Max about the NP: “The cold, especially in the early stages will be tough to handle. Add to that the cramped humid conditions inside the tent, and outside. The numerous pressure ridges and open leads we will have to overcome – not to mention the thread of polar bears.” Image courtesy of Max Chaya (click to enlarge)
“Stuart Smith has climbed the Seven Summits (actually all 8 of them--both Carstensz and Australia), Ama Dablam in Nepal and Huascaran in Peru. Additionally he has climbed Lhotse, Cho Oyu, and Gasherbrum II. He has run 14 marathons including four 50-mile ultra-marathons. He has skied to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet in Nov/Dec 2004, and completed a North Pole last degree expedition in 2004.” Image courtesy of The Northwest Passage/ Polar Explorers/ polarexplorers.com (click to enlarge)
 “During an Arctic career spanning 20 years, Lonnie Dupre has travelled over 14,000 miles throughout the high Arctic by dog team, ski and kayak. His path has often followed in the footsteps of the great Arctic explorers of the last century and like them, Dupre has lived and travelled with the Polar Inuit, learning from these hardy people and developing a deep appreciation for their culture and way of life. Lonnie has earned many prestigious awards over his tenure in the Arctic.” Image courtesy of The Northwest Passage/ Polar Explorers/ polarexplorers.com (click to enlarge)
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ExWeb interview with Max Chaya: “How much outcome is won or lost in the mind rather in the body…”
Posted: Mar 03, 2009 10:20 am EST
(ThePoles.com) Guide Lonnie Dupre together with Max Chaya and Stuart Smith are currently waiting at Resolute Bay to start their ski expedition from Canada to the North Pole. Both Stuart and Max climbed Everest and skied to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet. They will attempt their ‘Third Pole’, the North Pole. Last week ExWeb’s Correne Coetzer caught up with Max in Beirut while eating cookies and chocolates, trying to gain much needed weight.
ExplorersWeb: You have skied from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole in 2007-08. What lessons did you learn there that you would take with you to the North Pole?
Max: Every time you step outside your home, let alone embark on an expedition, you learn something new. And one learns at every age. A major lesson learned during my South Pole expedition was that without fuel, even a Formula One racecar is unable to move. I have looked into the calorie intake/consumption matter closely, and will make sure I have enough fuel this time to be able to finish in good form.
Still I feel that the greatest lesson that one learns from such endurance events, is how much their outcome is won or lost in the mind rather in the body…
ExplorersWeb: How have you prepared differently for the North Pole than for the South Pole?
Max: For sure I planned to put on more fat this time. Whether this has proved successful or not is a different matter… It wasn’t easy to gain fat while training and working close to 9 hours a day, seven days a week for so long. As I write inside my office at Audi Plaza in downtown Beirut, I have cookies, chocolate covered raisins, and milk shake on my desk, and every 90 minutes my watch beeps to remind me to stuff my face! :)
ExplorersWeb: What do you think would be the big difference between the two Poles and how have you prepared mentally to handle it?
Max: The cold, especially in the early stages will be tough to handle. Add to that the cramped humid conditions inside the tent, and outside. The numerous pressure ridges and open leads we will have to overcome – not to mention the thread of polar bears – and the South Pole 2007 expedition in the heart of the Antarctic summer will feel like a holiday on ice by comparison…
I keep myself reminding myself this throughout the training and preparations, hoping in the very back of my mind that it won’t prove that tough after all. A case of preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.
ExplorersWeb: On the Antarctica you lost a lot of weight. Have you gained more weight for this expedition? If yes, how much? What have you learned about eating for and on such an expedition and do you have special treats that you take with not to loose so much weight again?
Max: I have managed to gain 7 kg until now, and that wasn’t easy. I hope to stack another 3 (wishful thinking!) before we set off on March 1st. I began trying to put on weight in mid December when my body fat was close to 11% or 12%. Although I had hoped to reach 20% or 22%. I am content with the 18% or 19% that I have now, and have compensated the difference by taking along more than 8500 calories per day, a far cry from the 5250 or so of my South Pole trip.
