Ben Saunders: Three things to know before you ski to the North Pole

Translator: Liene Kiršfelde Reviewer: Ilze Garda

Tas esmu es. Mani sauc Bens Saunderss.

Es specializējos smagumu vilkšanā pa aukstām vietām.

Pagājušā gada 11. maijā

es vienatnē stāvēju ģeogrāfiskajā ziemeļpolā.

Es biju vienīgais cilvēks teritorijā, kas līdzvērtīga pusotrai Amerikai,

This is me. My name is Ben Saunders.

I specialize in dragging heavy things

vairāk nekā 14 000 kvadrātkilometru.

around cold places.

Vairāk nekā 2000 cilvēku ir uzkāpuši Everestā.

On May 11th last year,

12 cilvēki ir spēruši kāju uz Mēness.

I stood alone at the North geographic Pole.

Mani ieskaitot, tikai četri cilvēki ir vienatnē slēpojuši uz Ziemeļpolu.

I was the only human being in an area

Domāju, tas ir tāpēc...

one-and-a-half times the size of America,

(Aplausi)

five-and-a-half thousand square miles.

More than 2,000 people have climbed Everest.

Paldies!

12 people have stood on the moon.

Domāju, tas ir, tāpēc ka, kā Kriss teica, tas ir neprāts.

Including me, only four people

have skied solo to the North Pole.

Šis ceļojums ir tuvu cilvēka spēju robežai.

And I think the reason for that --

Vienā piegājienā noslēpoju attālumu, kas līdzvērtīgs 31 maratonam,

(Applause)

10 nedēļās apmēram 1300 km.

-- thank you -- I think the reason for that is that it's -- it's --

Turklāt vilku līdzi visu nepieciešamo pārtiku,

well, it's as Chris said, bonkers.

ekipējumu, guļammaisu, vienu veļas komplektu –

It's a journey that is right at the limit

visu gandrīz trīs mēnešiem nepieciešamo.

of human capability.

(Smiekli)

I skied the equivalent of 31 marathons

back to back. 800 miles in 10 weeks.

Turpmākajās nedaudz vairāk kā 16 minūtēs mēģināšu atbildēt uz trīs jautājumiem.

And I was dragging all the food I needed,

Pirmais ir – kāpēc?

the supplies, the equipment, sleeping bag,

Otrais – kā nokārtoties mīnus 40 grādu salā?

one change of underwear -- everything I needed for nearly three months.

(Laughter)

"Ben, esmu lasījis, ka mīnus 40 grādos

kaila āda gūst apsaldējumus nepilnas minūtes laikā.

What we're going to try and do today, in the 16 and a bit minutes I've got left,

Ko dari, kad daba sauc?"

is to try and answer three questions. The first one is, why?

Nevēlos atbildēt uzreiz, atgriezīšos pie tiem beigās.

The second one is,

Trešais – kā domā to pārspēt? Ko tālāk?

how do you go to the loo at minus 40?

"Ben, I've read somewhere that at minus 40,

Viss sākās 2001. gadā.

Mana pirmā ekspedīcija bija

exposed skin becomes frostbitten in less than a minute, so how do you answer the call of nature?"

kopā ar ļoti pieredzējušu puisi vārdā Pens Hadovs.

Tā bija tāda kā polārā apmācība.

I don't want to answer these now. I'll come on to them at the end.

Mēģinājām slēpot no šīs salu grupas,

Third one: how do you top that? What's next?

no Severnaja Zemļa, uz Ziemeļpolu.

It all started back in 2001.

Tas, kas mani fascinē saistībā ar Ziemeļpolu,

My first expedition was with a guy called Pen Hadow -- enormously experienced chap.

ģeogrāfisko ziemeļpolu, ir tā novietojums tieši jūras vidū.

This was like my polar apprenticeship.

Tas ir labākais atainojums kartē.

Lai to sasniegtu, jāslēpo pāri ledus garozai,

We were trying to ski from this group of islands up here,

pāri Ziemeļu Ledus okeāna peldošajai ledus cepurei.

Severnaya Zemlya, to the North Pole.

And the thing that fascinates me about the North Pole,

Biju runājis ar ekspertiem, izlasījis daudz grāmatu,

geographic North Pole, is that it's slap bang in the middle of the sea.

pētījis kartes un diagrammas.

This is about as good as maps get,

Bet pirmās dienas rītā sapratu,

and to reach it you've got to ski literally

ka man nav ne jausmas, uz ko esmu parakstījies.

over the frozen crust,

Man bija 23 gadi.

the floating skin of ice on the Artic Ocean.

Neviens manā vecumā nebija neko līdzīgu mēģinājis,

I'd spoken to all the experts.

un diezgan ātri gandrīz viss, kas varēja noiet greizi, nogāja greizi.

