Viking Magazine - February 2017 - 22

education. Climate change has been a big part of that. I'm
trying to get people interested. In 2006, I did a lot of [climate]
policy advocacy. It moved more into 'Cold is Cool,' which
evolved into environmental issues. "
Larsen is partnered with Protect our Winters
(protectourwinters.org), whose mission is to unite and
actively engage the global snow sports community to lead the
fi ght against climate change. He's also partnered with Climate
Reality Project, an organization dedicated to unleashing a
global cultural movement demanding action on the
climate crisis.
" I have seen fi rsthand the effects of global warming on the
Arctic pack ice, " Larsen says. " The statistics are undeniable:
Over the past seven years, the Arctic Ocean has seen a
steady and signifi cant reduction of sea ice and is becoming
signifi cantly less stable with each passing year. "
" Winter is a healthy part of the ecosystem, " he says. " Now
we're in this unprecedented time where it's almost a race to
be last, instead of a race to be fi rst to the poles. I have to
ask myself: What difference am I making? I focused on cold
initially because when people focused on global warming and
climate change, some people were glad it was warmer. I try to
teach people that winter is healthy. "
Larsen has completed more North and South Pole
expeditions than any other American. His accomplishments
include the fi rst-ever summer expedition to the North Pole,
as well as a world-record expedition to the South Pole,
North Pole and the top of Mt. Everest within a 365-day
period. In 2014, Larsen and his expedition teammate, Ryan
Waters, trekked from northern Ellesmere Island, in the
Canadian territory of Nunavut, to the geographic North Pole
in 53 days. The pair called it Last North because it " may
realistically be the last opportunity anyone has to complete
a journey of this type, in this region, " due to melting sea
ice. Animal Planet is featuring the harrowing journey in a
documentary, " Melting: Last Race to the Pole, " and Larsen
recounted the quest in the book he co-authored with Hudson
Lindenberger, " On Thin Ice. "
" We fi lmed 'Melting' ourselves, " Larsen says. " It gives
an insight into my personal mission. " In addition to Animal
Planet, the fi lm is also available on iTunes and Amazon. " It's
an opportunity to create awareness. " He hopes to inspire
more honest conversations about the melting of the sea ice
and other impacts of global climate change by drawing the
attention of more adventure and extreme sport enthusiasts.
" In the United States, polar travel has not always been at
the forefront of adventure travel, " he said. " Long, boring
'suffer fests' - that's what I specialize in. " In Norway, he's
something of a national celebrity and source of pride as
a Norwegian-American. " With polar exploration there is
Norwegian-American Eric
Larsen is continuing a
Norwegian tradition of polar
and extreme expeditions
that date back hundreds
Amundsen (born July 16, 1872, in Borge, near Oslo), was the fi rst
explorer to reach the South Pole, the fi rst to make a ship voyage
through the Northwest Passage and one of the fi rst to cross the
Arctic by air. He is considered one of the greatest fi gures in the
of years. Two of the bestknown
Norwegian explorers,
Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof
Nansen, were heroes to
Larsen as a young man and
continue to inspire him today.
22 VIKING FEBRUARY 2017 sonsofnorwaycom
fi eld of polar exploration. He reached the South Pole with his team
in 1911, by sailing Nansen's old ship, the Fram to Antarctica. In 1928,
Amundsen lost his life fl ying to rescue Italian aeronautical engineer
Umberto Nobile from a dirigible crash near Spitsbergen (the
largest island of the Svalbard archipelago), north of Norway.
Amundsen's books include " The South Pole " (1912) and, with
American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth, " First Crossing of the
Polar Sea " (1927).
PHOTO COURTESY MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY 2013
http://www.protectourwinters.org
Viking Magazine - February 2017

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