Here, Curtis is helping a grade school girl with her special
assignment in geography.
Hello Molly:
Click Here are the
answers to your questions, and then I’m gonna send you some pictures
and stuff after this.
1. How do you stay in
contact with people when you are off exploring?
During the times of Robert Peary and Scott, etc….as you know, there
was no way to communicate from the expedition party to home, except
by sailing ships, the limited teletype (like you see with Morse
Code), and by addressed ground mail. Today we are fortunate enough
to have satellites up in space which we can bounce messages off by
using “Satellite Phones”. These are super powerful battery operated
phones which send microwaves upward into the sky, and which MUST
HAVE TO BE TIMED WHEN A COMMUNICATION SATELLITE TRAVELS DIRECTLY
OVERHEAD. Since there are no booster stations or towers, we have to
send a , strong microwave signal up to the satellite, and cloudy
skies or other weather patterns can affect the quality of the
signal. Interestingly, most all communication satellites are
positioned around the equator, and there are less and less
satellites that service as you go further toward the poles. The
reason is because of profits and service. Satellites around the
equator can blanket or cover more area and population of people, and
as you go toward the poles, there are less financial returns to
stick a satellite at either poles. Fortunately, there was one
somewhat experimental project by Iridium Company and they put up 3
satellites that circle the poles, but there are gaps in time when
you can’t reach them, or that weather plays stronger roles in the
signal. Understandably, when I contacted Iridium to ask if we could
set up video as well as audio, they discouraged any attempts because
those satellites weren’t prepared to deal with video…so no pictures.
Only when we get permission from the US Military to move a satellite
into a “higher” orbit, have we gotten video “Live” from the North or
South Poles, but vary rarely. Jeff, the fellow at Yellow Airplane
was working with a NASA Group one year at the North Pole, and they
moved a satellite to accommodate a new science program that could
measure the thickness of the Arctic Ice, by moving a satellite in
outer space around to help us send critical data. Also, a strange
physical barrier occurs when using a typical satellite that may
circle at the latitude that England and New York are at. The Earth
curves and so no matter how high up in space a satellite might be,
if you tried to bounce a signal directly to the top or bottom of the
Earth…..the curve of the Earth, will cause that signal to be
physically blocked by the Earth itself…..(I’ll try and draw this,
and send it to you…..if this doesn’t make sense…the picture will
explain it quick and simple). So, we now use satellite phones, and
can dial a number such as my Mother….to say….”Hi Mom, I’m calling
you from the North Pole…..(Geographic North Pole).” Now there was
the time back from 1920 to 1982, when the satellite phone was
invented, that explorers used HF Frequency….or “High” Frequency”
even UHF…..this is similar to what TV sets run on to receive
television stations. Well anyway, we used to use that HF radio to
signal explorers, but it could reach perhaps 400 or 500 miles out.
This is what we used to use when I first started polar exploring
with the Russians, and one year we had a plan set out, and could not
reach them by HF Radio, cause of the Suns Solar Flares where acting
up that year…….You see due to the Earth’s Electromagnetic
Energy…..you may have learned that the electromagnetic pulses come
in over the North and South Poles, which causes the Aurora Borealis
(& A> Australis). But anyway, since there were tons of solar flares,
and sunspots that year, we lost communication with the plane for
over 7 days, and feared they crashed.
Now,
I’d like to also answer your question in a different way too…..When
an explorer takes off to go on a travel which may take as long as 3
to 4 months, it’s understood that one of the biggest hardships will
be the loss of that person in the realm of friends and one’s loved
family members. So, many of us have had to sacrifice successful
marriages and relationships due to our choice to travel and “Dream
Big”……I went to the North Pole one year, through Russia and Siberia,
and we got stranded in Siberia for like a month. Then three more
months, and when I returned, by Fiance had left me for a friend who
stayed home. You can pay a for excitement sometimes…let that
be a lesson.
2. How do you navigate? If
you use modern methods e.g.GPS, would you be able to continue if
they failed? Can you read the stars?