I'd read lots of books. I studied maps and charts.

But I realized on the morning of day one

Otrajā dienā mums uzbruka polārlācis.

that I had no idea exactly

Apsaldēju kreisās kājas īkšķi.

what I'd let myself in for.

I was 23 years old. No one my age

Mums sāka pietrūkt pārtika.

Abi bijām diezgan izsalkuši un zaudējām daudz svara.

had attempted anything like this,

and pretty quickly, almost everything

Arī laika apstākļi bija savādi, un ledus bija neparasts.

that could have gone wrong did go wrong.

Bijām izlēmuši par primitīvu komunikāciju.

We were attacked by a polar bear on day two.

I had frostbite in my left big toe.

Satelīttelefons bija par dārgu, tāpēc lietojām īsviļņu radio.

We started running very low on food. We were both pretty hungry, losing lots of weight.

Teltij piestiprinātās slēpju nūjas un vadi, kas karājas gar telts sienām –

Some very unusual weather conditions, very difficult ice conditions.

tā bija mūsu īsviļņu radio antena.

Divu mēnešu laikā mums bija mazāk nekā divas stundas

We had

decidedly low-tech communications.

abpusējas komunikācijas ar ārpasauli.

We couldn't afford a satellite phone, so we had HF radio.

Galu galā mums pietrūka laika.

You can see two ski poles sticking out of the roof of the tent.

Bijām noslēpojuši 650 kilometrus,

There's a wire dangling down either side.

līdz polam bija vēl 320 kilometri, un mums sāka trūkt laika.

That was our HF radio antenna.

We had less than two hours

Tuvojās vasara, ledus sāka kust.

two-way communication with the outside world in two months.

Pa radio sazinājāmies ar krievu helikoptera pilotiem,

kuri teica: "Puiši, jums vairs nav laika. Mums jāved jūs atpakaļ."

Ultimately, we ran out of time.

No visas sirds jutos, ka esmu izgāzies.

We'd skied 400 miles. We were just over 200 miles left

to go to the Pole, and we'd run out of time.

Es biju neveiksminieks.

Mans bērnības mērķis un sapnis, kopš sevi atceros,

We were too late into the summer; the ice was starting to melt;

we spoke to the Russian helicopter pilots on the radio,

ne tuvu nebija sasniegts.

and they said, "Look boys, you've run out of time.

Slēpojot bija divi iedomāti videoklipi,

We've got to pick you up."

And I felt that I had failed, wholeheartedly.

ko domās nepārtraukti atkārtoju,

I was a failure.

lai grūtos brīžos motivētu sevi doties uz priekšu.

The one goal, the one dream I'd had

Pirmais bija par paša pola sasniegšanu.

for as long as I could remember -- I hadn't even come close.

Skaidri redzēju,

kā tieku filmēts no helikoptera, un fonā skanēja kas līdzīgs rokmūzikai.

And skiing along that first trip, I had two

imaginary video clips that I'd replay over and over again in my mind

Man rokās slēpju nūja ar vējā plīvojošu Lielbritānijas karogu.

when the going got tough, just to keep my motivation going.

Redzēju sevi iespraužam karogu Ziemeļpolā,

The first one was reaching the Pole itself.

– ak, brīnišķīgais mirklis! – mūzika sasniedz kulmināciju.

I could see vividly, I suppose,

Otrais videoklips, ko iztēlojos, bija atgriešanās Hītrovas lidostā.

being filmed out of the door of a helicopter, there was, kind of, rock music playing in the background,

Un atkal spilgti redzēju kameru zibspuldzes,

and I had a ski pole with a Union Jack, you know, flying in the wind.

I could see myself sticking the flag in a pole, you know --

paparaci, autogrāfu medniekus,

grāmatu aģentus, kas cenšas pierunāt noslēgt darījumu.

ah, glorious moment -- the music kind of reaching a crescendo.

The second video clip

Un, protams, nekas no tā nenotika.

that I imagined was getting back to Heathrow airport,

Mēs nenokļuvām līdz polam,

and I could see again, vividly,

mums nebija naudas, lai maksātu par publicitāti,

the camera flashbulbs going off,

tāpēc par ekspedīciju neviens neko nebija dzirdējis.

the paparazzi, the autograph hunters,

Kad atgriezos Hītrovā, tur bija mana mamma un brālis,

the book agents coming to sign me up for a deal.

And of course, neither of these things happened.

mans vectētiņš ar mazu karodziņu.

We didn't get to the Pole, and we didn't have any money

(Smiekli)

Tas arī viss. Atgriezos dzīvot pie mammas.

to pay anyone to do the PR, so no one had heard

Biju fiziski pārguris.

of this expedition.

