Peary-Henson Expedition

Read the daily blog starting February 28, 2009!

The Team

Stuart Smith

Born 1959, Civil Trial Lawyer in Waco, Texas since 1987
Stuart has slso climbed the Seven Summits (actually all 8 of them--both Carstensz and Australia), Ama Dablam in Nepal and Huascaran in Peru. Additionally he has climbed Lhotse, Cho Oyu, and Gasherbrum II. He has run 14 marathons including four 50-mile ultra-marathons. He has skied to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet in Nov/Dec 2004, and completed a North Pole last degree expedition in 2004.

Maxime Chaya

Maxime was born and raised in Lebanon, and had his schooling in Lebanon, France, Greece and Canada. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic, and holds a B.Sc. (Econ.) honors degree from the London School of Economics. Max has climbed the Seven Summits and skied to the South Pole unassisted & unsupported - 47 days, in Dec. 2007
He also skied the North Pole Last Degree in 2004. He was knighted (National Order of the Cedar) in December 2003, and again in May 2006 with a grade of "Officer".

Lonnie Dupre

During an Arctic career spanning 20 years, Lonnie Dupre has traveled over 14,000 miles throughout the high Arctic by dog team, ski and kayak. His path has often followed in the footsteps of the great Arctic explorers of the last century - Robert E. Peary, Roald Amundsen, and Knud Rasmussen. Like them, Dupre has lived and traveled with the Polar Inuit, learning from these hardy people and developing a deep appreciation for their culture and way of life. Lonnie has earned many prestigous awards over his tenure in the Arctic including the Scott Pearlman Award, 2005; Rolex Award for Enterprise, 2004; Polartec Challenge Award, 2001 and 2000. He's and Elected Fellow, National Explorers Club, 1996. He was honored with running a dog team through the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, Oslo, Norway, 1994 and has earned thee Soviet "Sportsman's Medal" from Mikhail Gorbachev, 1989

He is the author of two books: Greenland Expedition - Where Ice is Born - 2000 Creative Publishing International, MN and They Lived to Tell the Tale Contributing Author, 2007 Lyons Press

The Route

Our team will start at Ward Hunt Island at approximately 83°05" North latitude on or about March 1, 2009. From here they will traverse the Arctic Ocean to 90° North, the Geographic North Pole. This distance, as the crow flies, is approximately 420 nautical miles (that's 483 statute miles), but of course the team will rarely travel in a straight line, and with drift they could end up skiing much more. Keep up with the team's daily progress by reading the expedition blog.

About the expedition...

2009 marks a significant year in polar history. It is the 100th anniversary of when Robert Peary and Matthew Henson, together with a small team of Inuit, first placed a human footprint at the North Pole. This expedition marked the culmination of many years spent trying to reach the North Pole by several prominent explorers. The daring expeditions of the past live on in our attempt to re-create Peary's expedition 100 years later.

The Expedition is proud to be using Primaloft inner sleeping bags, parkas and insulated pants to keep them warm in the minus 30 to minus 50 degree temperatures expected during the beginning of the expedition.

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