Going to the Pole of Cold

When the RGS-IBG announced their 'Going Beyond' bursary, in association with Land Rover for the first time, Dan Ellison and I got involved by putting together a bid to turn the vehicle into a spaceship and head off exploring the UK. We had a load of geographers ready to join us, but in the end, the £30000 and Land Rover loan went to the Latitude team, who followed the 50 degree line of latitude...
Since 2008, there have been winners each year. I did an event in Brighton with members of one of the winning teams: the 'Atlantic Rising' crew.

See some previous winners here:


As I write this, Dan is in Northern Ireland on the latest of a series of #route125 adventures, and the latest winners of the bursary have been announced.

From the RGS Press Release...

Felicity Aston, Gisli Jonsson and Manu Palomeque

'The Pole of Cold' is a journey to chase the onset of winter across Europe and Siberia as far as the Pole of Cold, the coldest place in the northern hemisphere. The expedition will focus on winter as a geographical concept by exploring the social, cultural and physical implications of the season on the communities the team meet. While enduring testing cold-weather conditions, the team will combine adventure, geography and art to share stories of day-to-day life in extreme climates in order that others might draw inspiration from them to look again at winter and their own lifestyles during the coldest months.

Winning details here (PDF download)

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