North Pole team arrives

Press, 16 May 1989, Page 11

North Pole team arrives

NZPA-Reuter Ottawa The British adventurer, Robert Swan, became the first person to walk to both ends of the Earth when he led a team of seven other explorers to the North Pole on Sunday. But an expedition spokesman said the team could be in peril because of thin ice and low visibility. “They’ve reached the Pole,” said Tracy Carpenter, a spokeswoman for the Icewalk Expedition. “Now the next job is getting them out.” Ms Carpenter said there was concern over when a Twin Otter aircraft could get to the explorers and bring them out. “The visibility is bad and the ice is rough and thin,” she said. The eight explorers reached the North Pole after travelling 1000 km on skis. The team left Ellesmere Island in the Canadian north nearly four weeks ago. The team includes two from Britain, and one each from the United States, the Soviet Union, Canada, Australia, West Germany and Japan. Swan and two other British explorers retraced the steps of Captain Robert Scott through Antarctica to reach the South Pole on January 12, 1986. They had set out on November 2 1984, 74 years to the day after Scott began his expedition.