It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you that the 2019 North Pole season has been cancelled by the team that operates Barneo, the temporary ice camp near the North Pole run by Russian and Swiss private interests. The camp serves听explorers and others going to the Pole. After suffering through nearly 10 days of delays due to political wrangling for planes between Russia and听Ukraine, the final straw was that the backup plan to bring in a Canadian plane听to take travelers to the ice camp failed as well.听

Ukrainian planes were scheduled to bring adventurers to the camp, but Russian officials banned the planes from landing there. that Ukrainian officials would not let their planes fly to Barneo.

Poor relations between Russia and Ukraine stem from the former country鈥檚 2014 invasion of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in the eastern Ukraine. That translates to players in both governments who don't want to see any collaboration to operate and maintain Barneo.

Complicating this year's saga was a听Russian news story touting that country's听operation of the Barneo ice camp听that made its way to Ukraine inflaming the already tense relationship.听Some of the Russians I talked with who facilitate much of the Barneo operation say that this news piece is broadcast every year as propaganda. Ukrainian officials viewed that news story听as Putin trying to claim the Arctic for Russia.听

Until 2018,听Barneo was owned by a Russain named Alexander Orlov who was connected to the current Russian government. Last summer, the ice base was purchased by a Swiss company owned by Frederik Paulsen, a Swedish billionaire.

Once travelers could no longer count on听Ukrainian flights, a Basler (DC-3) was contracted from the Canadian company Kenn Borek. But the window for flying in and out of Barneo is a short one because the ice melts and breaks up, making it impossible for planes to land and takeoff. The Canadian plane arrived in听Longyearbyen, in听Norway's Svalbard archipelago, last Friday, but by that time the weather was too unstable to guarantee that visitors could be taken to the ice camp and flown out safely. Canceling trips to North Pole was听a perfectly logical decision. It was also a relief, ending听an extended听period of uncertainty.听

There is no question that this has been a frustrating process for everyone involved. Worse, this is a situation where everyone loses. Skiers, guides, and the Barneo team, each of us invested a substantial amount of time, energy,听and expense that will not be easily recovered.

The Arctic Ocean听is untamed wilderness鈥攐ne of the last great frontiers left on planet Earth. No matter how much we try to wrangle it into compliance for a few weeks every spring to make the trek to the North Pole, the sea ice has the final say. However, I fear that the opportunity for this particular adventure听will not last; the clock is running out on the ice. That, more than the cancellation of this season, makes me sad.听

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On day eight of my , my expedition partner and I woke to 50 mph winds and a complete whiteout. With the outside temperature hovering around 80 degrees below zero, there was no way to travel.

This is the norm for Arctic travel. I have literally in a tent, caught in storms, on one adventure or another. During that time, I鈥檝e gained a few insights into the best strategies to overcome the boredom and anxiety that can ensue. After all, learning to deal with delays is just as important as knowing how to tie a figure-eight knot鈥攁nd these are lessons that apply well beyond a four-by-three-foot nylon space.

#1. Relax and Take a Nap

Too often on expeditions, I鈥檓 operating on too little sleep and too little energy. Long travel days and heavy loads take their toll. At some point on every trip, I actually hope a storm blows in so I can rest and recuperate. Sleeping an extra two or three hours is just as important as moving, I鈥檝e learned.

One pro tip: Buy earplugs. The sound of nylon violently flapping in the wind is only one level of hell above fingernails on a chalkboard as far as I鈥檓 concerned.

#2. Take a Minute to Organize and Repair

After wearing through both thumbs in my mittens during a month on the trail, I made a whole new pair of handwarmers by sewing together two stuffsacks with dental floss. I used up nearly an hour and half of tent time in the process.

Equally important is staying organized. There is no question that at some point, my gear becomes, shall we say, disheveled: only one glove liner; mismatched, wet socks; weird fungus growing in my food bag. The first thing I do on a storm day is take all my gear out of , make sure everything is in good working order, then repack it in a way that keeps important items accessible.

#3. Don鈥檛 Demonize the Smartphone

I once spent nine days in a tent stuck on a small ice sheet off the coast of Siberia with nothing to read and only a small, 512-megabyte MP3 player. By the seventh day, I was so mentally fried that I couldn鈥檛 sleep. Had smartphones been around at the time, those nine days would have flown by. Music, games, podcasts, audiobooks, games, digital downloads鈥he list goes on and on. (I can effortlessly slaughter two hours of storm time with Fruit Ninja.)

Wary of getting too closed off from teammates and adventure buddies by too much earbud alone time, we often listen to podcasts together on a Bluetooth speaker, which often spawns additional conversation.

#4. Read a Book

I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 all that hyperbolic to say that nearly every piece of poetry and prose ever written has been read and appreciated on the side of a mountain in a storm. Reading, discussing, and exchanging books is de rigueur at base camp.

