Posted: Jun 19, 2007 11:44 am EST
(ThePoles.com) Back home in L.A., Bob Cochran is fresh from a Canada-Greenland crossing with Jerry Kobalenko. 25 pounds lighter, none of Bob's urbanite friends seem to understand that his “miracle diet” consisted of hauling a pulk across 600km of frozen sea. Bob patiently continues to answer their questions about Arctic penguins and spas – but in this chat with ExWeb, the self-described “extreme bachelor” put his champagne and cigar aside for a while; to recount the "yens and yearnings" of his recent trip – and lessons learnt from a cold, tough lady named Ellesmere island.

ExplorersWeb: You guys sledded 600 rough kilometers in 45 days. Did you find any penguins and where did you stay :)?

Bob In the so-called 'Information Age' the Far North is further from "civilization" than ever. I still get asked these silly questions, and about everything from sled dogs and singing around the campfire to, so-help-me-God, Ernest Shackleton. Maybe we need an Arcticworld Las Vegas for those whose reality is mostly virtual.

ExplorersWeb: When trying to describe the difficulty, you asked us to imagine we're at the gym, for example, appreciating some girl on the mechanical skier and then, that she's going to be there for nine or ten hours... As we are two women editors on this story, we didn't get it. But was it as hard as you had figured?

Bob: I was trying to illustrate how foreign the reality of polar travel is to people from Southern California. After forty minutes of working out here you feel entitled to a pizza, a hot shower, and an increase in self-esteem. The idea of hauling a three-hundred pound sled across the frozen polar sea for ten or twelve hours at twenty below, is ... unimaginable.

This trip was harder than I figured or, rather, anticipated, since as a mere enthusiastic amateur I conceived it with a mixture of boyish fantasy and the male over-confidence that comes from viewing an epic project through the bottom of a glass. The Arctic did not let us down: Cold, wind, storms, bears, bad ice, glacier-crossings, open water where there wasn't supposed to be any, and an eerie tendency for the least misfortune to haunt us later. We broke our shovel early-on, for example, and a few days later during a fifty-knot storm at what we came to call Camp Buried Alive we had to dig out our tent every three or four hours using the sauce pans from our cook kit. When the storm ended on the third day, we used the same kitchenware to dig down four or five feet to excavate, and in some cases search for, our sleds and equipment. The trip was a lesson to me in many ways.

ExplorersWeb: In our previous interview, you said on the topic of polar bears that as a former United States Marine, you know how to hold your fire. You guys actually ended up scaring the bears off with a "Boo!" - did they teach you that in the Marines? Which war?

Bob: This particular bear was actually driven off by what a psychologist would call our "intentionality". It was our third close encounter, and Jerry and I were getting a bit irritated at being considered as food. When we were sure the bear was following us we selected an advantageous spot, broke out our anti-bear gear, and stood our ground. The bear correctly interpreted our determination and faltered even before we shouted at him.

Yes, we learn this in the Marines as well as in the Arctic: victory originates in the spirit.

ExplorersWeb: You kayaked in Alexandra Fiord in the summers of 2001 and 2003, and sledded Jerry around the Southwest corner of Ellesmere in 2005. How did this trip compare?

Bob: Those earlier trips had a recreational feel. I am a leisurely and contemplative person, and I like that. On this trip I brought along cigars, a long book, a journal; everything but my rocking chair. But this time the necessity to travel, to cover miles and overcome obstacles, took over completely not only the schedule but the expenditure of all resources including our energy. My weight loss of twenty-some pounds, for example, was caused by my decision to use most of our brief on-the-march breaks for something other than snacking. A very bad decision, since my strength and performance had begun to suffer by journey's end.

ExplorersWeb You are a native Californian and told us that you couldn't believe that "Peary and Cook, who lived and traveled so extraordinarily, would squander the meaning of their endeavors with untruth." Jerry, a polar veteran from Canada, said they both cheated. Did you guys debate the topic when following in Cook's steps?

Bob: We didn't, but on the trek we did speak of Dr. Cook and his companions Aweh and Etuk, and the marvel of their travel and survival. Although Jerry might dispute it, our interests in Cook and Peary differ. Jerry is a sentimental iconoclast offended by falsehood. I am a skeptical idealist fascinated by human motivations. The mystery to me is not did they or didn't they, but rather whatever possessed these men, either way?

ExplorersWeb You said that in 2005, you returned with an intense desire for bacon and eggs, and champagne sipped from that hollow between the collar bones of beautiful women. Did any of the meals come true this time?

Bob: I have had more champagne than is good for me since my return, thank
you.

ExplorersWeb: You describe yourself "an extreme bachelor". Did you find the warmth and friendliness of Ellesmere that you were looking for or are you having better luck in old LA now that you've lost 25 lbs?

Bob: This time I realized that it is all the same struggle. Ellesmere was cold and hard to us, and still we loved her...

ExplorersWeb: What's next?

Late in life Dr. Cook said that in the future the true frontier for human exploration would be between the ears and behind the eyes. As you know, I would add between the collarbones. Jerry and I have talked casually about the west coast of Greenland, which is rich in the history and terrain we both love, but I have no firm plans right now.

Starting in March, 2007 Canadian Jerry Kobalenko and American Bob Cochran skied 600 km in 45 days from Canada to Pim Island, following Frederick Cook's 1909 route from his winter den on Devon Island. The original goal was to reach the abandoned hunting site of Annoatok in northwest Greenland –but lack of ice forced the skiers to finish the trip at Pim Island, 50 km away from Greenland.

This was Jerry Kobalenko's 15th sledding expedition – actually his 30th self-propelled arctic journey -- including kayaking, canoeing, and backpacking. Jerry’s expedition partner LA resident Bob Cochran kayaked in Alexandra Fiord in the summers of 2001 and 2003 on pilgrimages to the Greely sites on Pim Island. Jerry and Bob first teamed up for a major sledding trip around the Southwest corner of Ellesmere in May, 2005.

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