Into the Cold: A Journey of the Soul Page #2

very difficult to travel and hike...

...around in the summer because all

those trails that we're walking...

...would be filled with marsh

so you can cut trails...

...in the winter and that's

what we're doing.

lt's gorgeous around here.

The mild temps and the rain make

for very slushy conditions...

...and l have some trepidation

pulling my 200 pounds of weight.

As it turns out, the sledge

starts gliding in the slush and...

...before long my body temperature

rises to a steady sweat.

This will be the biggest

challenge in the great North.

Sweat can be deadly. The game

hinges on how to regulate the...

...systems to maximize performance,

while minimizing body heat.

Tomorrow will be the

first test of endurance...

...with eight full hours

of skiing.

My body aches, and as l lay to

rest l am contemplative...

...of my limitations which silently

scream from the depths of my soul:

"What type of man are you to think

you will succeed at this?"

The countdown has begun;

l will set off on March 23rd.

March 1 7th, 2009.

Tonight we'll be honoring Sebastian

Copeland who is travelling...

...to the North Pole to raise

awareness about global warming.

Global Green's resident architect

trekker, author, and Board Member,..

...also an Angeleno. Sebastian

will depart on a two-month...

...Arctic trip to the North Pole to

document ice cap melts,..

...to bring further attention to the

loss of the Arctic to global warming.

Today, the city of West Hollywood

made a proclamation of...

...my departure and gifted me

with a certificate and...

...a proper send off

at City Hall.

lt's a great honor to have you

recognize this trip.

As you've mentioned the North Pole

is a rapidly changing environment.

lt has had the greatest

consecutive ice loss...

...culminating in the last two years

with about a half million...

...square miles of ice loss

in the summer periods.

That's an area the size of

California and Texas combined.

Welcome back to Larry King Live.

lt's now a great pleasure to

welcome Sebastian Copeland.

The acclaimed photographer

and environmental advocate...

...who serves on the board of

Directors of Global Green USA.

His photographs are in the book

Antarctica:
The Global Warning.

The foreword, by the way, to this

book is by Mikhail Gorbachev,..

...and the preface by

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Larry King had me on the show

discussing the importance of...

...creating an international treaty

for the protection of the Arctic,..

...and how different the Arctic

is today than it was...

...a hundred years ago.

Training for the Pole

is a daunting task.

With a 70% failure rate it presents

life and death challenges...

...for even the fittest

of athletes.

Early morning workout starts with a

one-hour workout at 7:00, then...

...a hearty breakfast and a yoga

session for an hour and a half,..

...then do some work

and emails.

Then in the afternoon with

an hour and a half hike...

...with a hundred pound vest.

And in between, just

eat a lot of calories.

l'll take this guy to the Arctic;

feed him to the polar bears.

The meditation practiced here will

provide me with the strength...

...needed to combat the isolation

one feels from traveling...

...the frozen wilderness.

My daily routine then led me to my

afternoon hike at Runyon Canyon.

l take my 100-pound vest and climb

to the grand vistas of Los Angeles.

Come on, let's go.

One day all of this will produce

power sustainably.

And it won't be a day too soon.

Come on, girl.

March 18th 2009.

Departure is finally upon us,..

...after months of

training and preparation!

A seamstress works late

into the night to affix...

...the sponsor patches

onto the outerwear.

Meanwhile, back at the fort and

with the company of a handful...

...loyal friends, l stay up all night

finalizing the remaining items...

...on my to-do list, and

complete packing.

l guess one never feels ready.

They drive me to the airport,

and after a powerful send-off,..

...the plane takes off for Ottawa

where l overnight and meet Keith.

Hey Keith.

-How are you?

-Good buddy, how are you?

-Ready to head North.

A quick dinner and catch up

and then lights out.

Neither of us have

slept last night.

The morning ritual of

excess luggage.

March 19th, 2009.

Early flight out to lqualuit today.

lt takes another three and

a half hours to reach lqaluit,..

...just at the edge

of the Arctic Circle.

A layover there gives us time...

...to make some last minute

food shopping and check...

...the local museum which l

visited last summer.

How do you feel buddy?

-l feel ready to go.

We're still on our travel day.

We have a few more hours;..

our longest flight, so far.

This is my longest flight so far.

We're going to be heading up

North to Resolute Bay.

We're going to go meet Ozzy

at the South Camp lnn...

...and spend the next couple of days

preparing to get out on the ice.

We're like T-minus four days,

l think, three days now.

We're in lqaluit, a stop over on

our way to Resolute.

l think we're both ready to go,

just rearing to go.

lt's mild here temperature wise,

which is both reassuring...

...and surprising at the same time.

lt's been very cold up

North, on the ice.

We've had reports from

a couple of teams there.

They've been just struggling

with the temperatures.

But it feels to me that's its warming

up a bit, so we might get lucky.

The plane finally takes off for

another three hours up north,..

...with a short stop

in Naninsivik.

These are familiar steps, retracing

the itinerary of my summer,..

...but for one detail: when l landed

in Resolute in early July,..

...temperatures had hit a

historical high of 67F degrees.

Today it"s minus 36 degrees

Fahrenheit!

We just touched down

on Resolute Bay.

That's the last stop after

two days of travelling.

-Resolute!

-This is it.

Lovely Resolute.

lt's minus 36 right now.

The landscape is covered

with a sheet of white--

And upon walking out of the plane,

the air explodes in my lungs...

...like a shot of adrenaline.

Resolute is a town of 200 people,..

...but it is the logistics center for

all activities in the high Arctic.

lt has taken five planes and

two days to reach this outpost...

...in the middle of the freezing

Arctic, some 3500 miles north of LA.

The hotel brings back all kinds of

memories and some nostalgia.

l had spent over a month in and out

of this hotel last summer,..

...dreaming of coming back

to try the Pole.

March 20th, 2009. Woke up today

to find Keith already downstairs.

We spend a few hours organizing

our food allotment for the first...

...twenty days, which is when

we will get our first re-supply.

This is a ration for five days.

Got your cereal,..

...you got your rice and beans,

your stews, your breakfasts,..

...your lunch, and your

dinner. Your company.

And your butter, and your bacon.

That's right, salami, bacon, bread;

lots of fat and saturated stuff.

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