“Clearly, what was once called ‘exploration’ in the geographical sense no longer exists. No longer are there pioneers like Peary, Nansen, Amundsen, Shackleton and Scott whose vocation it was to venture (for several years at a time) into territory which no human being had set eyes on before. Their nearest equivalent these days is the ‘extreme sportsman’ – an adventurer attracted by the challenge of beating a record merely by timing himself or herself over the same route…”
These words are from a super article about pole bagging by Sir Wally Herbert, Richard Weber, Dr. Mikhail Malakhov and Sir Ranulph Fiennes. It’s well worth a read.
It’s a good article, obvious quite old now as Wally Herbert is no longer with us. It’s squarely aimed at discrediting Avery’s 2005 NP recreation – which I think most serious polar travellers agree was flawed in many ways. I think the article, especially with that title, could have delved much deeper and come up with some more interesting ideas. The impressive list of authors further supports this – I felt a bit disappointed!