Garīgi pilnīgi sagrauts, uzskatīju sevi par neveiksminieku.

And I got back to Heathrow. My mum was there; my brother was there;

Ekspedīcijas dēļ biju lielos parādos,

my granddad was there -- had a little Union Jack --

un, guļot uz mammas dīvāna,

(Laughter)

diendienā skatījos televizoru.

-- and that was about it. I went back to live with my mum.

Brālis atsūtīja īsziņu ar citātu no "Simpsoniem".

I was physically exhausted,

mentally an absolute wreck, considered myself a failure.

Tur bija rakstīts:

"Tu centies no sirds un pilnīgi izgāzies.

In a huge amount of debt personally to this expedition,

and lying on my mum's sofa,

Mācība: labāk nemaz necenties!"

day in day out, watching daytime TV.

(Smiekli)

Pēc trīs gadiem beidzot piecēlos no dīvāna un sāku plānot nākamo ekspedīciju.

My brother sent me a text message, an SMS --

it was a quote from the "Simpsons." It said,

Šoreiz gribēju vienatnē šķērsot attālumu

"You tried your hardest and failed miserably.

no Krievijas, kartes augšpusē,

līdz Ziemeļpolam, pa vidu,

The lesson is: don't even try."

un tālāk līdz Kanādai.

(Laughter)

Neviens vienatnē vēl nav šķērsojis Ziemeļu Ledus okeānu.

Fast forward three years. I did eventually get off the sofa,

and start planning another expedition. This time,

2000. gadā divi norvēģi to paveica kopā. Neviens to nebija darījis vienatnē.

I wanted to go right across, on my own this time,

from Russia, at the top of the map,

Slavenais un izcilais itāļu alpīnists Reinholds Mesners

to the North Pole, where the sort of kink in the middle is,

mēģināja to paveikt 1995. gadā, un tika glābts jau pēc nedēļas.

and then on to Canada.

No one has made a complete crossing of the Arctic Ocean on their own.

Viņš šo ekspedīciju raksturoja

kā desmitkārt bīstamāku par kāpšanu Everestā.

Two Norwegians did it as a team in 2000. No one's done it solo.

Kaut kāda iemesla dēļ man tas bija jāpamēģina.

Very famous, very accomplished Italian mountaineer,

Sapratu, ka, lai būtu kaut neliela cerība,

Reinhold Messner, tried it in 1995,

and he was rescued after a week.

ka vienatnē tikšu līdz Kanādai un atgriezīšos mājās,

He described this expedition as 10 times

man jāizmanto pilnīgi cita pieeja.

as dangerous as Everest.

Tas ietver uzlabojumus it visā,

So for some reason, this was what I wanted to have a crack at,

no zobu birstes saīsināšanas līdz nepilnu divu gramu svaram

līdz sadarbībai ar vienu no pasaules vadošajiem dietologiem,

but I knew that even to stand a chance of getting home in one piece,

izstrādājot pilnīgi jaunu, revolucionāru diētu.

let alone make it across to Canada,

I had to take a radical approach.

6000 kalorijas dienā.

This meant everything from perfecting the

Ekspedīcija sākās pagājušā gada februārī.

sawn-off, sub-two-gram toothbrush,

Bija liela atbalsta komanda.

to working with one of the world's leading nutritionists

Bija filmēšanas komanda, daži loģistikas speciālisti,

in developing a completely new,

mana draudzene un fotogrāfs.

revolutionary nutritional strategy from scratch:

Sākumā viss bija diezgan saprātīgi. Lidojām uz Maskavu ar British Airways.

6,000 calories a day.

And the expedition started in February last year.

Nākamais lidojums uz Krasnojarsku Sibīrijā

ar Krievijas iekšzemes aviosabiedrību KrasAir.

Big support team. We had a film crew,

a couple of logistics people with us,

Pa burtiem tas būtu K-R-A-S.

my girlfriend, a photographer.

Tālāk ar diezgan senu krievu lidmašīnu,

At first it was pretty sensible. We flew British Airways to Moscow.

kas mūs aizveda uz pilsētu vārdā Katanga,

kas bija pēdējā civilizētā vieta.

The next bit in Siberia to Krasnoyarsk,

Mūsu operators, kas izrādījās bailīgs lidotājs,

on a Russian internal airline called KrasAir,

spelled K-R-A-S.

pirms kāpšanas lidmašīnā pilotam jautāja, cik ilgs būs lidojums,

The next bit, we'd chartered a pretty elderly Russian plane

un krievu pilots pilnīgā mierā atbildēja:

to fly us up to a town called Khatanga,

"Sešas stundas, ja izdzīvosim."

which was the sort of last bit of civilization.

