Forty years ago, a team of explorers, including Minnesotans Will Steger, Paul Schurke and Ann Bancroft, reached the North Pole after enduring 56 days and a thousand zig-zag miles across fractured, shifting Arctic Ocean sea ice in temps that dipped below -70F.
This epic ski and dogsled trek with an eight-member, 49-dog crew was the first confirmed trek to reach the Pole without resupply.
Their success, deemed by National Geographic as “a landmark in polar exploration” garnered global headlines and commendations from President Ronald Reagan.
The Ely Historic State Theater is commemorating this anniversary with a public team reunion event, Friday, Oct. 9 from 6-10 p.m.
It includes a reception with the team and their North Pole gear, the first-ever big screen showing of National Geographic’s TV documentary “North to the Pole!” a team talk with Q&A and a dance concert with Ely’s bluegrass band Stony River.
Tickets available at www.elystatetheater.org. A similar event, at St. Paul’s Minnesota History Center on Oct. 8, is sold out.
The project took shape on a shoe-string budget in Steger’s sod-roofed log “homestead” near the Boundary Waters and a mile from the nearest road.
During the team’s training and preparation in the early 1980s, public intrigue mounted rapidly for this home-spun project which was supported initially by sales of buttons and Zap to the Pole t-shirts, featuring lead sled dog Zap.
During their two-month traverse of the Arctic Ocean in spring 1986, television and newspaper updates from sketchy radio communiqués kept readers across the country apprised of their progress.
They endured many setbacks: Ann’s plunge through thin ice, a tent fire triggered by a faulty stove, the devastating loss of a lead dog, two injured team members being air-lifted out, a team breakdown over diminishing supplies and a malfunction of their sole navigation device just days from their goal.
After reaching the North Pole on May 1, 1986, the team came home to a marching- band extravaganza at the Minnesota State Capitol, officiated by Gov. Rudy Perpich, a press conference in Washington, D.C., with a decree passed in the U.S. Senate, and another press conference in New York City at ABC-TV, followed by a hometown parade in Ely.
In addition to the National Geographic cover story, the journey was featured in a best-selling book and film, both titled “North to the Pole,” and received commendations from the White House and the World Center for Exploration.
Hailed as a “triumph of the human spirit,” their success reflected the conviction of Steger’s diary entry on the day the journey began, “The faith that moves mountains would take us to the Pole.”
Now 40 years later, the trek lives on with National Geographic posting their September 1986 cover story online this month.
Six of the eight team members will attend the Ely event: Steger, Schurke, Bancroft, plus Canadian Richard Weber, Geoff Carroll from Alaska and Bob Mantell from New Mexico. The other two, Bob McKerrow of New Zealand, and Canadian Brent Boddy sent video greetings that will be shared with the film showing.
The team is donating all ticket sales as a fundraiser for the Ely Historic State Theater.