#5. Communicate

Now we can text from anywhere in the world. My goes with me on any expedition or adventure, and downtime is often a chance for me to send messages to friends and supporters. I鈥檝e gotten a few message from friends in the field, too.

#6. …And Talk to Each Other

I know as much about my expedition partners as I do my wife. At a certain point, everything else becomes boring and being tent-bound is simply hanging out. From my experience, conversations run the gamut from childhood experiences to unrequited love to favorite movies and food. We鈥檝e had some good, gut-busting laughs, too. After a certain number of hours spent sitting, everything becomes ridiculous.

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鈥淚'm glad I'm not going first,鈥� says Darcy St. Laurent as he watches our teammate AJ step out onto a very thin, unstable piece of Arctic Ocean sea ice. The ice bows dramatically under AJ鈥檚 weight, and Darcy and I both watch, mouths agape, as he slowly shuffles his skis forward while a wave of rubbery ice pushes out in front of his ski tips.

Of all the dangerous things people do on planet Earth, North Pole expeditions easily听top the list. One misstep could send us plunging into an icy abyss鈥攁lmost immediate death. With conditions constantly changing, our margins for error are nonexistent.听鈥淵ou can't think about these things too much,鈥� my old dog sledding boss, Arleigh, used to say.

Safely across and on standing on more stable ice, AJ turns to pull his polar sled across the same sheet, creating several cracks along his ski tracks. Ocean water immediately seeps through.听As unnerving as it looks, I still have some time to cross safely.

Sea ice is a fickle beast. Unlike freshwater ice, it has plasticity and will bend when you stand on it. But its integrity has limits. If any crack or break occurs, the stability of the entire area is sacrificed. Skiing across a sketchy ice sheet is like Indiana Jones racing across that hanging rope bridge as it falls apart beneath him. I look back Darcy and, with my best gallows humor quip, tell him, 鈥淚'm glad I'm not last!鈥�

While over , only 250 people have traversed the Arctic Ocean from land to the geographic North Pole. It has a success rate lower than that of . Since 2011, there has only been one team to reach the pole from land鈥攖hat was the duo of myself and Ryan Waters, in 2014. We completed what may realistically be the last ever North Pole expedition in history.

To understand why this particular undertaking is so difficult, you need to itself. First, it鈥檚 huge: 5.5 million square miles, to be exact. That鈥檚 larger than Europe. It plunges to the depth of 14,000 feet. Temperatures range from a balmy just-above-freezing in the summer to nearly 80 below in the winter. The cold is like a brick wall. It stops everything. At 40 or 50 below, nylon can tear like a sheet of paper and tent poles can snap like dry twigs. There is so little moisture in the snow that pulling our sleds feels like we are dragging them across sand paper. Ironically, the air is humid as well. Keeping clothes and bodies frost free is impossible.

Perhaps its most unique feature is the fact that nearly the entire ocean is covered in a thin sheet of ice, maybe five or six feet thick. This sea ice can be several miles wide or just a few feet across, and today grows to be only about five feet thick at its thickest. Pieces of ice freeze and refreeze, forming pressure ridges, rubbled ice, vertically heaved slabs, and a million other combinations of hazardous surface conditions.听

To reach the North Pole from land is a journey of 480 miles in a straight line. But the path is anything but straightforward. With ice moving and shifting, the surface is constantly in flux. You can actually see football field-size pans of ice colliding and moving in a screeching chug, chug, chug sound. There is an overall drift to the ice, too. Ocean currents push the entire mass slowly from the pole toward northern Canada and Greenland. Because of these shifts, we may wake in camp to find that we lost three miles of forward progress overnight.

鈥淲hen we first started, it was 90 percent survival and 10 percent travel,鈥� says Darcy, who I travelled with on an expedition to the North Pole in 2010. Not one for hyperbole, Darcy is a career military man specializing in search and rescue.

But as forbidding as the Arctic Ocean may be, it is . Nowhere else on the planet is our environment sculpted in such a unique and dynamic way. Blocks of blue ice the size of houses. Crystallized ice 鈥渇lowers鈥� formed on newly frozen leads. Each day brings some unique variation.

All tallied, I have completed more North Pole expeditions than any other American in history, having spent nearly a year of my life on the Arctic Ocean. Why? I鈥檓 not 100 percent certain, but I know I like the long, slow thoughtful process of this type of travel. It鈥檚 like a chess game that lasts for nearly two months.

From my first expedition in 2005, to a I guided last spring, I have personally observed how Arctic sea ice conditions today are dramatically different than they have ever been in the past. The ice is thinner, and its mass is considerably reduced, as temperatures have become warmer. While the Arctic environment may be the bane of my expedition life, the North Pole is the most enthralling place I鈥檝e ever been. In the not-so-distant future, .