(Smiekli)

Our cameraman, who it turned out was a pretty nervous flier at the best of times,

Mēs nokļuvām Katangā.

actually asked the pilot, before we got on the plane, how long this flight would take,

Mēdz jokot, ka Katanga nav pasaules mala, bet no Katangas to iespējams saskatīt.

and the pilot -- Russian pilot -- completely deadpan, replied,

(Smiekli)

"Six hours -- if we live."

Bijām plānojuši pārnakšņot, bet iestrēgām uz desmit dienām.

(Laughter)

Pilotam un helikoptera īpašniekiem radās šņabja veicināts strīds par samaksu.

We got to Khatanga.

I think the joke is that Khatanga isn't the end of the world,

Bijām iestrēguši uz palikšanu.

11. dienas rītā beidzot viss noskaidrojās.

but you can see it from there.

Piekrāvām helikopterus.

(Laughter)

It was supposed to be an overnight stay. We were stuck there for 10 days.

Divi helikopteri lidoja tandēmā un izlaida mani uz ledus blāķa malas.

There was a kind of vodka-fueled pay dispute between

the helicopter pilots and the people that owned the helicopter,

Bija izmisīga 45 minūšu filmēšana un fotografēšanās,

so we were stuck. We couldn't move.

kamēr helikopteri bija uz vietas.

Finally, morning of day 11, we got the all-clear,

Mani intervēja pa satelīttelefonu.

loaded up the helicopters -- two helicopters flying in tandem --

Tad visi sakāpa helikopteros,

– bams! – durvis aizvērās, un es paliku viens.

dropped me off at the edge of the pack ice.

We had a frantic sort of 45 minutes of filming,

Nezinu, vai iespējams vārdos aprakstīt šo mirkli.

photography; while the helicopter was still there,

I did an interview on the satellite phone;

Domāju tikai par to, kā skriet atpakaļ, pieklauvēt un teikt:

and then everyone else climbed back into the helicopter,

"Klau, šķiet neesmu visu līdz galam pārdomājis."

wham, the door closed, and I was alone.

(Smiekli)

Lai padarītu visu vēl ļaunāku,

And I don't know if words will ever quite do that moment justice.

redzat to balto punktu attēla augšējā labajā stūrī?

All I could think about was running back up to the door,

Tas ir pilnmēness.

banging on the door, and saying, "Look guys,

Tā kā aizkavējāmies Krievijā,

I haven't quite thought this through."

pienāca pilnmēness ar vislielākajām plūdmaiņām.

(Laughter)

Atrodoties uz sasalušas jūras virsmas,

lielas plūdmaiņas principā nozīmē,

To make things worse, you can just see the white dot

ka notiks interesantas lietas – ledus nedaudz kustēsies.

up at the top right hand side of the screen; that's a full moon.

Kā redzat, vilku divas ragavas.

Because we'd been held up in Russia, of course,

the full moon brings the highest and lowest tides;

Pārtika un viss 95 dienām nepieciešamais,

when you're standing on the frozen surface of the sea,

kopā 180 kilogrami, gandrīz 400 mārciņas.

high and low tides generally mean

Kad ledus bija samērā līdzens,

that interesting things are going to happen -- the ice is going to start moving around a bit.

varēju pavilkt abas.

Kad ledus nebija līdzens, man nebija izvēles:

I was, you can see there, pulling two sledges.

bija jāpavelk vienas, jāatstāj un jāiet pakaļ otrajām.

Grand total in all, 95 days of food and fuel,

Burtiski kūlos pa ledus krāvumiem,

180 kilos -- that's almost exactly 400 pounds.

okeāna straumju, vēja un plūdmaiņu sablīvētiem.

When the ice was flat or flattish,

I could just about pull both.

NASA ziņoja, ka pagājušajā gadā

When the ice wasn't flat, I didn't have a hope in hell.

bijuši novērojumu vēsturē sliktākie ledus apstākļi.

I had to pull one, leave it, and go back and get the other one.

Literally scrambling through what's called pressure ice --

Sablīvētais ledus visu laiku dreifē.

the ice had been smashed up under the pressure of the currents of the ocean,

Deviņas no desmit vienatnē pavadītajām nedēļām

the wind and the tides.

slēpoju pret vēju un lielākoties dreifēju atpakaļ.

NASA described the ice conditions last year as the worst since records began.

Rekords bija mīnus 4 kilometri.

And it's always drifting. The pack ice is always drifting.

Pamodos, nojaucu telti, 7,5 stundas slēpoju uz ziemeļiem,

I was skiing into headwinds for nine

uzcēlu telti un biju pavirzījies 4 kilometrus atpakaļ no sākuma punkta.

out of the 10 weeks I was alone last year,

and I was drifting backwards most of the time.

