For even the most adventurous of us, just getting to the North Pole is an accomplishment; a few of you may even decide to try and make it on foot, you masochists. But for Panerai ambassador Mike Horn and fellow adventurer Børge Ousland, even that wasn’t enough. It’s why last year they attempted to not just reach the North Pole by foot, but do so at precisely the wrong time of year: summer.
“It’s a different experience entirely,” explains Horn. “In the winter the ice is solid, frozen; in the warmer months it’s far thinner and, worse, moving.” That’s right, moving ice. It meant that after being dropped off from the boat Pangaea, the pair were constantly moving against the ground.
“Not only was the thin ice dangerous and slow to walk across, it actively lengthened the expedition! During the day we’d gain miles and miles, but when we made camp at night we lost up to half of that.”
The pair had assumed it would take them two months to make the crossing, and packed the appropriate amount of supplies and some extra, just in case it took a little longer. It took them 87 days. “We’re seasoned explorers but we were worried,” he says of the last few days. “We underestimated what we’d find; we were lucky to make it in the end.”
If there’s one positive that came out of it – other than the suicidally difficult accomplishment – was that the journey helped underpin what Horn has been saying for years: that climate change is destroying the Arctic.
“It’s something that you need to see for yourself; numbers and statistics are one thing, but going back there every few years, you experience what’s really happening to the ice, to the wildlife. When you’ve seen a grizzly kill a polar bear, one that’d had to swim from the Arctic to the coast of North America, you know something’s wrong.”
It’s something that Horn’s been taking a more active role in recently, with his latest expedition – again to the Arctic – for the sake of whale conservation. Whales are a great indicator of the health of our oceans, thanks to their intelligence and sensitivity to their environments. While most of the time that means doom and gloom for the aquatic mammals, they’ve been having a break recently, for one big reason.
The Panerai Submersible Limited Edition dedicated to the artic explorer has a bezel and case back made from ECOTITANIUM™ while the light strong bracelet is made of recycled plastic.
“Since the Covid 19 epidemic, there have been fewer humans sailing their waters, polluting and hunting”, explains Horn. “So we’ve taken the opportunity to measure their stress levels. If they’ve gone down, it’s empirical proof of our negative impact on them as a species and so our oceans. Once we can prove that, the next step is to create reserves for them, to ensure their safety.”
It’s a noble goal and one that Horn is evidently passionate about – which makes sense. This is a man that has spent a good deal of his life in the Arctic, not just crossing the snow and ice but also learning about it. Now he has a chance to help save it, too.
More details at Mike Horn.
