill has 20 years of experience on 'amateur exploration.'

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