It is all about intake and compensation (i.e. the calorie deficit), and having a fast metabolism means that I burn more calories than the average person. I can’t do much about that except carry more food, and be prepared to run on empty towards the end.
ExplorersWeb: Who are your North Pole teammates? Are you guided / unsupported?
Max: Stuart Smith (Texas - USA) is a veteran of the outdoors, and we actually shared a tent during our last degree trip to the North Pole in 2004 led by Borge Ousland. Lonnie Dupre has extensive Polar travel experience (amongst others, All the Way to the North Pole in the summer, and circumnavigation of Greenland), and will be guiding. I just came back from a Shakedown in Grand Marais, Minnesota where Lonnie resides, and I'd like to think that we form a pretty experienced, and well-bonded team.
Lonnie du Pre from the USA will be guiding Maxime Chaya from Lebanon and fellow American, Stuart Smith, starting from Ward Hunt Island and skiing to the North Pole as the Peary Centennial North Pole expedition. The men will receive 1-2 resupplies.
The team said in their press release, “Nearly 100 years ago, Peary and Matthew A. Henson, along with a team of Inuit, became the first men to reach the North Pole. Peary and his entourage of 23 men and 133 dogs set off from Ellesmere Island on a bitterly cold March 1, 1909.”
”As they travelled north, they lightened their loads and reduced the size of their party. Only six men, Peary, Henson, and four Polar Inuit, Oatah, Egingwah, Seegloo, and Ookeah, were left to set foot on the Pole on April 6, 1909. For 80 years, sceptics disputed the claim, and although the Navigation Foundation upheld it in 1989, the controversy remains.”
“The Peary Centennial North Pole Expedition has two purposes. The first is to encourage and engage governmental policy for the foundation of an International Arctic Treaty.”
“The second is to develop the 'Cool - Not Cool' campaign, illustrating via images the link between global warming, excesses in the lifestyles of developed countries and poor energy policies. The 'Cool - Not Cool' campaign will be integrated into the expedition websites, e-newsletters, pre-and post-expedition multimedia presentations and a proposed book and film.”
Biographies courtesy of polarexplorers.com:
Maxime Chaya was born and raised in Lebanon, and had his schooling in Lebanon, France, Greece and Canada. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic, and holds a B.Sc. (Econ.) honors degree from the London School of Economics. Max has climbed the Seven Summits and skied to the South Pole unassisted & unsupported - 47 days, in Dec. 2007. He also skied the North Pole Last Degree in 2004. He was knighted (National Order of the Cedar) in December 2003, and again in May 2006 with a grade of "Officer".
Stuart Smith was born 1959, is Civil Trial Lawyer in Waco, Texas since 1987 Stuart has also climbed the Seven Summits (actually all 8 of them--both Carstensz and Australia), Ama Dablam in Nepal and Huascaran in Peru. Additionally he has climbed Lhotse, Cho Oyu, and Gasherbrum II. He has run 14 marathons including four 50-mile ultra-marathons. He has skied to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet in Nov/Dec 2004, and completed a North Pole last degree expedition in 2004.
During an Arctic career spanning 20 years, Lonnie Dupre has travelled over 14,000 miles throughout the high Arctic by dog team, ski and kayak. His path has often followed in the footsteps of the great Arctic explorers of the last century - Robert E. Peary, Roald Amundsen, and Knud Rasmussen. Like them, Dupre has lived and travelled with the Polar Inuit, learning from these hardy people and developing a deep appreciation for their culture and way of life. Lonnie has earned many prestigious awards over his tenure in the Arctic including the Scott Pearlman Award, 2005; Rolex Award for Enterprise, 2004; Polartec Challenge Award, 2001 and 2000. He's and Elected Fellow, National Explorers Club, 1996. He was honoured with running a dog team through the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, Oslo, Norway, 1994 and has earned thee Soviet "Sportsman's Medal" from Mikhail Gorbachev, 1989. Lonnie has also written two books.
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