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Richard Weber, CM (born June 9, 1959, in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian Arctic and polar adventurer. From 1978 to 2006, he organized and led more than 45 Arctic expeditions. Richard is the only person to have completed six full North Pole expeditions.
Richard comes from a family of dedicated cross country skiers. He started skiing at the age of two and competing at six. He became a member of Canada's National Cross-Country Ski Team in 1977 and represented Canada in World Championships in 1977, 1979, 1982 and 1985. He retired from cross-country skiing in 1985 (with twenty national titles) and has since been dedicated to Polar and Arctic expeditions. Through the years, Richard has collected several firsts:
Together with his wife, Josée Auclair, and their two sons, Tessum and Nansen, Richard operates Arctic Watch, Canada's most northerly lodge located in Cunningham Inlet on Somerset Island in Nunavut. Through their company, Canadian Arctic Holidays, they also outfit, organize, and lead Arctic expeditions and adventure trips, some of them to the Poles.
| Year | Expedition Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Will Steger International Polar Expedition | The first confirmed expedition to reach the North Pole without resupply. Team members who reached the Pole were: Will Steger, Paul Schurke, Brent Boddy, Geoff Carroll, Ann Bancroft and a team of 21 dogs. During this expedition, Richard, along with teammate Brent Boddy, became the first Canadians to reach the North Pole on foot while Ann Bancroft became the first woman to trek to the Pole. |
| 1988 | Soviet-Canadian Polar Bridge Expedition | The first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean on skis. This 91-day expedition crossed 1800 kilometres of Arctic Ocean from Cap Arkticheskiy in Northern Siberia to Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island (Canada), via the North Pole. The 13 members (nine Soviets and four Canadians) departed on March 3, reached the Pole on Day 54 (April 25) and arrived in Canada on June 1. Richard became the first person to reach the Pole from both sides of the Arctic Ocean: Canada and Russia. |
| 1992 | Weber Malakhov Expedition | Richard, with companion Misha Malakhov became the first to attempt to journey to the North Pole and return using only human resources. They departed from Ward Hunt on March 13. Eighty-five days later, on June 14, they reached 89 degrees 39. With only 39 kilometers short of the Pole, they had to make the decision to turn back if they wanted to have any hope of returning to Ward Hunt. On June 21, due to the lack of ice, they were picked up by an airplane and brought back to safety. |
| 1995 | Weber Malakhov Expedition | Richard and Misha's second attempt to journey from Ward Hunt (Canada) to the North Pole and return using only human resources was a success. Their expedition became the first (and is still the only) unsupported expedition to reach the North Pole and return to land. They departed Ward Hunt on February 14 and reached the Pole eighty one days later, on May 12. On June 15, they were back at Ward Hunt establishing a record of 108 days for the longest unsupported polar journey. |
| 2006 | North Pole Classic | Richard guided Conrad Dickinson to the North Pole with no re-supplies. This was the first expedition to reach the North Pole using snowshoes exclusively. |
| 2007 | North Pole Expedition 2007 | Richard guided Adrian Hayes (from Dubai) and Iain Morpeth (from the United Kingdom) to the North Pole. They left Ward Hunt on March 7 and reached the Pole on April 25, on Day 50 of the expedition. |
In April 1993, Richard and Dr. Mikhail (Misha) Malakhov pioneered the first commercial North Pole expedition allowing people to ski the final 100 kilometres (i.e. from the 89th parallel) to the North Pole. From Longyearbyen (in the Svalbard archipelago), the clients are flown to Borneo, the Russian drifting station, the starting point of the expedition.
Between 1993 and 2005, Richard and Misha have conducted eight of these North Pole Dash expeditions.
In 1999, Jack MacKenzie, a North Pole Dash participant originating from Canada, became the oldest person ever to ski to the North Pole at age 77 years, ten months and 13 days.