Burtiski nespēju turēties līdzi ledus dreifēšanas tempam.

My record was minus 2.5 miles.

(Video)

Ir 22. diena.

I got up in the morning, took the tent down, skied north for seven-and-a-half hours,

put the tent up, and I was two and a half miles further back

Guļu teltī, gatavojos doties ceļā.

than when I'd started.

Laiks ir vienkārši briesmīgs.

I literally couldn't keep up with the drift of the ice.

Pagājušajā naktī esmu aizdreifējis kādus astoņus kilometrus atpakaļ.

(Video): So it's day 22.

Ekspedīcijas turpinājumā problēmas vairs nesagādāja ledus,

I'm lying in the tent, getting ready to go.

bet gan tā trūkums.

Zināju, ka Arktikā paliek siltāks, ka ir arvien vairāk atklāta ūdens,

The weather is just appalling --

oh, drifted back about five miles

tomēr man bija viens slepenais ierocis – mazliet no biomimikrijas.

in the last -- last night.

Polārlāči pa Ziemeļu Ledus okeānu pārvietojas pilnīgi taisnās līnijās.

Later in the expedition, the problem was no longer the ice.

It was a lack of ice -- open water.

Pietuvojoties ūdenim, viņi metas peldus.

I knew this was happening. I knew the Artic was warming.

Sadarbojoties ar komandu Norvēģijā, bijām izveidojuši īpašu hidrotērpu,

I knew there was more open water. And I had a secret weapon up my sleeve.

kam pamatā ir apģērbs, kas līdzinās helikopteru pilotu valkātajam.

This was my little bit of bio-mimicry.

Varēju to uzvilkt pāri zābakiem un cimdiem,

Polar bears on the Artic Ocean move in dead straight lines.

to var savilkt ap seju, un tas diezgan stingri ieskauj seju.

If they come to water, they'll climb in, swim across it.

Tas nozīmēja, ka varu slēpot pa ļoti plānu ledu,

So we had a dry suit developed -- I worked with a team in Norway --

un, ja ielūztu, tas nebūtu pasaules gals.

based on a sort of survival suit --

Tas nozīmēja arī, ka sliktākajā gadījumā

I suppose, that helicopter pilots would wear --

varētu mesties ūdenī un pārpeldēt, velkot līdzi kamanas.

that I could climb into. It would go on over my boots, over my mittens,

it would pull up around my face, and seal pretty tightly around my face.

And this meant I could ski

Tāda diezgan radikāla tehnoloģija,

over very thin ice,

radikāla pieeja, bet tā lieliski darbojās.

and if I fell through, it wasn't the end of the world.

Vēl viena aizraujoša lieta, ko darījām pagājušajā gadā,

It also meant, if the worst came to the worst,

bija saistībā ar komunikācijām.

I could actually jump in and swim across

1912. gadā Šekltona Izturības ekspedīcija,

and drag the sledge over after me.

viens no tās dalībniekiem vārdā Tomass Orde Līss teicis:

Some pretty radical technology,

a radical approach --but it worked perfectly.

"2012. gada pētnieki, ja būs vēl palicis, ko pētīt,

Another exciting thing we did last year

was with communications technology.

noteikti līdzi nēsās bezvadu kabatas telefonus,

In 1912, Shackleton's Endurance expedition --

kas aprīkoti ar bezvadu teleskopiem."

Orde Līss kļūdījās tikai par astoņiem gadiem.

there was -- one of his crew, a guy called Thomas Orde-Lees.

Šis ir mans mobilais telefons, irīdija satelīttelefons.

He said, "The explorers of 2012,

Bezvadu teleskops bija digitālā kamera manā kabatā.

if there is anything left to explore,

will no doubt carry pocket wireless telephones

Katru no 72 dienām, ko pavadīju uz ledus,

fitted with wireless telescopes."

es blogoju no savas telts.

Well, Orde-Lees guessed wrong by about eight years. This is my pocket wireless telephone,

Sūtīju mazus dienasgrāmatas fragmentus

un informāciju par pieveikto attālumu,

Iridium satellite phone.

par ledu, par temperatūru

The wireless telescope was a digital camera I had tucked in my pocket.

un dienas foto.

And every single day of the 72 days I was alone on the ice,

Atcerieties, 2001. gadā mums bija nepilnu divu stundu kontakts ar ārpasauli.

I was blogging live from my tent,

sending back a little diary piece,

Pagājušajā gadā tiešraidē blogoju par ekspedīciju,

sending back information on the distance I'd covered --

kas raksturota kā desmitreiz bīstamāka par kāpšanu Everestā.

the ice conditions, the temperature --

Ne viss bija augstās tehnoloģijas.

and a daily photo.

