To press Peary’s case as strongly as possible, the Barclays Ultimate North team is aiming to make as close a simulation of his journey as possible, as long as it does not compromise the team’s safety. Unfortunately, Global Warming has caused the Arctic pack ice to reduce from a thickness of 12 foot in 1909 to less than 8 foot today, making the return leg impossible.

Dogs

Peary used the Eskimo Dogs from northwest Greenland on his 1909 expedition. He took a total of 250 dogs on his ship to northern Ellesmere Island, which were stripped down as the polar party headed north. Like Peary, the team will be traveling with the Eskimo dog and will use eight dogs per sled. 16 dogs will take part on the expedition, which have been selected from a larger squad of 20 animals. The Eskimo dog is considered the best expedition dog in the Arctic and there are less than 500 pure breeds left in the world.

Above : The Eskimo Dog

Navigation

Peary and Henson were expert navigators. They spent several years working on the construction of the Panama Canal, where Peary was assigned as a surveyor for the US Engineering Corps. The Inuit who traveled with Peary were also highly skilled navigators themselves. Traveling in the Arctic was in their blood and Peary learnt to adopt their techniques. Like Peary, the team will be able to maintain their course by traveling with sun, shadow and sastrugi, and by checking compasses from time to time.

Peary and Henson were experts at dead-reckoning distances, a skill which they had acquired after many years traveling through the high Arctic. The team is not as proficient in dead reckoning and will instead rely on a GPS to find out their position at the end of every day.

They will be taking a sextant on the expedition and compare its readings to the GPS data. Hopefully this will show that it could have been used as an accurate observation tool in Peary’s day.

Method of Travel

Peary’s sleds never weighed more than 500 pounds. This is a crucial part of the equation. A sled weighing more than this becomes extremely difficult and dangerous to move up and over pressure ridges and does not safely travel over the thin ice of re-frozen leads.

Above : The “Peary” sled

Peary knew this all too well and developed a plan that would allow him to travel with light sleds. Peary’s critics often use other expeditions to prove that the distances claimed by Peary are not possible on the Arctic Ocean, but what they fail to mention is that most dog sledging expeditions since Peary’s day had sleds weighing well over 1000 pounds.

Peary built wooden sleds that resembled the ones the Inuit used for travel and hunting, reinforced to withstand the rugged terrain of the sea ice. The team has built two sleds from Canadian Spruce and Ash of the same dimensions and design to the Peary sleds. The loads will never exceed 500 pounds.

Above : Tom working on the sleds in Baffin Island

The key to Peary’s success was his efficiency. His route finding teams were sent out in front to blaze the trail for the main party following along behind. The Barclays Capital Ultimate North team will do just the same. Much in the same way as Sherpa teams are sent out to find the best route through Mount Everest’s Khumbu Icefall, two skiers will travel ahead of the dog teams with picks and axes to establish a route through the pressure ridges and around leads.

Above : Andrew helping the sled over a pressure ridge in Baffin Island

Of the other three team members, two will drive the dogs and the other will float between the dog teams to assist them over the pressure ridges. Roles will be rotated every day. Just as was the case on Peary’s expedition, there will no waiting but movement forward at all times during the travel period.

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