Eric Larsen is a polar explorer. His book, , was published last October.

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When asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, George Leigh Mallory famously quipped, “Because it鈥檚 there.鈥� For decades, that basic statement has guided exploration and adventure. Today, however, we are more likely to hear the听opposite rational from an explorer: because it might not be there in the future.

My business card reads Polar Explorer. That's because, over my 20-year career in the Arctic and Antarctic environments, I have accrued an intimate knowledge of the world鈥檚 coldest places. I have completed more polar expeditions than any other American in history, including one in 2014, when my partner and I skied to the North Pole in听what will most likely be the last ever land-to-pole expedition due to climate change.

Having camped and traveled on the Arctic Ocean for nearly a year of my life on various expeditions and adventures, I have a unique perspective and first-hand experience sea ice and the changes that have occurred due to climate change. I can say with certainty that we must take bold and ambitious action to preserve our special and wild places.听Which is why I was overwhelmed with pride and gratitude when President Obama this week used his authority under Section 12a of the to permanently protect nearly the entire Arctic Ocean.

There鈥檚 no way to hide it: the Arctic is melting. In fact, it is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. Since my first North Pole expedition in 2006, I have witnessed the dramatic changes in the character and nature of sea ice. Obama has听experienced the picturesque beauty of the Arctic听first-hand. He鈥檚 met the people of the region, seen the bluest waters, the spotless听terrain, and the clear听skies, and knows that we must preserve this region before the oil industry or climate change can destroy it. Had the President not taken such bold action to protect these areas, the threat of the ice melt would have been compounded with that from oil rigs and pipelines, likely destroying the Arctic Ocean as we know it.

The first step in exploration is the vision to see what鈥檚 beyond the routine and familiar. By permanently protecting the Arctic Ocean, Obama has once again proven himself to be a visionary, enabling future generations the opportunity to enjoy and explore its beauty. Each one of us is an explorer, and our job as such is not to conquer, but to protect. Thank you, President Obama for being this generation鈥檚 greatest explorer.

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On January 8, 2015, Swiss sports center Aranea received a text. : 鈥淢ore than half the way to the South Pole I have behind me. I am sure that I will break the record;)鈥� The message came from German adventurer Martin Szwed, who had paused somewhere on the flat, frozen surface of Antarctica to update his girlfriend and his sponsors, including Aranea, about his status.

Szwed was skiing across the bottom of the earth, starting from Hercules Inlet, a massive ice cube off the Antarctic Peninsula, where the continental land mass ends and the ocean begins. He was on a 24-hour, berserker-style push to finish the final leg of a record-breaking solo expedition to the South Pole. The sun was out, but temperatures hovered between -20 and -30 degrees Fahrenheit, and a biting wind left Szwed with minor frostbite on his face, fingertips, and part of his left leg. When the spindrift settled, the previous world record of 24 days, 1 hour, and 13 minutes鈥攕et in 2011 by Norwegian Christian Eide鈥攍ay in pieces. Szwed released a statement saying he had shattered the mark by nearly ten days, covering the entire 730-mile route in a total elapsed time of just 14 days, 18 hours, and 43 minutes. It was an unprecedented achievement.

You may have seen photos of Szwed cascading through your social media feeds during his trip. News outlets around the world circulated images of his adventure. In one, Szwed appears to have arrived at the South Pole. It鈥檚 an apparent of the man wearing mountaineering glasses, bearded and smiling through chipped front teeth, in front of a bright yellow sign that reads: 鈥淲elcome to the South Pole.鈥� after in Germany and abroad hailed the new world record.

News of Szwed鈥檚 achievement quickly spread to the handful of guides and logistics providers who support most private land-based adventures in Antarctica. They couldn鈥檛 believe it. In fact, they didn鈥檛 believe it. Szwed is a virtual unknown in the tight-knit community of polar explorers, and his reported time snapped the previous record nearly in half. 鈥淎nyone who has skied to the South Pole can easily see that Martin鈥檚 claim is laughable,鈥� says Hannah McKeand, a former solo South Pole explorer who completed six ski expeditions there between 2004 and 2012. 鈥淚t鈥檚 simply inconceivable.鈥�

Once the polar community took notice, several people began to poke holes in Szwed鈥檚 claims. For example, on December 30, Szwed said he was summiting Mount Vinson, a claim that directly conflicts with the flight log of airplane charter company Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE), which on that day shows that Szwed was on an airplane flying from southern Chile to Antarctica to begin his journey. ALE notes that Szwed left Antarctica by plane for Chile on January 9, the day after Szwed claims to have been halfway through his 730-mile journey to the pole. That means he would have had to ski and hike hundreds of miles in 24 hours while dragging a loaded sled鈥攁 feat that polar travelers contend is impossible even in the best of conditions. Szwed was traveling with a GPS tracker but he said it wasn鈥檛 linking to a satellite network, so there was no trail of digital breadcrumbs for observers to follow. Also, Szwed said bad weather and failed satellite communications hindered his ability to check in with his mainland contacts at reasonable intervals during his final push, when in fact satellite communications are rarely a problem in Antarctica because the path of an orbiting satellite network travels almost directly above the South Pole.

