The Three Poles is an adventurer’s challenge to reach the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
, the
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
, and the summit of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
.
The first person to reach all three locations was
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...
. He reached the top of Everest in May 1953, summited the South Pole in January 1958, and made it to the North Pole in company with
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
in April 1985.
Hillary flew to the North Pole. The first person to reach all three locations on foot was
Erling Kagge
Erling Kagge (born January 15, 1963) is a Norwegian explorer, publisher, author, lawyer, art collector, entrepreneur and politician.
Three Poles Challenge
Erling Kagge is the first person to reach the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of ...
. He completed the Three Poles Challenge by May 1994, six months faster than the next person. On 5 August 1997, Antoine de Choudens (France, 1969–2009) became the only climber to accomplish the Three Poles Challenge on foot without using supplementary oxygen on the Everest climb.
Tina Sjögren
Tina Sjögren is the CEO and co-founder of Pythom, a Swedish-American aerospace company based in Bishop, California. She is the first woman to complete the Three Poles Challenge - summiting Mount Everest (1999) and skiing unsupported to the Sout ...
became the first woman to complete the challenge in 2002.
Colin O'Brady
Colin Timothy O'Brady (born March 16, 1985) is an American professional endurance athlete, motivational speaker and adventurer. He is a former professional triathlete, representing the United States on the ITU Triathlon World Cup circuit, raci ...
became the fastest person to complete the Three Poles Challenge in May 2016, setting the current record in 131 days as part of his successful attempt to break the
Seven Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits a ...
and
Explorers Grand Slam
The Explorer's Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to reach the North Pole and South Pole, as well as climb the Seven Summits (Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson, and Puncak Jaya or Kosciuszko). Purists also include a subma ...
(Last Degree) speed records. However, unlike Erling Kagge, Antoine de Choudens, and Tina Sjögren, Colin O’Brady only did the Last Degree of the North Pole.
Masha Gordon
Masha Gordon (born 13 February 1974) is a British businesswoman, explorer and mountain climber. Gordon spent 16 years working in finance and capital markets. She was managing director of Goldman Sachs and most recently led the emerging markets p ...
became the fastest woman to complete the Three Poles Challenge in 2016, beating a record set by
Wang Lei in May 2010.
See also
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Eight-thousander
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...
*
Mountaineers 5 Peak Pin
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbin ...
*
Seven Second Summits
The Seven Second Summits are the second-highest mountains of each of the seven continents. All of these mountain peaks are separate peaks rather than a sub-peak of the continents' high point. The Seven Second Summits are considered by many mountain ...
*
Volcanic Seven Summits
The Volcanic Seven Summits are the highest volcanoes on each of the seven continents, just as the Seven Summits are the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Summiting all seven is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first postulat ...
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Four Poles Challenge
The Four Poles Challenge is an adventurer's challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, the summit of Mount Everest and the Challenger Deep.
The first person to reach all four locations was Victor Vescovo, who reached the top of Mount Evere ...
References
External links
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Peak bagging
Polar regions of the Earth
Edmund Hillary
Mountaineering competitions
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