North Pole 2011: Ben Waits While The Clock Ticks

It wasn't good news for Ben Saunders last night. The polar explorer has been waiting for a flight out to Cape Discovery so he could begin his solo and unassisted speed record attempt to the North Pole, but once again the weather is not cooperating. Now, his window for making that attempt is dangerously closing to ending altogether, although he still hopes to give it a go.

According to his latest blog post, Ben now hopes to depart tomorrow, which means he must finish in record time or risk having to get a private flight off the ice at a price tag that runs into the six figures. Conditions in the region have been incredibly bad for the past few weeks, so a flight out tomorrow is far from a foregone conclusion, especially considering that no planes have made it to Cape Discovery this year.

I'm sure this is all very frustrating for Saunders, who is stuck in Resolute Bay and more than ready to get on the move. I guess for now, we'll have to wait to see if he can finally get underway tomorrow, as any further delays would probably mean an end to the expedition altogether. As it stands now, he has a HUGE task ahead of him if he does hope to gain the record.



Ben Saunders - Two Days from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.