Race To The Pole Continues As Gavin Survives Massive Storm

A few weeks back I told you about Gavin Bate and his Race Me To The Pole expedition. Gavin is one of the few people who has ventured into the Arctic this spring although he isn't attempting to go to the Geographic North Pole, located at 90ºN, but is instead heading to the Magnetic North Pole, which is found at 78° 35’N, 104°11’W.

On April 4, Gavin set out from Resolute Bay in Canada for a ski expedition to Magnetic North. He has been traveling solo and unsupported ever since and conditions have been less than ideal for much of the journey. High winds have impeded progress at times and a massive blizzard has kept him tent-bound for the past few days while he has waited for the storm to blow over. He just returned to the trail this morning after more than 60 hours stranded inside his tiny dome-tent out on the ice. The weather reportedly remains a bit dicey but conditions are expected to improve over the next few days.

As of this writing, Gavin is currently located at 76º 10'N, which means he still has a considerable distance to go before he reaches his goal. Hopefully the weather and surface conditions will turn in his favor allowing him to make better time over these last two degrees to the Magnetic North Pole. Under optimal conditions, those two degrees would still take a couple of weeks to complete, but considering how unpredictable the weather can be in the Arctic this time of year, who knows what he'll have to face in the days ahead.

Gavin has undertaken this expedition in an effort to raise funds for his very own Moving Mountains Trust, an organization dedicated to sustainable development in Tanzania, Kenya, Borneo and Nepal. The British adventurer is "racing" us all to the poll by having donations count as a preset distance. In this case, £1 ($1.50) is worth 25 meters and the hope is that our donations will actually cover the 550km (341 miles) faster than Gavin can do it in the real world. At the moment, he is losing the race, which is something I'm sure he is quite happy about.

Follow Gavin's progress at RaceMeToThePole.com.