Šī ir navigācija sliktas redzamības apstākļos.

Remember, 2001,

Kad ir liela migla, zemi mākoņi un vējš dzenā sniegu.

we had less than two hours radio contact with the outside world.

Nekas nav redzams.

Varat redzēt pie slēpju nūjām piesietās, dzeltenās lentītes.

Last year, blogging live from an expedition

that's been described as 10 times as dangerous as Everest.

Vadījos pēc vēja virziena.

It wasn't all high-tech. This is navigating

Tāda savāda augsto un zemo tehnoloģiju kombinācija.

in what's called a whiteout.

Ziemeļpolā nokļuvu 11. maijā.

When you get lots of mist, low cloud, the wind starts blowing the snow up.

Ceļš no Krievijas prasīja 68 dienas,

You can't see an awful lot. You can just see, there's a yellow

un tur nekā nav.

ribbon tied to one of my ski poles.

(Smiekli)

I'd navigate using the direction of the wind.

Tur pat nav nekādas atzīmes. Nekā tur nav.

So, kind of a weird combination of high-tech and low-tech.

Galvenokārt tāpēc, ka tas ir jūrā dreifējošs ledus.

I got to the Pole on the 11th of May.

Tur iesprausts karogs drīz būs aizdreifējis,

It took me 68 days to get there from Russia,

droši vien uz Kanādu vai Grenlandi.

and there is nothing there.

Es to zināju, bet tomēr kaut ko gaidīju.

(Laughter).

There isn't even a pole at the Pole. There's nothing there,

Savāds sajūtu jūklis.

Tobrīd jau bija kļuvis diezgan silts, apkārt daudz atklāta ūdens.

purely because it's sea ice. It's drifting.

Stick a flag there, leave it there, pretty soon it will drift off, usually towards Canada or Greenland.

Protams, biju sajūsmināts, ka esmu paša spēkiem tur nokļuvis,

I knew this, but I was expecting something.

bet sapratu, ka izredzes tikt līdz Kanādai,

Strange mixture of feelings: it was extremely warm by this stage,

kas vēl joprojām ir 640 km attālumā, maigi izsakoties, bija švakas.

a lot of open water around, and

Vienīgais pierādījums tam, ka biju tur, ir miglains GPS satelītnavigācijas attēls.

of course, elated that I'd got there under my own steam,

but starting to really realize

Šeit redzams devītnieks ar nullīšu virteni.

that my chances of making it all the way across to Canada,

which was still 400 miles away,

Deviņdesmit grādi ziemeļu platuma. Tas ir kā naglai uz galvas Ziemeļpolā.

were slim at best.

The only proof I've got that I was there

Nofotografēju to. Apsēdos uz ragavām. Ierakstīju dienas video.

is a blurry photo of my GPS, the little satellite navigation gadget.

Uzņēmu pāris fotogrāfijas. Izvilku satelīttelefonu.

You can just see --

Padusē sasildīju bateriju.

there's a nine and a string of zeros here.

Uzgriezu trīs numurus.

Piezvanīju mammai, draudzenei un sponsorējošās kompānijas vadītājam.

Ninety degrees north -- that is slap bang in the North Pole.

Sasniedzu trīs automātiskos atbildētājus.

I took a photo of that. Sat down on my sledge. Did a sort of video diary piece.

(Smiekli)

Took a few photos. I got my satellite phone out.

I warmed the battery up in my armpit.

I dialed three numbers. I dialed my mum.

(Video): Deviņdesmit.

I dialed my girlfriend. I dialed the CEO of my sponsor.

And I got three voicemails.

Tā ir īpaša sajūta.

(Laughter)

Visa planēta griežas zem manām kājām.

(Video): Ninety.

Visa pasaule zem manām kājām.

Beidzot sazvanīju mammu. Viņa bija rindā lielveikalā.

It's a special feeling.

The entire planet

Viņa apraudājās un teica, lai atzvanu.

is rotating

(Smiekli)

beneath my feet.

Turpināju slēpot vēl nedēļu.

Gribēju tikt pēc iespējas tuvāk Kanādai, pirms apstākļi kļūst pārāk bīstami.

The -- the whole world underneath me.

I finally got through to my mum. She was at the queue of the supermarket.

Šī bija pēdējā diena uz ledus.

She started crying. She asked me to call her back.

Kad runāju ar projekta komandu,

(Laughter)

viņi teica: "Klau, Ben, apstākļi kļūst pārāk bīstami.

I skied on for a week past the Pole.

