Iqaluit (June 02/03) - Pen Hadow, a 41- year-old British polar guide, completed his 772-kilometre trek to the North Pole on May 19.

Pen Hadow travelled 772 kilometres to the North Pole. His expedition took 72 days to complete. - photo courtesy of Martin Hartley

He's the first person to get to the pole by himself and without aid from Canada. But his journey was not without complications.

The expedition, dubbed Pen Solo, began from Ward Hunt Island in mid-March. It took Hadow 64 days to reach the pole.

Weight and weather

When Hadow began his journey to the North Pole, he weighed 90 kilograms. He also carried a sled weighing more than 130 kilograms.

The sled held Hadow's supplies, including his rations, a diet which consisted of items like porridge, nuts, chocolate and tea. He also had some dried dinners with him and dried milk.

"I know he lost about 35 pounds (15.75 kilograms) in weight but he put some weight on before he left to make up

for it," said expedition photographer, Martin Hartley.

While having to make sure blood sugar levels were maintained, Hadow also encountered several other small problems.

On April 30, the 45th day of the expedition, Hadow lost a ski after falling through the ice.

Then on May 23, the batteries in Hadow's satellite phone went dead. Luckily, he had an Argos with him. The Argos is a special device that transmits information such as weather conditions to a satellite.

With a list of pre-determined argos codes, Hadow could tell those involved in the expedition if he was OK, needed to be picked up, or had an emergency.

"We could tell even without a phone or a radio exactly how he was feeling. It was updated every two hours," said Hartley.

The pick up

Hadow waited eight days after reaching the North Pole to be picked up.

Kenn Borek Air Ltd., the airline hired to drop him off and pick him up, made several attempts to get to Hadow before successfully reaching him. Hadow was on an ice floe with about a 45-kilometre radius.

The pilots of the Twin Otter airplane landed 60 kilometres away from Hadow on Monday May 26, waited for the weather to clear and picked him up early Tuesday morning. Kenn Borek Air Ltd. has been operating since 1970. The company specializes in flying passengers to remote locations.

"This is the latest in the season we've ever picked anyone up. We try to limit everything to the end of April. You're landing on ice and if it starts cracking you wind up getting open water in places," said Sean Loutitt, chief pilot for Kenn Borek Air Ltd.

Loutitt said the company wants to make sure this does not happen again.

"We're not sure how much we'll do in the future," he said.

72 days alone

After h was picked up on May 27, Hadow was taken to the Eureka weather station on Ellesmere Island.

"We met him off the plane up at Eureka. He was looking surprisingly healthy for someone who's done what he's done. I'm surprised his behaviour was as normal as he was," said Hartley.

Hadow still had a little bit of food and fuel with him. The polar explorer is expected back in Britain on June 4.