If you doubted that Eric Larsen was from Minnesota your doubts can be laid to rest after watching the trailer for his upcoming film Colder. The bold modern day polar explorer narrates this piece, and his accent make me feel like I’m back in the Country Bar in Uptown Minneapolis. Fantastic guy, I’m sure, and his accomplishments over 2009 speak for themselves: overland to the North and South Poles and to the summit of Everest in fall. Looks to be an interesting film.

via The Adventure Blog

Mark Beaumont has ridden his bike around the world and from Alaska to Ushuaia. Now he’s apparently decided that it’s time to get an upper body workout. He’s recruited a team of four to help him row a boat from Alaska to the Magnetic North Pole. The BBC approached him about shooting a documentary on the trip with the hopes that the boat ride, which would have until recently been impossible due to Arctic ice, will raise awareness about global warming. They leave in August for the 450-mile Row to the Pole.

In 2008 Todd Carmichael set the speed record for a solo, unsupported run from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole. It took him 39 days, and toward the end he ran out of fuel, food had no way to contact the outside world besides an SOS and bordered on going insane. And he recorded it for our pleasure. Check out the trailer and feel good about doing it on company time - Todd’s donating all the money from his film to Charity: Water.

via The Adventure Blog

Photo by Paolo Marchesi

Michael Ferrara is skiing across Alaska, the long way. He’ll cover 900 miles from the ‘Pacific’ Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, and on the way he’ll post on the Outside blog. I’m not sure what kind of access he’ll have to computers while making his way north, but maybe he can drop us some updates over a sat phone. Ferrara is a first responder with decades of experience under his belt, and he’s making his trek to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder that many first responders deal with during their careers.

photo by Curtis Jones

Brother-and-sister adventure duo Eric and Sarah McNair-Landry were dropped at the end of the Trans Canada Highway where they’ll begin their 1,864-mile kite-ski journey across the Northwest Passage. They began a few days ago, but winds have been light and they’ve mostly been cross-country skiing and hauling their heavy sleds. Though I suspect they’ll be fine - this is the same duo that made an overland trek to the South Pole while they were teenagers. Man, there must have been a lot of fights over who would get to use the car the weekend they finished their expedition.

via Adventure Blog