With the South Pole and six of the Seven Summits complete, Ian has set his sights on the final polar challenge of the Explorer's Grand Slam: the Geographic North Pole.

Ian plans to join polar explorer Eric Larsen's guided team for the full journey from Cape Arktichesky in Siberia to the Geographic North Pole: approximately 1,000 km across the frozen Arctic Ocean, taking close to two months. Eric's published programme proposes arrival in Krasnoyarsk in late February, with an intended start on 7 March 2027. Dates and arrangements remain provisional until final confirmation.

Why it is so hard

Unlike Antarctica, there is no land under the North Pole. The team will travel over moving sea ice, negotiating pressure ridges, fractured ice and open water, on ski and snowshoe, with the possibility of swimming across open leads in specialist equipment. Three resupplies are planned during the crossing, followed by extraction from the Pole. The last full expedition from land to the North Pole was completed by Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters in 2014.

Preparation includes a mandatory Arctic Ocean training course, physical training and equipment testing, and everyone on the team contributes to navigation, camp routines and daily expedition tasks. For Ian, it builds on the solo ski to the South Pole and two crossings of the Hardangervidda plateau in Norway.

Supporting the expedition

This will be a guided team expedition with resupply, operating through Russian logistics. Ian will again be raising money for veterans' charities, and sponsorship opportunities for the expedition are open now. Find out more on the sponsorship page.

Alongside the North Pole, Aconcagua is the last of the Seven Summits that Ian has still to climb.

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