The expedition

Scots adventurer Jock Wishart is mounting an expedition to the Magnetic North Pole (as certified in 1996) to highlight the already dramatic effect of climate change on the ice around the Polar Regions.

Row to the Pole

The idea for Row to the Pole first came about when Jock was at Resolute Bay in the former North West Territories of Canada.

Having just completed The Polar Race he had taken a rowing machine out on to the ice. A friend seeing him, joked, “What are you going to do next Jock? Row to the Pole!”

From that moment the idea of the challenge alongside the chance to highlight climate change in the region took root in Jock’s mind. Not a man to lose sight of a challenge he has worked tirelessly to make this expedition a reality.

Pole position

The Magnetic North Pole is continually moving. It was originally reached by James Clark Ross in 1831. At the time it was located on the Boothia Peninsula, Canada.

It appeared to move very little until about 1904, when its position began to track northeastward about nine miles per year.

The third observation was by Canadian government scientists, Paul Serson and Jack Clark, of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, who found the pole at Allen Lake on Prince of Wales Island.

First placed

More recently the Canadian government made attempts to measure it and show its movement northwestward.

This was eventually successfully achieved in 1996 when an expedition certified its location by magnetometer and theodolite. This was the first time it has been accurately measured. The expedition was led by David Hempelman-Adams and included Jock Wishart.

The measurements were accepted by the Canadian government and it became a recognised and certified position at;

The position is 78°35.7N 104°11.9W / 78.595°N 104.1983°W.

Since then, this 1996 certified position has become an established expedition objective for Arctic expeditions and adventures. The biennial Polar Race takes place between Resolute Bay in northern Canada and the 1996-certified location of the North Magnetic Pole. In 2007 the BBC’s Top Gear programme’s Jeremy Clarkson and James May reached the location by car during the early spring when the ice in the region is at its thickest.

The speed of movement of the Pole began to increase significantly in a northwesterly direction about 1998, and now averages about 37 miles each year and so It is currently projected to be in a position in Siberia by the end of the century.

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