On February 22 1909, Peary left his ship, the Roosevelt, in pack ice off Ellesmere Island's Cape Sheridan, and sledged 90 miles west to Cape Columbia on the northern tip of the island. A base camp was established here called Crane City, from where the northward march to the Pole began.

Shortly before setting off, Peary climbed a nearby mountain and gazed northwards over the polar sea. The Arctic Ocean appeared to be a forbidding jumble of ice, but Peary was relieved that the conditions seemed to be much more favourable than his previous attempt in 1906.

Peary had designed an expedition strategy which he believed would give him the best possible chance of success. The expedition party of 24 men, 19 sledges and 133 dogs would be split into two – a route-finding party whose job it was to break the trail and build igloo camps along the route, and the rear party, who would follow 24 hours behind.

Peary planned to spend as much time with the rear divisions as possible to save himself from the hard work of cutting the route through the rough ice and conserve his energy for the latter stages of the journey. Another key factor in Peary’s plan was his use of the Inuit on his team, who were masters of driving dogs through the hazardous pack ice of the Arctic Ocean.

Above : The pioneer parties in rough ice in the early days of the expedition

The first route-finding team set off from Cape Columbia at 83° 07´N on February 28 1909, with Peary following along in the rear the following day. After four days of steady progress, the party became stranded at a giant lead of open water stretching east and west as far as the eye could see that would open increasingly over the next few days. Peary called it The Big Lead and it wasn’t until March 11 that it began to freeze over again. An increasingly frustrated Peary wrote in a note to one of the support parties, “Have waited six days. Can wait no longer.”

The ever depleting polar caravan continued their steady progress northwards, with the young Yale University graduate George Borup’steam turning back at 85° 23´N and the civil engineer Ross Marvin’s at 86° 38´N.

On his return journey to Cape Columbia, Marvin broke through an area of treacherous young ice and drowned. It has been suggested than he was in fact killed by one of his dog drivers, but most Inuit people do not believe this.

The divisions led by Peary and Henson continued northwards at an average of 15 miles a day, still following the trail blazed by the ship’s captain, Robert Bartlett. On March 28, the men finally caught up with Bartlett and his men, camped at an open lead. Not wanting to wake them up, Peary gave the order to build igloos 100 yards away. A few hours later, he was woken up by a groaning of the ice and was shocked to see a narrow lead of inky black water running between his team’s igloos and Bartlett’s. By complete luck, the ice raft on which Bartlett had built his camp, drifted back against the ice where Peary stood and Bartlett and the team were soon reunited.

Above : The caravan approaches an open lead

The lead blocked their progress for another 24 hours, but on March 30, the lead froze over and the whole party hurried across the newly formed ice. Bartlett was quieter than usual that day, because according to Peary’s master plan, he was to turn back for the ship after the next march. He made it as far north as 87° 47´N (known as Bartlett Camp) before writing in a note in his journal, “I leave Commander Peary with five men, five sledges with full loads and forty picked dogs. At the same average as our last eight marches, Commander Peary should reach the Pole in eight days.”

Above : One of the countless pressure ridges which litter the route to the Pole

The six men set off under clear skies on the final 133-mile leg of their journey at 5.00am on April 2. He wrote in his journal, “Going the best and most equable of any day yet. Have no doubt we covered 30 miles, but will be conservative and call it 25.”

On April 3, Peary pushed his team hard, and his dead reckoning put the day’s mileage at 20 miles in 10 hours.

On April 4, Peary recorded, “hit the trail again before midnight after a short sleep. Something over ten hours on a direct course, dogs often on the trot, occasionally on the run. 25 miles. Give me three more days of this weather.”

By April 5, Peary was starting to grow increasingly confident of success. “Over the 89 th!! 10 hours, 25 miles or more. Great. We have been very fortunate with the leads so far, but I am in constant and increasing dread of encountering an uncrossable one.”

Peary was back on the trail before midnight, and at 10.00am on April 6, the men stopped at the site of their final campsite. Henson asked his leader what the camp should be called. Peary replied, “This, my boy, is to be Camp Jesup, the last and most northerly camp on Earth.”

Above : Peary’s igloo at Camp Jessup

Peary’s journal for that day gives some insight into the sheer determination of the man. “The Pole at last!!! The prize of 3 centuries, my dream and ambition for 23 years. Mine at last.”

He later wrote, “The accumulated weariness of all those days and nights of forced marches, insufficient sleep, constant peril and anxiety seemed to roll across me all at once. I was actually too exhausted to realise that my life’s purpose had been achieved.”

After spending 30 hours in the vicinity of the Pole, making short sledging journeys, taking sun sights and other observations, Peary was satisfied that he had indeed reached the North Pole. On the afternoon of April 7, the party turned for home. From Camp Jesup, the party scurried southwards, fearful that the spring break-up of the Arctic ice could leave them stranded. The men covered the 133 miles back to Bartlett Camp in three forced marches, during which they only managed nine hours of rest in 56½ hours.

Above : Crossing a lead during the return journey

A shattered Peary wrote in his diary on April 10, “From here to the Pole and back has been a glorious sprint, with a savage finish. Its results are due to hard work, little sleep, much experience, first class equipment and good fortune as regards weather and open water.” Two weeks later, they were back at Cape Columbia.

For decades, the final 133-mile stretch of ice which lies across the roof of the world, which Peary traversed so easily, has been at the heart of the controversy. Having averaged a steady 12.8 miles per march from Cape Columbia to Bartlett Camp, Peary’s average march in the five days to the Pole rose to 25.6 miles, which increased to an astonishing 45 miles per day for the return push to Bartlett Camp.

The Barclays Capital Ultimate North team aims to settle the debate once and for all and match Peary’s impressive speeds.

Above : The first men to stand at the top of the world?

Back to the top