Christina Franco North Pole Solo 2010

In March 2010 Christina Franco will return to Canada to have another go at completing the first successful female solo expedition to the North Pole. The 775KM journey from Ward Hunt Island in northern Canada will be undertaken on foot pulling supplies including food and fuel on a sled. The expedition is expected to take 60 days.

No one lives at Ward Hunt Island , it is the last bit of coast before stepping onto the Arctic sea ice. The first 20 days will be a gauntlet of ice blocks sometimes as high as a two-story building. The principle to how these amazing mountains of ice rubble are created is very much the same as what creates mountains on land only it is not earth crust but frozen sea plates that collide. Pen Hadow said in his book “Solo” that they sounded like a foundry when they were happening. The proximity to the coast and the natural shelter these structures create make a great home for polar bears and Christina will have to be extra vigilant.

Once the rubble is cleared the terrain flattens but the new threat of open water replaces it. Christina will carry a dry suit that fits over all her clothes and her sled floats allowing her to slip into the water and swim across to the other side. This will make her vulnerable to icy-cold water as well as making her look like a seal to any polar bear, so she will only do this if there is really no way around the water at all.

Every night she will put up a tent and melt water to re-hydrate freeze dried food. Modern technology will enable her to tap out a blog and send it through an Iridium phone straight trough to this web site so check in during the expedition to hear all about what she experiences and sees. Once her GPS guides her to the North Pole she will be collected by the Russians who set up a temporary camp in April 1 degree from the pole and flown home through Norway.

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