Again, when Scott did it…….he did it by a talent greater than
anything we do today. He used a sextant, and compass. But there’s
one tricky thing when you go to the Poles…….the North Pole is
currently smack dab in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, while the
“Magnetic” North Pole is now on the Northernmost Islands of Northern
Canada. The earth does not rotate right at the North Geographic
Pole, but 21 degrees off…….thus over the Northern islands of Canada
because that is where the rotation of the Earth axis
is……..again…something as huge as the Earth….when it rotates…….causes
the electromagnetic energies to …eh……….com-boo-bilate (Hoho)…….as
the North Magnetic Pole….due to the rotation of the Earth……but
because maps were made in such ways……the geographic North Pole is
right at the top of the map, or ball of the Earth. So, to make
things fun….when you trek to the North Pole, you can use a compass,
but the closer to the North Pole, the less accurate a compass is,
and the more you have to use special equations to compensate. GPS
was designed using the satellites in space to be able to pin you
down to 5-10 feet on Earth, and that’s what we use. However, there
comes a time when no matter what ….all equipment follows “Murphy’s
Law” and breaks down…or the batteries freeze and don’t work…..and a
great explorer whom prizes himself by his (or her)
self-reliance…ability to survive just by their own knowledge…..this
causes us to try to learn as many other ways as we can, just in
case. Therefore, yes we do rely on the stars, and by the location of
the sun at a specific time. When using stars or the sun or moon, we
also must use time…our watches. We “set” a certain time and
celestial marking….then pick a direction of travel….but are mindful
of how long we spend going in one direction…thus time is an element
of location…to “fix” that place and go to another place, by a
certain time period. Now, when I set my groups of skiers out on the
North Pole Floating Ice Pack……and remember that the North Pole is
smack dab in the center of the Arctic Ocean…..we are walking on 5 to
10 foot thick ice….that is also moving too……the ice may be moving
northeast while we are trying to “get” North………so we have to really
walk toward the northwest, and as we walk…the ice will correct our
direction……..We have spent a full day pulling heavy sledges over
uneven ice…..making say….15 kilometers per day north….then set up
tent and go to sleep….and wake up to find the ice moved us 20
kilometers south, and we lost all the movement we did the day
before……Yuk.
3. Can you melt and drink
the snow or does it need purifying? Yes,
we not only “CAN”…..we “MUST”….EAT THE SNOW……But, we melt it…because
an explorer NEVER eats cold snow repeatedly…cause it will make us
get cold. And, when someone is cold, as Expedition Leader, I order
them to eat, and put a hat on and then change their socks…cause
those are the places we lose heat from the most. When you melt the
snow, you sort of get some small sand out, and heat it enough to get
gases out, but we don’t experience the Ice Floes as being polluted
to a point that we would have to clean or purify it. Now, also know
this…..any explorer accepts that he may die on these trips and so
even if there was any small dangers like pollution in the snow, that
would be the least of our worries…..I once inhaled benzene for about
a week, when we stored it inside my tent (at my objection). Benzene
is a chemical that does not freeze, no matter how cold, even at the
poles. It’s used to put in engines to keep the fuel from freezing,
but when the fuel is burned, it goes into the air within the tent,
and this has more dangers than pollution, because it definitely can
cause cancer, but most explorers are soooooo willing to reach the
North pole or climb Mt. Everest, they …….(as my wife says I
do)…”Bargain with the Devil….in order to go on an exciting
expedition…..explorers carry certain dangers, in order to go to a
place….never seen before…….
4. Have you seen much
pollution at the South Pole?
I
have not “SEEN” much pollution at the South Pole….due to the world
dumping and polluting………that is “see pollution” …or see waste,
etc…….except we do see lots of pollution at the North and South
Poles due to pollution caused by persons and organizations that are
“camped” there…..then, yes there is tons of garbage and
pollution……Those explorers of current times, dump their trash
wherever they feel like it, and very rarely does anyone say
anything…..It is very sad…..but one year, I made it my mission to
bring back all the waste that we made while on an expedition to the
North Pole…….but when I took it to the plane, they refused me with
it, and when I argued, they handed me a bill to carry it back.
Pollution and mans impact…including the Greenhouse effect is
distinctly causing changes at the poles. The thickness of the ice is
definitely thinner in recent years than long time ago…..The polar
bears have been affected and are less often seen.
4. Are Scott's wooden huts still
there?
