North to the Pole
The book, written in the style of a diary, includes the description of the eight- week expedition to the North Pole.
After graduating from St. John's University in 1977, he and a friend founded a nonprofit program that offered wilderness adventure trips.
[3] Steger follows the important explorers Roald Amundsen, Amelia Earhart, Admiral Robert Peary and Jacques- Yves Cousteau in gaining this honor.
[3] On May 6, 1986, the New York Times reported about the expedition with an article by Christopher S. Wren titled "Back from Pole, explorer describes grueling trek".
In 1989, the journal Sports Illustrated published the article "The Iceman Cometh" by Robert Sullivan reporting about Steger's trip to the Pole.
[5] In Steger’s team there is Bancroft as a female contribution to the male dominated North Pole exploration domain.
His male opinion is shown as well as his critical attitude that a woman would cover the eighth spot in the expedition team: “Our concern centered on protecting our credibility.
Peary himself asked for "Someone who has the big, masculine literary instinct"[10] showing his critical attitude towards women as writers.
Human beings are dependent on the weather including its climate change conditions since the people living there are reliant on the food transport.
In Steger's story the thin ice is a problem because it means a delay for their journey, which stresses the superiority of nature and that people have to deal with the vulnerability of the climate.
[12] The determination of Steger’s team does not only make for progress but also prevents them from losing much time and encountering dangerous situations.
[13] Teamwork is required since one person on its own could never manage heaping ice blocks in this short time due to especially physical matters.
Steger himself emphasizes the important contribution of Schurke to the team's success when claiming "A day’s travel on the wrong bearing would cost us the Pole".
[15] He stresses "the massive responsibility"[16] and also his "complete faith in Schurke’s ability"[15] which points out a lot of respect for his work and that he appreciates his help.
Robert Bartlett (1875– 1946) was the captain of Peary's ship called "Roosevelt" as Deirdre C. Stam elaborates in the article "Interpreting captain Bob Bartlett’s AGS notebook chronicling significant parts of Peary’s 1908– 09 North Pole expedition"[18] for the National Geographic.
Nevertheless, this example of not fulfilling promises to captain Bartlett, in particular that he is not allowed to accompany Peary to the North Pole, despite his efforts and talent, does not support the idea of collaboration.
It took three years of planning, training and preparing and a lot of money to make that expedition happen- Determination is the key in that regard to stay focused and hooked on such a thing.
In week three of the expedition Stege] writes:” We had sensed seeds of disillusionment among the team regarding our plan to reach the Pole".
The crew fears that they are not going to accomplish their goal of reaching the Pole without resupply and McKerrow also announces that he is going to leave the expedition due to health issues.
Determination is something that Steger and Co. share with the world's great explorers Nansen and Peary, "who were drawn north by the polar spirit"[22] as well.
To achieve their goal of reaching the pole the crew is dependent on several external forces and is in a state of interdependence, especially with their sled-dogs.
On Day 51 of the journey, Steger and Schurke are writing that the crew is tired and exhausted and "plagued by sore feet".
[27] A good relationship between humans and dogs is therefore crucial and has a great influence on the social interaction of them and also on the success of that expedition.
Primary Literature: Steger, W. and Schurke, P. (1987): “North to the Pole” United States: Minnesota Historical Society Press.
5 014008 Freeman, D. (2015) ([1][dead link] Accessed October 22, 2019, Robinson, M. (2015) “Manliness and Exploration: The Discovery of the North Pole” Osiris 30: 89- 109 Shannon, K. (1997) “The unique role of sled dogs in Inuit culture” Canada: University of Alberta, Edmonton Stam, D. C. (2017) “Interpreting Captain Bob Bartlett’s AGS notebook chronicling significant parts of Peary’s 1908– 09 North Pole expedition” Geographical Review 107 (1): 185- 206.
