Polar PIONEER

Taking on the North and South Poles and the Arctic and Antarctic solo, Norwegian explorer Berge Ousland is one of the world's most celebrated polar adventurers. He talks camping on pack ice, climate change and the thrill of owning his own island with Hele

You’re about to embark on another tour of the Arctic. Tell us where you’ll be going and what you’ll be doing

I’m going to cross the North Pole with [Swiss explorer] Mike Horn. Mike and I previously skied to the North Pole in Winter, and we’re going to sail into the Polar Ocean with Mike’s boat, Pangaea. We’ll leave the boat at the ice edge and ski from there towards the North Pole and further across to Svalbard, an archipelago between Norway and the North Pole. We’ll be picked up by the same boat at the ice edge north of Svalbard.

You’ve completed many expeditions solo. What appeals to you about travelling alone and what are some of the most difficult things to deal with such as loneliness, making every decision on your own and motivating yourself

It’s interesting to be solo since there is no one to blame, it’s up to you to make your own decisions or mistakes, no one else. You get great satisfaction from mastering such elements solo, and at the same time you get a deeper dialogue with yourself when there’s no one to lean on. A big solo trip in the polar regions is a kind of meditation really.

You are often described as the most accomplished polar explorer alive. Do you feel like that is a fair assessment?

Oh, I don’t know, I hate to rank myself, there are so many good explorers, but there have probably not been anyone doing so many long solo treks to the Poles than me.

Which modern-day explorers do you admire and why?

I think explorers like Reinhold Messner, that really broke barriers and did something new, that people before thought was impossible, is a great inspiration for all of us.

What inspired your passion to explore? And have you always wanted to be an explorer?

I think I’ve always been an explorer even if I didn’t know it before. I always like adventure, the simple life of living in a tent, where you live in the here and now.

You have many achievements to be proud of in your life. Which ones mean the most?

I think the first solo trek, that I did in 1994 (the first solo, unsupported journey to the North Pole from Cape Arktichevsky in Russia) is the one I’m most proud of Why? Because it was my first solo experience, and nothing beat those virgin feeling when you experience something for the first time.

Now that you are in your late 50s, are you still ambitious? Are there still journeys you would still really like to make?

Yes – adventure never stops, and I have still more expeditions planned. I’m crossing the 20 greatest icecaps in the world together with [French polar explorer] Vincent Colliard and we have so far done nine icecaps (they crossed both icecaps on Baffin island in Canada last year). We do this project to document what’s happening with the world glacier from a climate perspective.

You offer a wide range of trips, from crossing the North Patagonian Cap to Everest basecamp via Gokyo. Which are some of the most memorable trips you have led, and why?

My favourite is the North Pole, the pack ice and the fact that you camp on sea ice with 4,000 metres deep water beneath you is a special experience. People grow a lot on these trips and I like to see people grow.

You own an island, Manshausen, off Norway’s Northwest coast. Tell us about how you came to discover and own it

I discovered and bought Manshausen because of the nature there. Everything I like to do, you can partake in there – fishing, hiking, diving – and the scenery is amazing. What we’ve tried to do with our awardwinning huts is to create that interaction with nature, and I feel like we’ve really succeeded with that.

How is climate change impacting on your expeditions and trips, and do you expect it to have more of an impact in the next few years?

Climate change has had a huge effect in the polar regions, and we see that it’s happening here and now. The polar icecap is thinning and all the glaciers in the Arctic are receding, and we all know that a melting glacier at the end of the day will end up in the ocean and contribute to rising sea levels. Climate change is the biggest challenge humanity is faced with. It will turn the world upside down. ousland.no