Has anyone ever wintered over at the North Pole?

Question

I was just reading a story about the thinning pack ice in the Arctic, and it got me to wondering, has anyone (besides Santa) ever wintered over at the North Pole? I remember reading a story a few years ago about one explorer who was going to trek southward from the North Pole to Norway, I think, in the winter, when the Arctic ice would be relatively frozen over, but does anyone know if anyone has ever chilled out at the pole all winter?

Answer 1

This will get your attention.

http://www.ousland.com/
http://www.norway.org/culture/lectures/ousland+lectures.htm

"His latest adventure, a two month travel by foot, 620 miles from Western Siberia to the North Pole, was accomplished with the South African adventurer Mike Horn last year. They skied and swam their way north without any support and ran into problems like hungry polar bears, broken skis, unusually warm temperatures that prevented the Arctic Ocean from freezing completely, and contrary currents that pushed the ice floes they camped on each night in the wrong direction while they slept."

Not something I would want to try but some people just have to find new ways to take a vacation!

So yes there are some winter travelers to the North Pole. Don't know if the INN is open then.

Answer 2

The indigenous Inuit people, - whom, YOU might call, "THE ESKIMOS", - DO so, every single DAY, of their LIVES, - WINTERS and SUMMERS, alike!