Finally, to illustrate his arrival at the South Pole, Szwed released that selfie by the yellow sign. What drew suspicion is the fact that the yellow sign isn鈥檛 actually at the geographic South Pole, though it is in the vicinity. The true marker is a separate sign in front of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and that鈥檚 where everyone who makes it to the pole typically sets up the camera. Also, Szwed鈥檚 image clearly looks Photoshopped. (When German magainze Der Spiegel in February after his return, Szwed said the image was 鈥渁 montage,” and not a real photograph.)

At this point, few who are familiar with Antarctic expeditions believe that Szwed achieved his goal. German gear company Tespack Oy, one of his key sponsors, released a statement last February saying that questions about Szwed鈥檚 claims 鈥渘eed to be answered and all information regarding the expedition validated. Therefore Tespack Oy suspends Martin Szwed鈥檚 sponsorship, effective immediately, until Mr. Szwed provides proof to support his claims.鈥� More than a year has passed, and Szwed hasn鈥檛 provided any evidence.

It鈥檚 summertime in Antarctica right now, which means expedition season. Explorers have descended on the icy continent, and the record-breaking attempts are lining up: a is gunning for the first-ever unsupported solo crossing of the 1,100-mile continent; a wants to become the first Scot to complete an unsupported trek to the South Pole; a group of cyclists had planned to compete in the inaugural fat biking race to the pole (but ultimately didn't). The list goes on.

Most sports have guidelines, rules, and official governing bodies. Exploration, however鈥攚hether at the poles, in the mountains or jungles, or on the seas鈥攊s more of a free-for-all. The routes, loads, time frame, and exact specifications typically vary from one expedition to the next. An expedition can be partial, aided, supported, motorized, or guided. Without a governing body and easily understandable rating system, the public and the media tend to measure each claim with the same yardstick. To people unfamiliar with the realities of Antarctic travel鈥攎ost everyone in the world, it鈥檚 safe to say鈥擲zwed鈥檚 feat appeared as real as the next piece of news floating through the digital data stream. And therein lies a frightening reality of 21st-century exploration: Hoaxes abound, and they skew our perception of what it means to push the limits of human discovery.

For hundreds of years, starting in the 15th century during the Age of Exploration, explorers focused on expanding national borders and enhancing trade and were funded primarily by national governments. But by the turn of the 20th century, most of the world鈥檚 political boundaries were mapped, and the impetus for exploration shifted from discovery to breaking records and pressing the limits of human endurance. The new zeitgeist was encapsulated in George Mallory鈥檚 famous reply, in 1923, to the question of why he had chosen to climb Mount Everest: 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 there.鈥� That opened the floodgates. No longer was there a need to justify any higher reason than pure desire.

The shift in objectives meant a significant drop in government backing, and expeditions became reliant largely on sponsorships or donations from patrons. It鈥檚 easy to think of private sponsorships as a recent development, but even famed Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton spent substantial time chasing dollars to fund his exploits. He funded the 1914 Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition (of Endurance fame) with roughly 50,000 pounds sterling, or roughly $1.57 million in today鈥檚 dollars. He solicited all of it from private donors. Even at that price, Shackleton鈥檚 expedition was bootstrapped from the start. By contrast, the budget for Will Steger鈥檚 seven-month traverse of Antarctica in 1989 tipped the scales at an unprecedented $12 million. (Twenty-five years later, the operator that carried Steger to Antarctica would fly Martin Szwed there as well.)

The 1990s ushered in a breed of adventurer never before seen in the annals of exploration: the paying client. This new guard effectively sidestepped the rites of passage that characterized the careers of professionals like Mallory, Shackleton, and Steger, who spent decades building their adventure resumes and earning hard-won wisdom. Many of these newcomers were successful businessmen or entrepreneurs who were interested in pushing personal boundaries but lacked experience in the brutal environs where they sought adventure. At the same time, technological advancements in GPS, satellite communications, and outdoor gear and apparel made adventuring much more accessible. Logistics companies began offering easy access to places that once took years to reach.

Nowhere is this evolution more clearly seen than in the commercialization of Everest that began 20 years ago. To support a growing demographic of amateur mountaineers, guide services in Nepal and abroad sprang up, designed to cater to nearly anyone who could foot the bill. By 1996, the year in which eight climbers died in a storm that engulfed the mountain, it was not uncommon for a client to show up at Everest Base Camp with barely the knowledge of how to lace their crampons, let alone climb the tallest mountain in the world. The same is true of paying customers on the mountain today.

