Eric Larsen Save The Poles Challenge

Earlier today polar explorer Eric Larsen summitted Mount Everest, the third pole in his three pole challenge. Along with the Arctic North pole and the Antarctic South Pole, the summit of Everest is referred to as the third pole. Whilst taking on the challenge of reaching each of these specific points may not be a new one, Eric Larsen has achieved his goal in a single year. It is also worth noting that Eric and his Sherpa guides are the only Everest summitteers in the Autumn season this year.

The main purpose of the three Poles challenge is to highlight the importance of these icy environments to the planet and the wildlife that they support:

Save the Poles and Save the Planet!
The polar regions of the world are home to an amazing variety of life. Seemingly desolate and vacant, these areas support vital ecosystems and are integral to regulating and maintaining world climate. Polar explorer Eric Larsen’s ‘Save the Poles’ expedition will journey to these last frozen places in attempt to tell their amazing story.

Thanks to modern technology it has been possible to follow Eric Larsen’s progress on his explorer website. Using Google Earth and Bing Maps you can see his journey in 2D and 3D. To top it all on the technology front, Eric sent out a Tweet from the summit of Everest, @ELexplore. Were Mallory and Irvine the first to summit Everest? If they had Twitter we would surely know the answer!

Thanks to explorers like Eric Larsen and Dixie Dansercoer, more people are becoming aware of how beautiful and important the poles regions are.