Yesterday marked the 100th Anniversary of man's arrival at the North Pole. The achievements of that day in April 1909 when Edward Peary and Matthew Henson are said to have reached the northernmost reach of the planet, have long been under debate.
Last month I was delighted to hear polar explorer Tom Avery to talk about his adventures in the polar regions; including his recreation of the race to the North Pole, beating Peary and Henson's time by just five hours! Tom has just released an excellent book, To the End of the Earth, retracing his challenging journey and proving that these brave men did infact achieve their ultimate goal of reaching the pole. Nowadays it is incredible to think that people can travel on an expedition voyage to the North Pole with a powerful nuclear icebreaker in comfort and safety - very different conditions to those experienced by these hardy men.
Descendants of Peary and Henson gathered at the Arlington Cemetary yesterday, together with Tom, to celebrate the achievements of these men a century ago; read the full report in the Washington Post here.
Best polar wishes! Nikki
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