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Two poles in one year
The only person in the world to have single-handedly reached the two Earth poles within one year is Marek Kamiński, Polish traveler and Arctic explorer, author of travel books, businessman and a member of the exclusive Explorers Club.
In spring of 1995, two Poles, Marek Kamiński and Wojciech Moskal, set off from Cape Columbia on the Ellesemer Island in the Canadian Arctic to follow the 800-kilometer route of Robert Peary to the North Pole. They traveled across the ice pack covering almost the entire Arctic Sea in winter, with strong wind chill effect reaching -50° Centigrade. The march was made difficult by the uneven ice surface, crossed by piled up ice floe and deep cracks masked by thin snow ridges (sastrugas) and snow bridges. Rising temperatures (-20° Centigrade) made them hurry, so that they could return before the spring thaw. After a 72-day trek, they reached the North Pole on May 23, 1995.
After conquering the North Pole, Marek Kamiński took up a solitary journey to the South Pole. He set off from Berkner Island, on the Weddell Sea, on November 4, 1995. His marching route followed the one Roald Amundsen took in 1911 and stretched for 1,400 kilometers. His path led across glaciers and mountain ranges, full of crevices, in a harsh climate with temperatures oscillating between -20° and -70° Centigrade. The Polish polar explorer crossed the Antarctic on skis, pulling a 120 kilogram sled with equipment, without any outside support. He was equipped with a GPS system, which allowed him to determine his position with the help of satellites, and kept communicating with the rest of the world by sending coded messages via the Argos satellite system. He struggled not only against weather conditions, but also with frostbite and painful leg abrasions. He reached his target on December 27, after 53 days of solitary journey.
Marek Kamiński also took part in a jungle expedition to Guatemala and Mexico between 1985 and 1987. In 1990, he reached Spitsbergen, and at the turn of 1996 and 1997, unsuccessfully attempted to single-handedly cross the 1,450 kilometers of the Antarctic. A year later, he conquered Mt. Vinson, the highest peak in the Antarctic, and at the turn of 1998 and 1999 crossed the Atlantic in a Gemini yacht and marched 700 kilometers across the Gibson Desert in Australia. One year later he crossed the Atlantic in the Warta - Polpharma catamaran and participated in the Puro Greenland Expedition, and in an expedition to the sources of the Amazon.
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