Pavel Blažek

To reach the North Pole and South Pole under own power is
a huge goal. You need to be in a really good shape, have an excellent
knowledge of navigation, be able to survive in very low temperatures
for long periods of time. What you also need is a load of
determination and strong will, and you have to be ready to take
chances. What also matters is your ability to organize, manage
and finance the whole thing which often proves to be a much more
difficult task than to carry out the journey itself.

I personally see all these challenges as a great opportunity to learn
new things and face situations that I would never have a chance
to deal with if I stayed at home. Here I am not talking just about
acquiring skills that prevent you from freezing to death on the Pole,
but I mean also the chance to develop my communication skills
through meetings with sponsors, or to learn how to make the project
attractive to possible sponsors and the media.

To reach the Pole is what motivates me. The experience
I gain along the way is why I’m doing it.

North / North pole

The Geographic North PoleGeographical North Pole defines geodetic latitude 90° North. It is the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is basically a spot in the Arctic Ocean permanently covered with ice that is 2 - 3 m (6 - 10 ft) thick. Winter temperatures (January) average at -34 °C (-29 F). Average summer temperature (July) is close to the freezing point. No particular time zone has been assigned to the region - the only seasons distinguished are polar day and night. Currently, the North Pole does not belong to any country. is located in the Arctic OceanArctic Ocean covers an area of about 14 million km² (5.5 sq miles). It is the smallest and the most shallow ocean in the world. Its surface is for most of the year covered continuously with a thick layer of sea ice. It had been believed till 1958 that there is some Arctic continent in the middle of the ocean. That was proven incorrect when the American submarine USS Nautilus passed under the Pole, and demonstrated that there is no such continent..
It is literally a point in the middle of the permanently
frozen ocean covered with floating sea ice that can be as
much as 2 m (6.5 ft) thick. The ice is shifting constantly
not only because of the ocean currents and wind, but also
because of the moon’s gravitational pull. Due to the
constant motion of the ice, which is called the driftDrift in the context of the North Pole is a word used to describe the constant motion of the sea ice layer covering the Arctic Ocean. The character of the drift of the ice is more or less unpredictable as it is affected by wind and ocean currents. For trips to the North Pole, however, two kinds of drifts are distinguished - positive/favorable drift that moves towards the Pole, and negative drift that moves away from the Pole.,
the ice is full of wide open leadsLeads is a term referring to stretches of open water that regularly form within the sea ice layer of the Arctic Ocean. They are caused by movements of the ice due to wind and ocean currents. Leads can be many miles long and very wide. They may open and close again within a brief period; alternatively they may remain open more or less permanently., and so called
torosesToroses (from Russian) are ice pressure ridges caused by movements of the sea ice. The ice is shifting constantly which causes cracks in the ice and creates separate blocks of ice. Pressure ridges then arise in areas where these blocks accumulate and are pushed against each other. The pressure ridges can be up to several meters high. - up to several meters high ice pressure ridges.

The season for trips to the North Pole is from the end
of February till the end of April when the temperatures
are milder thanks to the polar dayPolar day, or the midnight sun, is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months north of the Arctic and Antarctic Circle when the sun remains visible above horizon for at least one day - there is therefore daylight for 24 hour and there is no night without sunlight. The opposite is the polar night when the sun stays below horizon for more than 24 hours at a stretch. The number of days for which the polar day/night lasts is given by the latitude. At the Poles the day and night last each for half a year. At the North Pole the polar day lasts from March till September, at the South Pole from September till March. and the sun being
permanently above horizon, while the ice is still thick
enough because the summer melting hasn’t started yet.
Two of the worst thing that can happen to you when walking
to the North Pole is to fall through the thin ice and to
experience strong negative drift.

South / South pole

The Geographic South PoleGeographic South Pole is located at 90° South latitude. It is the point in the southern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is the southernmost point on the Earth. It is situated at the elevation of 2835 m above sea level (9300 ft) on the top of an icy plateau that almost completely covers the Antarctic continent. The ice is estimated to be about 2700 meters (8800 ft) thick at the Pole. Since 1956, there has been an American scientific research station - The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station which is located right next to the Pole. No particular time zone has been assigned to the region - however, most of the polar stations use New Zealand time for practical reasons. is situated in AntarcticaAntarctica is the fifth largest continent. It is the southernmost, coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world. The coldest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F) and was registered in Antarctica in 1983. 98% of Antarctica is covered by a thick ice sheet that represents about 70% of the world's reserves of fresh water. The highest peak is Mt. Vinson (4892 m/15984 ft). There are no permanent human residents in Antarctica and the continent does not belong to any country. However, many countries have scientific research stations in the region., the coldest,
driest and windiest continent that is about 98% covered by ice.
The icy layer rises from the sea all the way up to a plateau at
the elevation of about 3000 m above sea level (9800 ft). The
thickness of the ice at the South Pole is more than 2 km
(6500 ft). Due to the elevation difference and Earth’s
gravitational force, the continent experiences strong
katabatic windsKatabatic winds is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Katabatic winds can rush down elevated slopes at hurricane speeds. They are most commonly found blowing out from the large and elevated ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. that can blow at a speed of as much
as 300 km/h (190 miles/h).

The best time for trips to the South Pole is between
December and February when Antarctica experiences
a short period of summer and the average temperature
is about -20 °C (-4 F). Despite the relatively mild conditions,
you still need to walk more than 1000 km (620 miles) to
reach the Pole in a quite inhospitable environment and on
a surface that is full of deep crevasses and covered with
sastrugiSastrugi, or zastrugi (from Russian) are sharp irregular grooves or ridges formed on a snow surface by wind erosion and deposition. They are found in polar and temperate snow regions where under the wind, free snow particles accumulate, drift and then re-form in a specific way. They remind strongly of sand dunes but unlike them, sastrugi are hard and solid.. The fact that there are only few people every year
who manage to walk to the Pole under own power proves that
the trip is not an easy walk. The Pole, so far, hasn’t been
reached by anyone from the Czech Republic.