Børge Ousland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may contain excessive or improper use of copyrighted images and/or audio files. Please review the use of non-free media according to policy and guidelines, correct any violations, then remove this tag once compliant. See the talk page for details. This article has been tagged since June 2008.

Børge Ousland was born 31st of May 1962 in Oslo Norway.

"Børge Ousland, is arguably the most accomplished polar explorer alive!". (National Geographich Adventure, February 2006).

Ousland grew up on Nesodden outside Oslo. After high school he trained as a diver and worked from 1984 to 1993 as a saturation diver in the North Sea. In the period 1989 – 1991 Børge served his military service in the Norwegian Special Naval Forces.

Across Greenland In 1986 Børge and two of his diving colleagues, Agnar Berg and Jan Morten Ertsaas, skied across Greenland. In 37 days they traveled from Angmassalik on the east coast to Umanak on the west coast, a distance of 800 km in direct line. At that time only a few had traveled across the inland ice since Fritjof Nansen and five companions first made the crossing in 1888.

North Pole The next expedition was in 1990 when Børge, Geir Randby and Erling Kagge set out from Ellesmere Island in Canada for the North Pole without receiving any supplies underway. Randby had to be picked up due to an injury, but Ousland and Kagge completed the trip in 58 days (March 8 to May 4, 1990). This was the first unsupported ski trek to the North Pole; a distance of 800 km.

Børge Ousland and Agnar Berg attempted in 1993 to ski across the drift ice from Frans Josef Land to Svalbard, but the expedition had to be aborted when they encountered large areas of open water.

Solo to the North Pole Although the North Pole trip in 1990 had created a lot of interest in Norway and abroad, it was nothing compared to the attention created following his solo trek to the North Pole in 1994, also completed without any outside support. He started from Cape Arktichesky in Northern Siberia on March 2, 1994 and arrived at the North Pole 52 days later on April 22. After successfully completing this expedition Børge Ousland has worked full time on expeditions and the tasks associated with these.

Across Antartica (unsupported) The next challenge was to be the first to cross Antarctica alone without support from coast to coast via the South Pole. In 1995 Ousland had to abandon this trip due to frost injuries after having passed the South Pole itself. Although he did not complete the crossing, he then became the first person to have skied alone without support to both poles.

The very next year, 1996-97, he successfully completed the crossing of Antarctica alone and without receiving any supplies underway. He started November 15 from Berkner Island in the Weddell Sea and he reached the McMurdo base by the Ross Sea on January 17. He had then been underway 64 days and covered a distance of 2845 km. The lowest temperature experienced was minus 56 degrees Celsius. At start the sledge weighed 178 kilos. The maximum altitude reached was about 3400 meter above sea level.

Across the Artic, climbing the Himalayas and crossing Patagonia In 2001 Børge reached another milestone by being the first to cross the Arctic alone from Siberia to Canada via the North Pole in 82 days.

Ousland has twice climbed mountains higher than 8000 meters in the Himalayas (Cho Oyo in 1999; in 2003 he had to turn back just below the peak of Mount Everest).

In 2002 Børge Ousland and Thomas Ulrich made a reconnaissance trip to Patagonia in Chile to study the area for a new expedition. They wanted to explore if it was possible to cross the southern Patagonian Ice Field unsupported. This is the third largest glacier in the world after Antarctica and Greenland.

The following year the couple succeeded in crossing the Patagonian Ice Fields as the first to do so without outside support. The two explorers started with kayak from Tortel, skied over the inland ice fields and 54 days later they finally paddled into Puerto Natales in their kayaks. The combination of Thomas as a mountain climber and Børge as a polar veteran was very successful on this very difficult expedition that, for example, included a 600-meter rappel. The expedition was described in in National Geographic Magazine in August 2004.

North Pole during winter time In 2006, Borge set out on one of his hardest expeditions, North Pole during winter time. 22nd of January Borge and expedition partner Mike Horn left Cape Arktichesky and started the battle against the cold and darkness on the dangerous drifting ice. After more than two months, fighting open water, polar bears, minus 40 conditions and an infection that nearly killed Mike, they reached the Geographical North Pole 23rd of March. This expedition had long been regarded as impossible due to the constant darkness and the extreme cold of the winter months. Beeing the first to do this during the months of winter, they have added a new chapter to the history of Polar exploration.

Following Nansen and Johansen's footsteps In 2007, Borge and Thomas Ulrich started on an old dream; to follow in Fridtjof nansen and Hjalmar Johansens footsteps through Frans Josef land. They started at the North Pole 1st of may, it took the them one and a half months across threashrous summer drift ice to reach Eva Live Island in the north east of the arcipelago. From here they continued, following Nansens route from one island to the other until they finally reached cape Flora in the south parts 24th of July. Here they had to wait almost three weeks, and were forced to live of the land, before the 44 feet long sailboat Athene managed to rech them and picked up the two explorers 13th of August. Sailing across the Barents sea, first to Murmansk to stamp passpoert (frans Josef Land is russian territory), and then to North Cape, the northern most point in Norway. Here Thomas left for sweet home in switzerland, while Borge sailed south to Bodø, where he got on his bycycle and cycled through Norway to his home in Oslo. Borge reached Oslo 18th of September.

Børge Ousland makes his living giving lectures. He is one of the few speakers represented by National Geographic Speakers Bureau; a part of the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. He has also held several lectures for the Royal Geographic Society in London.

Børge has managed to successfully complete his expeditions as a result of thorough preparation with emphasis on training, coordination and development of equipment and properly balanced nutrition.

Books

Umanak, 1987

Alone to the North Pole, 1994

Alone across Antarctica, 1997 (Preface by Sir Edmund Hillary)

Alone across the North Pole, 2001 (Preface by Reinhold Messner)

Skrubbsulten, 2005

Winter without mercy 2006

Films

The North Pole; the last race, 1991

Alone to the North Pole, 1994 (First prize in Dijon Adventure Film Festival)

Alone across Antarctica, 1997

The big white, 2001 (First prize in Moscow Adventure Film Festival and in Torello Mountain Film Festival)

Patagonia, To the ends of the world, 2005 (First price in Moscow and Bulgaria adventure film festivals).

Articles:

National Geographic Magazine, March 1991. The hard way to the North Pole.

National Geographic Magazine, March 2001: Solo across the North Pole

National Geographic Magazine, August 2004: Big Ice (Patagonia)

National Geographich Magazine, August 2007: North Pole winter

Børge Ousland has received several International prizes for his films and expeditions.

[1]