Tuesday 20th May

From his website : British polar guide Pen Hadow (41) of The Polar Travel Company made history today, Monday 19th May 2003, by reaching the North Geographic Pole from Canada. On Sunday, Pen completed a staggering 17 nautical miles in 15 hours and with only one hour's rest, he began walking the last phase. At 11:00 hrs BST, Pen walked the final 4 nautical miles to his long awaited goal.

Major victory for the professional polar guide, Pen Hadow, who reached the North Pole yesterday, Monday 19th May, at 10.00 am TU.
He set out from Ward Hunt on 17th March and so therefore took 64 days to achieve his goal and become the first explorer to complete this particular route alone and without any outside assistance or re-supply, despite the fact it is frequently travelled.
The cherry on the cake of his achievement is that since 30th April, when he lost one of his skis while crossing a stretch of open water, Pen had continued on foot, which made progress all the more hazardous.
So this is a major victory for a professional guide who is well known in the world of polar adventures.

Thursday 15th May

If Pen continues at this rate (approximately 15 km per day) he should reach the North Pole in a little over a week.
To recap since our last report. One: the explorer has encountered great difficulty in making progress, with the usual litany of obstacles, leads, compression zones and ice that was too soft and often too thin, as well as numerous storms that covered the pack-ice with ten or so centimetres of snow, making progress much more difficult, not to mention more dangerous.
Two: Pen fell in the water on a number of occasions when he wasn't wearing his waterproof combination suit like the one used by Borge Ousland in his successful attempt to cross the Arctic pack-ice between Siberia and Ward Hunt in the spring of 2001. On 30th April, Pen even lost a ski during one of his falls. He was unable to retrieve it that evening or the following morning, despite the fact it was designed to float if it fell in the water.
Undaunted, Pen continued his route, quickly becoming accustomed to a new way of marching through the snow without skis. Certainly he struggled for the first few days after 30th April, but he later gave details in his daily reports of the benefits of crossing the pack-ice on foot.
To sum up, Pen is making good progress. His website gives us some vital statistics on a daily basis: by 14th May, he had covered 670 km and so had 54 nautical miles (100 km) left to cover.
Last-minute problems: he has had to ration his fuel for the past few weeks, but the temperature is milder and the wind is pushing him northwards. He also has many stretches of open water to cross before he reaches the Pole.
If everything goes well, he should complete his adventure around 24th May (he set out from Ward Hunt on 17th March, taking sufficient supplies and fuel for 60 days aboard his sledge).

Monday 21st April

Thus far, Pen Hadow has covered 132 nautical miles (238 km); he has approximately 511 km to go before reaching the North Pole. On 15th April (date of his latest report), he covered 14 km in 9.5 hours. His position then was 85°17' North 73° 25' West.
Since he departed on 17th March, Pen Hadow has of course encountered numerous problems with the condition and quality of the ice and the open leads of water that he has had to cross (over thirty so far). On 9th April, he even had to get into the water and swim the 75 metres separating him from the other side of the lead. He managed to do this pulling his sledge behind him (which still weighed 108 kg on 15th April).
The temperature is still quite cold for the time of year, varying between minus 33° and minus 26°C.
Despite everything, Pen's morale remains good.

Monday 7th April

We have learnt that the adventure by the professional guide, Pen Hadow, is now underway. Pen set out on 17th March from Ward Hunt, which is the spot through which all polar treks attempting the Canadian route to the pole pass through on their way from Resolute Bay via the Eureka weather base.

Although they are not particularly detailed, his daily updates (see his website) provide us with sufficient information about his progress: over the past 17 days, he has covered 102.786 km, giving him a daily average of 6.42 km. It is interesting to compare the trek of the three British women - Ann Daniels, Pom Oliver and Caroline Hamilton - who set out to cover the same route last year, leaving at around the same time (13th March for the three British adventurers, 17th March for Pen Hadow). In the space of 19 days, they only covered 36.11 km, whereas Pen has already gone 102.786 km in 17 days (average: 6.42 km per day). 
It has to be said that although the terrain is, of course, just as chaotic as last year, it appears to be less open this year and the ice is not broken up so much by the dreaded open leads that slow down all would-be conquerors of the North Pole.
Pen has been experiencing very low temperatures along the way, although since 30th March they have warmed up a little to between minus 25 and minus 35°, instead of the minus 40° he had to cope with for the first two weeks of his trek. The plucky British guide also seems to be benefiting from another stroke of luck: the weather is not too bad and the sun frequently makes an appearance to warm up his progress.