As more people set out in pursuit of a record, and with so many of the most enticing ones already claimed, we started inventing new 鈥渇irsts鈥� to achieve. In 1985, for example, the late Dick Bass, founder of Utah鈥檚 Snowbird Ski Resort, became the first person in history to complete the Seven Summits鈥攃limbing the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. The feat launched what Jon Krakauer dubbed the 鈥減ostmodern era鈥� of exploration, which persists today. A quick online search reveals a : The first Norwegian to reach the Seven Summits. The first American to climb and ski the Seven Summits. The first married couple. The list goes on and on. Instead of focusing on the physical feat, we're now focused on the defining characteristics of who did it, with the differences between records sometimes too minute to really matter.

鈥淚t can be frustrating to see what in your own mind is a less difficult expedition gain attention from media,鈥� says Ryan Waters, who has summited Everest three times and holds the Antarctic record for completing the first ski traverse without resupplies or using kites. 鈥淎 good headline can be the difference in how much exposure a feat will receive.鈥�

The pressure to be successful has led to corner cutting, falsifying records, and outright lying, even among acclaimed professionals. Take Christian Stangl, an Austrian climber who lied about breaking the summit record on K2 in 2010. Stangl had already racked up a lifetime of speed ascents by the time he reached K2鈥檚 base camp in August of that year and was coming off his successful five-year Seven Summits Speed Project. His effort on K2 appeared even more impressive and involved a solo push to the summit via the Abruzzi Spur. In just 70 hours, Stangl had managed to summit the most dangerous mountain in the world. Or did he?

Stangl had no GPS data to back his claim. His single summit photo cast further doubt because the background . Amid mounting pressure to substantiate his claim, Stangl less than a month later during a press conference.

鈥淚 suppose that I came to this from a mixture between fear of death and even greater fear of failure,鈥� he said at the time. 鈥淎chievement and success were and are the determining factors in my sport鈥y sponsors did not pressure me into doing this. This pressure came from inside me. Fear of death is bad enough, but the fear of the failure in an achievement-oriented society is worse.鈥�

Tom Sjogren has a saying: 鈥淵ou should always believe an explorer鈥檚 word.鈥� While exploration isn鈥檛 exactly the gentleman鈥檚 game of golf, endeavors like ocean sailing, mountaineering, and polar exploration are fundamentally rooted in the etiquette of honesty and accuracy. Most of these expeditions are carried out solo and occur in remote locations with no other witnesses. In some cases, all we have is our word. Which reveals a great dilemma: How can we trust solo explorers setting out to claim new records?

Sjogren, originally from Sweden, runs the online expedition news forum ExplorersWeb with his wife, Tina. Since it launched in 2002, the site has become the authoritative source for information on all types of expeditions, in part because the couple has taken to fact-checking questionable record claims like Szwed鈥檚. In the past several years, the pair has debunked everything from falsified North Pole records to a that they summited China鈥檚 26,286-foot-high Shisha Pangma in 2009. ExplorersWeb receives between five and ten major accusations a year, Sjogren says, most of which devolve into he-said, she-said arguments that can鈥檛 be proven one way or the other.

An investigation begins when one explorer calls another鈥檚 record into question鈥攗sually through emails to ExplorersWeb. Tom, Tina, or a staffer then contacts the person who claimed the record, asking if he or she has any evidence of the feat. If the person doesn鈥檛 provide it鈥攁s happened when the Sjogrens reached out to Szwed鈥�ExplorersWeb will then contact news sources that reported on the expedition, sponsors, relevant logistics operators, and prominent members of the associated community. In its search for any clues that Szwed may have left, ExplorersWeb talked to the South Pole station and other people on Antarctica during Szwed鈥檚 alleged journey. They all had the same reply: We didn鈥檛 see him.

After a prolonged investigation, Tom and Tina came to the conclusion that Szwed鈥檚 claims didn鈥檛 add up. His timeline was highly doubtful; without GPS data, there was simply no telling where he went and, consequently, where he didn鈥檛 go. Plus, there was the doctored photo. When they reached out to Szwed for an explanation, he didn鈥檛 attempt to clear up any of the accusations against him. In his reply he said:

I know what I did and I know how fast I did it. I did it for me, just for me, only for me. I never wanted to break any records. Sorry that I was so fast. I鈥檓 not claiming any of (Christian) Eide鈥檚 and ALE-made records, keep them for you. But if there are people doubting it, pay me the expedition one more time and I鈥檒l repeat it.