On April 23, 2003 Jill and Pete Etheridge, and Alison Sheldrick, three of the North Pole Dash participants, became the first persons to reach the North Pole wearing snowshoes.
| Location | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 1985 | Dog sled and ski expedition - Inuvik to Point Barrow - training expedition for Will Steger International Polar Expedition - 850 km |
| Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut | 1999 | Ski expedition from Expedition Fiord, across the island to mummified forest, and Muller Ice Cap -200 km |
| Arctic Ocean | 2003 | Training Search and Rescue Technicians (SARTechs) on the Arctic Ocean-based out of the Canadian military base in Alert, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut |
| Baffin Island | 1987 | Dog sled and ski expedition from Broughton Island to Clyde River - 400 km |
| 1988 | Pioneered a new route from Okoa Bay to Glacier Lake across the Penny Ice Cap, Auyuittuq National Park - 150 km | |
| 1991 | Ski expedition Igloolik to Clyde River across Fox basin - 650 km | |
| 1997 | First commercial trip from Okoa Bay to Glacier Lake across the Penny Ice Cap, Auyuittuq National Park - 150 km | |
| 1998 | Established a tourist camp in Jackman Sound for hiking, kayaking, wildlife viewing + Kayak expedition around southern tip of Frobisher Bay | |
| 1998 and 1999 | Crossing of Penny Ice Cap, Auyuittuq National Park from Coronation Fiord to Glacier lake - 120 km | |
| 2002 | Ski expedition from Sam Ford Fiord, Clyde River to Pond Inlet - 550 km | |
| 2003 | Ski traverse of Bylot Island, north Baffin Island - 200 km | |
| Ellesmere Island, Nunavut | 1997 | Ski expedition from Lake Hazen to Ward Hunt Island -250 km. Climbed Mount Arrowhead (first summited by Dr. JR Weber in 1956) |
| 1998 | Ski expedition from Ellesmere Island across Kane Basin to Siorapaluk, Greenland - 300 km | |
| 2001 | Ski expedition from Isabella Bay, through Sverdrup Pass to Alexandra Fjord and around Pim Island - 200 km | |
| 2005 | Ski expedition on southern Ellesmere Island – 250 km | |
| Greenland | 2004 | Ski expedition from Rensselaer Bay to Qaanaaq through Etah and across the Greenland Ice Sheet - 230 km |
| Northern Quebec | 1999 | Ski expedition down the Korac River in the Torngat Mountains - 150 km |
| Svalbard, Norway | 2002 | Ski traverse of Spitsbergen Island - 100 km |
| Year | Award | Presented by |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | International Fairplay Award | UNESCO for participation in the Polar Bridge Expedition |
| 1989 | Order of Friendship of Nations | Government of the Soviet Union |
| 1992 | Confederation Medal | Government of Canada, presented by then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, the Honourable John Allen Fraser P.C., Q.C. |
| 1993 | Russian Medal for Personal Courage | Government of Russia following a declaration signed by President Boris Yeltsin |
| 1994 | Meritorious Service Medal | Governor General of Canada |
| 1996 | Meritorious Service Medal | Governor General of Canada. Richard is the only person to be twice awarded this medal. |
| 1996 | Order of Friendship of Nations | Government of Russia |
| 2015 | Order of Canada | Government of Canada [2] |
| 2016 | Ondaatje Medal | Royal Canadian Geographical Society [3] |
| Year | Honour |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Inducted into the Canadian Ski Museum's Hall of Fame |
| Year | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Polar Bridge, The Soviet Canadian Trans-Arctic Expedition | Key Porter Books |
| 1996 | Polar Attack, From Canada to the North Pole and Back | McCelland and Stewart |
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magnetic North Pole.
Ann Bancroft is an American author, teacher, adventurer, and public speaker. She was the first woman to finish a number of expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.