I wanted to get as close to Canada as I could

Uz dienvidiem no tevis ir lieli atklāta ūdens klajumi.

before conditions just got too dangerous to continue.

Mēs gribētu tevi savākt.

Ben, vai vari lūdzu atrast skrejceļu?"

This was the last day I had on the ice.

When I spoke to the -- my project management team,

Šāds bija skats no telts šīs liktenīgās sarunas brīdī.

they said, "Look, Ben, conditions are getting too dangerous.

Iepriekš nebiju būvējis skrejceļu.

There are huge areas of open water just south of your position.

Ekspedīcijas vadītājs Tonijs teica:

We'd like to pick you up.

"Tev jāatrod 500 metri līdzena, droša biezuma ledus."

Ben, could you please look for an airstrip?"

Vienīgais piemērotais gabals, ko atradu,

This was the view outside my tent

– lai to atrastu, slēpoju apkārt 36 stundas, –

when I had this fateful phone call.

bija tieši 473 metrus garš.

I'd never tried to build an airstrip before. Tony, the expedition manager, he said,

Varēju to izmērīt ar slēpēm.

"Look Ben, you've got to find 500 meters of

Tonijam un pilotiem to neteicu. "Būs vien jāiztiek, kā ir," nodomāju.

flat, thick safe ice."

(Video)

The only bit of ice I could find --

Ou, ou, ou, ou, ou, ou.

it took me 36 hours of skiing around trying to find an airstrip --

Tas knapi izdevās.

was exactly 473 meters. I could measure it with my skis.

Diezgan dramatiska nosēšanās, lidmašīna riņķoja četrus apļus.

I didn't tell Tony that. I didn't tell the pilots that.

Biju jau noraizējies, ka tā vispār nenolaidīsies.

I thought, it'll have to do.

Zināju, ka pilotu sauc Trojs.

Iedomājos, ka šādā vietā strādājošs Trojs varētu būt tāds skarbais vecis.

(Video): Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

It just about worked. A pretty dramatic landing --

Apraudājos, jo lidmašīnas nolaišanās bija diezgan emocionāls brīdis.

the plane actually passed over four times,

Sapratu, ka man jāsaņemas Troja dēļ.

and I was a bit worried it wasn't going to land at all.

The pilot, I knew, was called Troy. I was expecting someone called Troy

Man taču jābūt sūrajam, skarbajam pētniekam.

that did this for a living to be a pretty tough kind of guy.

Lidmašīna pietuvojās.

Durvis atvērās, izlēca tik garš puisis un teica: "Čau, mani sauc Trojs."

I was bawling my eyes out by the time the plane landed -- a pretty emotional moment.

(Smiekli)

So I thought, I've got to compose myself for Troy.

Otrā pilote bija sieviete vārdā Monika, viņa sēdēja tādā adītā džemperī.

I'm supposed to be the roughty toughty explorer type.

Viņos nebija ne kripatiņas mačisma,

bet viņi bija labākais, kas todien notika.

The plane taxied up to where I was standing.

The door opened. This guy jumped out. He's about that tall. He said, "Hi, my name is Troy."

Trojs uz ledus izsmēķēja cigareti, uzņēmām pāris fotogrāfijas.

(Laughter).

Viņš uzrāpās pa trepītēm un teica: "Kāp tur aizmugurē!"

The co-pilot was a lady called Monica.

Viņš izmeta cigareti pirms iekāpt priekšā, un es ierāpos aizmugurē.

She sat there in a sort of hand-knitted jumper.

They were the least macho people I've ever met, but they made my day.

(Smiekli)

Izbraucām šurpu turpu pa skrejceļu, lai mazliet izlīdzinātu ledu.

Troy was smoking a cigarette on the ice;

we took a few photos. He

Tad viņš teica: "Labi, es tagad mēģināšu."

climbed up the ladder. He said, "Just -- just get in the back."

Nu zinu, ka tā parasti dara, bet tobrīd tas mani uztrauca.

He threw his cigarette out as he got on the front,

Viņš uzlika roku uz droseles.

and I climbed in the back.

Varat redzēt, ka dzinēju kontrole atrodas pie kabīnes griestiem.

(Laughter)

Taxied up and down the runway a few times,

Viņš uzlika roku uz droseles, Monika maigi uzlika roku uz viņa rokas.

just to flatten it out a bit, and he said, "Right, I'm going to --

I'm going to give it a go." And he --

Nodomāju: "Ak Dievs, aiziet! Mēs... visu vai neko."

I've now learned that this is standard practice, but it had me worried at the time.

Rāvāmies uz priekšu, palēcāmies uz skrejceļa.

He put his hand on the throttle.

Paceļoties skrejceļa galā viena no slēpēm atšķēla ledus gabalu.