Yes, the neat thing
about polar science, is that due to the extreme coldness, bacteria,
and other weather factors are NOT present at Antarctica, and so even
a food pan dumped outside in 1912, may be found under frozen
snow…..with even food still on the edges!!! Also, one of Scotts
wooden huts at the Ronne Ice Shelf, is perfectly preserved to the
point it looks like he just left. Also there is an unwritten code
among explorers, that if they disrupt another explorers belongings,
no matter how old, it will have a negative effect on that explorers
outcome of their expedition….sort of…”God is Watching”
5. Name ONE item you couldn't
explore without.
I would have to
say……..my GPS Device…….I wouldn’t like to put my life on my ability
to read the stars….we might end up in Chicago….Hoho
6. Would you ever attempt to go
to the South Pole with the same equipment as Scott?
Wow…..I’ve been
thinking about this question, more than any you have sent
me……”NO”…..I….I would not………Because I feel the greatest items that
Scott had was his desire to reach the South Pole, and I may not have
that much ZEAL…..He was pushed…pressured…..into a corner…where he
had to go on that expedition no matter if he did it in his
underwear…..He had his own battles inside himself for he desired to
do this great thing…..even tho he had some lousy equipment. He stuck
with pushing his sledge full of weight, tho if he had abandoned it
and bolted for the food cache 11 miles away from where he died….he
could have made it !!But back then, there was a code of honor, and
having not reached the South Pole first, he was psychologically
dashed…….and this affected his physical abilities and mental
strength. However, one supporting thought in favor of succeeding
with his equipment is…….that the season he chose…was one of the
coldest in recorded history to that time!!! It was proven, that it
became soooo cold, that his sledge could not glide over the snow,
but was having to have been forcibly dragged over it with terrible
cost of energy lost. He had something like 43 days of weather below
40 degrees centigrade, and this cut the men down. Now Amundson…he
used dogs and so efficiently, they were having an easier go at
it…..where Scott was wasting time trying to press a motorized
sledge, and some horses into work, and this cost him precious time.
7. Your transport caused your
expedition a lot of trouble - would it have been easier with dogs
and sleds?
Yes….if you are
referring to the 2000 Expedition, or the “Millennium Expedition” in
which we attempted to utilize “Snow Buggies” to go from the
Antarctic continent edge….to the South Pole…..AND….AND…..BACK TO THE
CONTINENT EDGE……ALL WHILE HAVING NO EMERGENCY RECOVERY, OR METHODS
TO BE SAVED……The stupid motorized snow buggies were a pain in the
%#&. We would have done much much more better using dogs, and some
sledges (sleds)……Amundson used dogs, and Dogs are absolutely a huge
winning factor over motors in the extreme cold…..I would always use
dogs, and sledges….We call sleds….sledges…or in Russian…and
Norwegian, they are called “Pulks”…but they are sleds as you think
of then…with metal gliders on each side..
8. What
inspired you to explore in the first place? How old were you on
your first exploration?
The inspiration to
explore is a complex one…….I am a dreamer…..but my wife is a
realist……..My wife looks at things the way they are……I look at
things the way they can be…….Both have their merits, but perhaps
being a realist is more functional in today’s society. For example,
I’ve been a boater for decades, going out in the ocean and the
such…..one year I dreamed up a plan to sail from up the east coast
down to the keys south of Florida……I never had done it, but I
dreamed it and set sail…..My wife said it was the most wonderful
experience, but it was not practical, for it cost 6,000, and we
darn near died doing it. A dreamer has a tendency to dream big and
either do something stupendous, or….die trying….so it may sound like
a romantic dream to explore, but it is dangerous. Also it is not
realistic. It cost me 27,000 US to go on one particular expedition
to the South Pole…….I had to sell my retirement fund to get
there…….thus, where my wife says….”I would sell my soul to the Devil
to do some of these crazy things”….so a dreamer has a tendency to
blow money and take dangerous chances, while a realist will be
conservative, and be more dependable….like a Mom…….
What
inspired me………There absolutely has to be some genetics to
exploration….it’s in “your blood’…..then the environment of one’s
childhood has to be full of chances taken….which were
successful……..a youngster used to success as a child, has more
tendency to explore…cause he or she thinks they can beat the
odds….the dangers inherent in the trip. I was 10 years old when I
wanted to be an astronaut, I was 14 when I hiked into the mountains
and came out 4 weeks later…by myself…. A person just knows it……feels
it….takes chances…..
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