Urban Warrior to Ice Warrior – Craig Williams chosen for World Record Attempt to Reach the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility – Beyond the North Pole
Jim McNeill, one of the world’s most experienced and respected explorers and founder of the Ice Warrior Project has chosen Craig Williams, an ordinary every day man from the beautiful historic town of Usk, located in Monmouthshire, South Wales, to take part in one of the most ambitious polar expeditions of our time; to be the first expedition in history to reach the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility.
Defined as the furthest point from land on the Arctic Ocean and therefore its centre, the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility remains the last truly significant place in the Polar Regions, yet to be reached by mankind and is over two hundred miles further than the Geographic North Pole. The whole journey will be near to 800 miles from the northern shores of Canada and will take-in the North Magnetic Pole on route.
Having been selected for the Ice Warrior #Lastpole Expedition, Craig is undergoing a comprehensive and intensive training programme to take on at least one of four 20-day legs, pushing the route across the Arctic Ocean by approximately 200 miles.
Along the route team members will be gathering “crucial datasets” for the scientific community including new and vital data about how the sea ice breaks up, making the whole endeavour a major, globally significant, citizen science project. Partners include NASA, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) scientists, The Met Office, The Scott Polar Institute, The Norwegian Polar Institute and the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and others. This vital data will deliver the reality of climate change and make the whole expedition worthwhile and purposeful.
Craig said “From a young age I had always wanted to engage with exploration in some way, I just needed a kick in the right direction, then this fantastic opportunity kept arising on Facebook so it seemed like fate to apply…. after speaking with Jim and eventually meeting with him and the other applicants, I was delighted to be accepted. With this I can really push myself for personal growth and also take part in scientific data collection. I’ve always been keen on science, just never truly applied myself in school, although I have returned to study natural sciences academically, I will be taking the year out so I can contribute to global climate change science as part of world experience in the Ice Warrior project, I can also raise monies for charity as I go which I will decide soon enough.”
Jim McNeill, who will lead the entire expedition, said “I’m absolutely delighted to have Craig in the expedition team and look forward to training him in every aspect which will make him a competent polar traveller and explorer.”
Interviews with Craig can be arranged by contacting craig@ice-warrior.com or call 07542117894
Further comments by Ice Warrior Founder and expedition Leader Jim McNeill and polar photographs can be arranged by contacting jim@ice-warrior.com or 0777 565 1471
Ice Warrior:
Ice Warrior is a long-term project encompassing all those gutsy, traditional aspects of pioneering that were present during the days of the golden era of exploration but brings them into the 21st century.
- It calls for participants – from all walks of life, all echelons of society.
- It conducts crucial scientific work particularly focused on global climate change.
- It applies leading-edge technologies to accomplish its aims.
- It inspires people to grasp life and shows that anything is possible given the right attitude and training.
- It acts as an exemplar in all aspects of leadership and teamwork honing performance and sustained delivery.
- And it tells the stories to its audiences around the globe using its media facilitators and partners.
Ice Warrior is all about modern-day exploration using ordinary, everyday people to achieve extraordinary expeditionary feats. In this modern age, our discoveries are about subjects such as the reality of global climate change, changes to flora, fauna and topography and as we come across these experiences we deliver them into the many homes, schools and businesses that follow the project.
North Poles:
GEOGRAPHIC NORTH POLE 90°N
A fixed location on the surface of the Arctic Ocean where the Earth’s axis of rotation meet. First seen in 1926 from the airship, Norge.
MAGNETIC NORTH POLE 85° 11’N, 133° 7’ W
A wandering location at 90 degrees to the Earth’s surface where lines of magnetic force exit. The magnetic field is vertical and points vertically into the ground. The north-seeking end of a compass needle points to this pole (hence this is technically a south pole since opposite poles attract). It was first attained by Captain James Ross in 1831 when it was on the Boothia Peninsula and has subsequently migrated northwards well into the Arctic Ocean at a current rate of ~40km every year.
GEOMAGNETIC NORTH POLE 80° 1’ N, 71° 59’ W
The point where the geomagnetic field is closest to True North. The northern end of the axis of the geomagnetic field which surrounds the Earth and extends into space as the magnetosphere. Tilted at ~11 degrees to the rotation axis of the Earth (the geographic pole), and field lines are not vertical to the Earth’s surface here. Situated over the Darling Peninsula, Canada. Aurora Borealis occur principally in a stratospheric torus 23° around this pole.
ARCTIC POLE or NORTHERN POLE OF INACCESSIBILITY 85° 47‘ N, 176° 9‘ E
The farthest point from any coastline or the very centre of the Arctic Ocean; also called the ‘Northern Pole of Inaccessibility’. First established in 1927 by Sir Hubert Wilkins, by aircraft but recently re-positioned by Jim McNeill and NSIDC and SPRI scientists using modern satellite and GPS technology.
Vegan Ice Warrior 