Unsatisfied with Szwed鈥檚 replies to Tom and Tina鈥攁s well as a 鈥擨 decided to reach out to the man myself. I鈥檝e been a professional adventurer and guide for 20 years. I鈥檝e skied to the South Pole twice, once along the same route that Szwed claimed to have taken. Polar exploration is my livelihood, and the trust of my sponsors is a hard-won privilege I don鈥檛 take for granted.

Here鈥檚 what Szwed told 国产吃瓜黑料 in email exchanges and via Skype. He developed cancer when he was 24 years old and started adventuring as a way to 鈥渇ight through鈥� it. He worked for years as a climbing instructor in Germany and has carried out expeditions in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, China, Chile, Iran, Uganda, Canada, and elsewhere. He set his sights on the Seven Summits some years ago and began planning a trip to Antarctica to summit Mount Vinson. Since Vinson is comparatively easy at only 16,050 feet, Szwed began scoping out other expeditions he could attempt while on the continent. He settled on an unsupported ski to the pole.

Antarctica has no central government; anyone who wishes to journey there needs permission from their respective home government. In Germany, that means applying to the Federal Environmental Agency. Szwed did and was denied passage. But by then he says he had obtained sponsorships, trained physically, and sold his car to help cover the costs of the trip. He was steeled. 鈥淚 said, for sure you won鈥檛 stop me from my dream,鈥� Szwed said. He left for Punta Arenas, Chile, and booked a trip through logistics provider ALE to the icy continent on December 30. The order and veracity of the events that took place afterward are fuzzy.

Szwed initially told his sponsors that he summited Vinson alone on December 30. He then claimed to have reached the South Pole on January 13. But apart from the ALE flight log showing that he was in the air on December 30, a photograph provided to the sponsor Aranea by his Vinson guide showed Szwed with a group of other clients on the mountain on January 5. Then ALE recorded Szwed in its logbook on a flight out of Antarctica on January 9.

During a recent Skype interview with 国产吃瓜黑料, Szwed appeared with a goatee, pierced eyebrow, and ponytail, wearing rimless glasses and a fuzzy Adidas jacket. He said he wouldn鈥檛 specify his timeline for fear of reprisal from the German government. Szwed said he is currently the subject of two investigations: A public prosecutor has accused him of fraud, on the ground that the South Pole expedition never took place, and Germany鈥檚 Federal Environmental Agency is pursuing a claim against him for traveling to Antarctica without permission. Szwed said he could face jail time and a fine of 50,000 euros if he divulges any details about the timing of his trip.

Szwed said he has the GPS data that can clear his name, but he鈥檚 sure that if he releases it, the German government will throw the book at him for traveling to Antarctica. He didn鈥檛 snap a photo at the pole like everyone else who makes it there does, Szwed said, because he left his sled鈥攁nd his camera鈥攁t a cache point about 75 miles from the pole and carried just a small rucksack for the last leg of the journey. 鈥淚f a guy is in the middle of nowhere for two weeks and goes over his limit鈥he last thing you think to do is make great sponsor pictures,鈥� he said. The doctored selfie was an attempt to get the message across that he鈥檇 succeeded, not to serve as verification, Szwed said.

Szwed maintained that he broke the record and said the facts of his journey were distorted by his sponsors and the news media. He doesn鈥檛 dispute that he knowingly traveled to Antarctica without the proper permits. 鈥淚 made some mistakes,鈥� Szwed said. 鈥淚 acted in a way that I wouldn鈥檛 do now a second time.鈥� He reiterated the challenge he put to the Sjogrens鈥攖hat anyone who doesn鈥檛 believe him should pay his way to Antarctica so he can make another attempt on the speed record.

A number of blog posts on Aranea鈥檚 website documenting Szwed鈥檚 trip have been taken down, but two remain. The , dated November 19, 2014, is an excited, one-line announcement of Szwed鈥檚 upcoming departure to Antarctica. The , from August 2015, recaps the contradictions of Szwed鈥檚 claims. At one point, the unnamed writer asks, 鈥淚s it conceivable that he actually believes himself that he was at the South Pole?鈥�

Had Szwed claimed anything but the solo speed record in Antarctica, most of us in the polar community probably wouldn鈥檛 have batted an eye. Lesser claims of success at the South Pole are so common that they don鈥檛 register among the guides, support staff, and polar pioneers still cracking away at the few real records left in Antarctica.

As a modern-day adventurer, I am constantly working to gain exposure for my exploits and promote myself via social media, just like Szwed did. I leverage my experiences, stories, and pictures into sponsorships, and I鈥檝e had my share of mishaps and embarrassments. In 2012, for example, I failed an attempt to become the first person to bicycle to the South Pole. My fully loaded bike was frequently bogged down in soft patches of snow, and I fell over every hundred feet or so. It would have been easier just to push the damn thing. I remember being on the ice, feeling like I was letting down friends, family, and my sponsors after only a week of effort. Back in the United States, I quickly penned a news release stating that I had 鈥渟et a new record for the longest distance ever cycled in Antarctica鈥濃�攖he most spin I could muster while still sticking to the facts.