Ralph Summers Plaisted was an American explorer who, with his three companions, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl and Jean-Luc Bombardier, are regarded by most polar authorities to be the first to succeed in a surface traverse across the ice to the North Pole on April 19, 1968, making the first confirmed surface conquest of the Pole.
Rune Gjeldnes is a Norwegian adventurer. He completed his military education in 1992, when he met fellow adventurer-to-be Torry Larsen, also of Møre og Romsdal. Gjeldnes served in the Norwegian Naval Special Operations Command until 1997.
Will Steger is a prominent spokesperson for the understanding and preservation of the Arctic and has led some of the most significant feats in the field of dogsled expeditions; such as the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole in 1986, the 1,600-mile south–north traverse of Greenland - the longest unsupported dogsled expedition in history at that time in 1988, the historic 3,471-mile International Trans-Antarctic Expedition - the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica (1989–90), and the International Arctic Project - the first and only dogsled traverse of the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Ellesmere Island in Canada during 1995.
Børge Ousland is a Norwegian polar explorer. He was the first person to cross Antarctica solo.
Paul Landry M.B. is a French-Canadian polar explorer, author, and adventurer who is the only paid man to ever reach three Geographical poles in a single year.
Benjamin John Saunders is an English polar explorer, endurance athlete, and motivational speaker. He led the first return journey to the South Pole on foot via Shackleton and Scott's route in 2013–14, and skied solo to the North Pole in 2004. Saunders has skied more than 3,700 miles (6,000 km) on polar expeditions since 2001. He holds the record for the longest human-powered polar journey in history (2,888 km) and for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton (1,032 km).
Liv Ragnheim Arnesen is a Norwegian educator, cross-country skier, adventurer, guide, and motivational speaker. Arnesen led the first unsupported women’s crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap in 1992. In 1994, she made international headlines becoming the first woman in the world to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole. – a 50-day expedition of 745 miles (1,200 km).
Josée Auclair is a Canadian explorer.
Matty L McNair is an American explorer. As of 2018 she was living in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada on Baffin Island. Among her many accomplishments are:
Eric Philips OAM is an Australian polar explorer, adventurer, polar guide and private astronaut.
Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored the northern extremes since 325 BC, when the ancient Greek sailor Pytheas reached a frozen sea while attempting to find a source of the metal tin. Dangerous oceans and poor weather conditions often fetter explorers attempting to reach polar regions, and journeying through these perils by sight, boat, and foot has proven difficult.
The Soviet–Canadian 1988 Polar Bridge Expedition began on March 3, 1988, when a group of thirteen Russian and Canadian skiers set out from Siberia, in an attempt to ski to Canada over the North Pole. The nine Russians and four Canadians reached the pole on 25 April and concluded their trek on Wednesday, June 1, 1988, when they reached Ward Hunt Island, Ellesmere, Northern Canada. At the North Pole, they were welcomed by a group of dignitaries from the Soviet Union and Canada, members of the international press, and radio amateurs involved in support and communications.
John Huston is an American polar explorer, motivational speaker, wilderness guide, and safety and logistics consultant. In 2009, Huston completed the first successful unsupported American expedition to the North Pole. He has also completed expeditions to the South Pole, Greenland, and Ellesmere Island. Huston is the co-author of Forward: The First American Unsupported Expedition to the North Pole.
Jade Hameister is an Australian woman who, at age 16, became the youngest person in history to pull off the "polar hat-trick", ski to the North and South Poles, and cross the second largest polar icecap on the planet: Greenland. Hameister travelled over 1,300 km (800 mi) on these three missions, which totalled almost four months on ice.
The book North to the Pole, written by Will Steger and Paul Schurke, was published in 1986. It is a first-person account of an expedition to the North Pole and illustrates how seven men and one woman set out by dog-sled to accomplish the goal of completing an expedition to the North Pole without resupply and only with the help of traditional navigation techniques. The expedition is successfully completed within 56 days, and the crew is much praised and celebrated for it, especially by the media.
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