[3] He and fellow explorer Eric Larsen reached the North Pole on May 4, 2014 after skiing unsupported for 53 days from Cape Discovery, Canada.
This expedition was made into a 2-hour documentary titled Melting: Last Race to the Pole, for Animal Planet television network.
In 2016, Ryan guided 3 clients on an unsupported full length ski trip to the South Pole via the Messner/Fuches route over a 44-day expedition.
[5] And again in 2019, he guided two clients on a full-length unsupported South Pole ski trip from the Hercules Inlet start on Antarctica.
[6] Ryan is the author of the 2022 autobiographical book An American's Grand Slam: A True Adventurer's Unlikely Journey, which he wrote with coauthor Hudson Lindenberger.