When 国产吃瓜黑料 contacted me to ask my opinion on Szwed, I was teaching a polar travel course on Lake Winnipeg in Canada. I had never heard of him or his situation. But I wasn鈥檛 surprised. Polar travel has long been home to a variety of hoaxes and outright lies. Regardless, I jumped at the opportunity to help shed light on what I believe is a growing cancer in the adventure world: the graying line between truth and fiction. Social media and technology have made it possible for anyone to brand themselves as professionals and experts with little or no vetting. Of course, we all want to be our best selves online, but the strategy of 鈥渇ake it until you make it鈥� has become an art form among would-be adventurers.

For hundreds of years, all that we explorers have had is our word. But in the 21st century, maybe it鈥檚 time to backstop the integrity with some proof.

As for Martin Szwed, he is gearing up to climb Everest later this year. It would be the final peak in his Seven Summits project. He is looking for sponsors.

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It used to be that traveling to Antarctica meant playing Russian roulette with your life.听Tourism to the coldest, driest, and windiest place on Earth started in earnest in the 1950s, but even 15 years ago, getting there was a challenge. These days, trips to the continent can be tackled with (relative) ease. Just look at the numbers鈥攍ast year, 37,405 visitors made the trip south, compared with 10,000 in 1999 and zero in 1914. 听

Still, it鈥檚 the most remote and forbidding stretch of wilderness in the world, exponentially more difficult to reach than nearly every other landmass. You鈥檒l need a 听and you'll have to follow the , which prohibits tampering with the ecosystem in any way. I鈥檝e been to Antarctica four times, and if you want to step foot on the bottom of the world, I can safely say that you have only five options to get there.

#1: Become a Villager

The least expensive (and longest-term) way to reach Antarctica is to work for one of the Antarctic research stations. The United States National Science Foundation (NSF) operates three bases on the continent: Palmer, Amundsen-Scott South Pole, and McMurdo. But you don鈥檛 have to have to be a scientist to land a gig. They need operational support such as cooks, plumbers, snow shovelers, pilots, and forklift drivers. Lockheed Martin is the private contractor that operates the U.S. Antarctic research facilities. Check 听for available positions.

#2: Be an Artist or a Writer

According to the , working on an artistic project that will 鈥渋ncrease understanding of the Antarctic and help document America鈥檚 Antarctic heritage鈥� could land you free round-trip airfare and accommodation in Antarctica. They want people focused on long-term projects (sorry, journalists) and have hosted writers, filmmakers, and even instillation artists.

#3: Scientists Wanted

The government will also pay for scientists able to prove that their research will benefit from traveling to Antarctica. Check the 听to see a complete list of funding opportunities.

#4: Sail In听

Most people get to Antarctica via tour operators who assist with logistics. They tend to use boats, which are the most economical way to make the journey, though trips still cost from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. Ushuaia in Southern Argentina is the preferred port of disembarkation (and a worthwhile destination in and of itself). You鈥檒l travel past penguins, icebergs, and through the notoriously choppy Drake Passage before you get to Antarctica. Any operator worth his salt is a member of the , which promotes environmentally responsible travel to the continent.

#5: Fly the Icy Skies听

If you want to ski the South Pole, climb Vinson Massif听(the highest peak in Antarctica), or visit the continent鈥檚 vast interior, you have to fly. Because no commercial flights exist, you'll have to go through a private logistic operator. 听is based in Cape Town, South Africa,听and flies to a Russian base called Novolazareskaya (Novo for short). 听flies from Punta Arenas, Chile, to Union Glacier, a small base where they kick-off guided expeditions. But you won鈥檛 find a ticket for less than $20,000 for a spot on their freakishly powerful Russian jet, ,听that lands on a three-mile-long, blue-ice runway.

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On March 7th, and I will depart for the听听to hopefully break听 (49 days). To achieve this feat, we鈥檒l rely on a combination of careful planning, teamwork, quality equipment, and sheer will.

This journey to the North Pole is one of the most difficult expeditions on the planet. While there have been about 6,000 Everest summits, fewer than 300 people have completed the full trip from land to the North Pole.

Sure, Everest climbers must contend with avalanches and altitude, but those intrepid enough to make the traverse across the Arctic Ocean encounter polar bears, razor-thin moving ice, open water, and bitter cold鈥攖emperatures average around 55 degrees below zero. There are no Sherpas to carry the gear and forget about cozy base camps. Each day we鈥檒l be pulling all of our equipment鈥攚hich weighs 350 pounds at the start鈥攐ver some of the worst surface conditions designed by Mother Nature. We'll then set up our small tent on a (hopefully) stable piece of ice.

This environment literally destroys gear. Plastic becomes brittle and cracks, nylon tears like paper, tent poles snap, and everything from Clif Bars to zipper pulls freeze. And it's not just cold temperatures that pose a problem. The Arctic Ocean鈥攖he iciest place on the planet鈥攊s so humid that moisture will build up and freeze in sleeping bags, clothes, and camera gear.

We'll have to cope with these elements for more than a month. Our journey from northern Ellesmere Island to the North Pole will span roughly 48 days. We're traveling unaided and unassisted, which means we'll pull all of our supplies鈥攆ood, fuel, and gear鈥攊n lightweight Kevlar sleds for the entire trip.听听

If we run out of food or fuel or break something that we can't repair, we're done (and not done as in, 鈥淥h, by the way I think I'm going to call my mom and have her pick me up now.鈥�) Our ability to survive is directly linked to the quality, durability, and weight of our gear.

While I could fill volumes about our overall travel strategy, I wanted to highlight some of the equipment that we will be taking along.

DeLorme inReach SE

The听inReach听is by far听the most important piece of gear I own. I spend months of my life at the ends of the earth (the North and South poles) and have used听DeLorme's听inReach听extensively all over the globe鈥攊t runs on the Iridium network. Mostly I rely on the听inReach听as an emergency beacon. Should the worst happen, not only do I have the ability to send out a call for help, but I can also send and receive messages. There's an easy-to-use tracking function, downloadable maps (for when I'm not mucking about the poles), and I can even update my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Plus, I can pair the听inReach听with my smart phone, which makes accessing all those functions that much, well, smarter.

MSR Lightning Ascents

Imagine the last time you were in the mountains and had to cross a slope of misshapen boulders. Now imagine doing that same traverse in snowshoes while pulling a 350-pound sled, and you鈥檒l begin to understand why snowshoes play such an important role in our journey. Snowshoes spread our weight out on thin ice and provide the maneuverability and traction that skis can't. I like the听听because it offers听a lot听of听traction. The snowshoes' two cross beams are positioned perfectly underfoot and the burly crampons give me the stability I need while clawing my way north. Strapping my feet into these is like engaging four-wheel drive.

听MSR Flight Poles

On this expedition, our ski poles perform a variety of very important tasks. First, they provide support and balance鈥攅specially in white-outs when just standing upright is tricky. Our poles also give us additional traction鈥攚e stab, push, pull, and shove against the poles to gain a few millimeters of extra leverage. Plus, we use the poles to test how safe the ice is. If the ice can withstand three stout jabs from the tip and basket, it's generally safe…enough. Finally we use poles to communicate when we're far apart. For example, poles stretched horizontally means everything is okay.

I like the听听because it's aluminum鈥攗nlike carbon fiber poles, it can be bent back into shape after I fall on it. It has a large strap to accommodate my big mittens and a low foam grip that lets me switch my hand position.听

MSR XGK EX Stove

This is听. Simply put, the XGK听always听works. It鈥檚 never given me any problems, and I鈥檝e never had to clean it on an expedition. It cranks the听BTUs, has sturdy legs and solid pot supports. It鈥檚 also totally field-repairable (if a problem were to suddenly occur). It sounds like a jet engine, but that only helps our team dynamics鈥擱yan doesn't have to listen to my bad jokes in the tent.听

Granite Gear Packing Systems听

Granite Gear stuff sacks have听. I actually use the air pockets in place of zip lock bags because they're roughly the same weight, but substantially more durable. I no longer use hard Pelican-style cases because I store all my electronics in the Air Cell Blocks, which are padded enough to protect things like my satellite phone and camera equipment. Basically, everything in my sled is stored, stashed, and colored coded in something made by Granite Gear.听

Wigwam The Ice Sock

Wearing听. Not only are these retro throwbacks super warm, they're also extraordinarily durable. I've been wearing the same exact pair of socks for almost three years now.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows Phone

On my expeditions, I'm all about getting the most I can out of my gear. So having a smartphone, MP3 player, and amazing camera all in one package means a lot. I know, uniting those three devices into one isn鈥檛 a new idea, but as a serious amateur photographer, I find it hard to take pictures with anything except my听DLSR. That鈥檚 where the听, which make for stunning images. The camera can shoot in a manual mode and I even have a camera grip with an extra battery that snaps onto the phone.听

Stanley Vacuum Bottle

This bottle听听in temperatures 40 degrees below zero. What else do you really need to know?听

Yaktrax Thermal Insole

Most people don't realize how much heat you loose through the bottom of your feet. The听听is dense enough to insulate your foot and it won't pack out. Plus, it combines natural and synthetic fibers to give you some extra cushioning no matter how far you trek.听

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