You can see the control for the engines is actually on the roof of the cockpit.

Redzēju Troju cīnāmies ar kloķiem,

It's that little bar there. He put his hand on the throttle.

Monica very gently put her hand sort of on top of his.

viņš pacēla roku, pastiepās atpakaļ

I thought, "God, here we go. We're, we're -- this is all or nothing."

un nospieda slēdzi pie griestiem.

Rammed it forwards. Bounced down the runway. Just took off.

Tā bija uz sienas redzamā drošības jostu aizsprādzēšanas zīme.

One of the skis just clipped a pressure ridge at the end of the runway,

(Smiekli)

banking. I could see into the cockpit, Troy battling the controls,

Tikai no augšas ieraudzīju kopainu.

and he just took one hand off, reached back,

Protams, kad esi uz ledus, redzi tikai nākamo šķērsli,

flipped a switch on the roof of the cockpit,

lai tas būtu ledus krāvums vai vaļējs ūdens.

and it was the "fasten seat belt" sign you can see on the wall.

Tas droši vien ir iemesls, kāpēc neviens nesūdzējās par manu skrejceļu.

(Laughter)

Ledus tiešām sāka lūzt.

Kāpēc?

And only from the air did I see the big picture.

Neesmu pētnieks šī vārda tiešajā nozīmē. Neslēpoju apkārt, zīmējot kartes.

Of course, when you're on the ice, you only ever see one obstacle at a time,

Visi zina, kur atrodas Ziemeļpols.

whether it's a pressure ridge or there's a bit of water.

Dienvidpolā ir liela zinātniskā bāze.

This is probably why I didn't get into trouble about the length of my airstrip.

Tur ir skrejceļš, kafejnīca un suvenīru veikals tūristiem.

I mean, it really was starting to break up.

Man svarīgākais ir cilvēka robežu atklāšana –

Why? I'm not an explorer in the traditional sense.

atklāt psiholoģiskās, fizioloģiskās, kā arī tehnoloģiskās iespējas.

I'm not skiing along drawing maps;

everyone knows where the North Pole is.

Tas mani interesē.

At the South Pole there's a big scientific base. There's an airstrip.

Kā arī personīgā potenciāla apzināšanās.

There's a cafe and there's a tourist shop.

Tas ļauj man atklāt robežas,

For me, this is about exploring human limits,

mainīt šī robežas, lai noskaidrotu, cik tālu iespējams iet.

about exploring the limits of physiology, of psychology

Kopumā esmu pārsteigts, ka cilvēki dzīvo, izmantojot tikai daļu sava potenciāla,

and of technology. They're the things that excite me.

And it's also about potential, on a personal level.

This, for me, is a chance to explore the limits --

tikai trīs, četrus, piecus procentus no savām patiesajām spējām.

really push the limits of my own potential, see how far they stretch.

Kopumā ceru, ka šis ceļojums, bija iespēja iedvesmot citus domāt

And on a wider scale, it amazes me how people go through life

par to, kā izmantot savu potenciālu

just scratching the surface of their potential,

un ko paveikt mazajā laika sprīdī, kas mums katram dots.

just doing three or four or five percent

of what they're truly capable of. So,

Tas būtu apkopojums vienā teikumā.

on a wider scale, I hope that this journey

Nākamais jautājums bija, kā atbildēt dabas aicinājumam –40 grādos.

was a chance to inspire other people

to think about what they want to do

Tas, protams, ir komercnoslēpums.

with their potential, and what they want to do with the tiny amount of time

we each have on this planet.

Un pēdējais jautājums,

Ko tālāk?

That's as close as I can come to summing that up.

Cik ātri vien iespējams.

Ja beigās paliks minūte, es pie tā atgriezīšos.

The next question is, how do you answer the call of nature at minus 40?

Ko tālāk?

The answer, of course, to which is a trade secret --

Antarktīda.

Tas ir Zemes aukstākais, augstākais vējainākais un sausākais kontinents.

and the last question,

what's next? As quickly as possible,

if I have a minute left at the end, I'll go into more detail.

1911. gada beigās, 1912. gada sākumā norisinājās sacensība par to,

kurš pirmais nokļūs Dienvidpolā – Antarktīdas sirdī.

What's next:

Antarctica.

It's the coldest, highest,

Ja ieskaitām piekrastes ledājus, redzams, ka Rosa ledājs,

windiest and driest continent on Earth.

– tas ir tas lielais šeit apakšā, – Rosa ledājs ir Francijas izmērā.

Late 1911, early 1912,

Antarktīda, ieskaitot ledājus, ir divreiz lielāka par Austrāliju.

there was a race to be the first

Tā ir milzīga.

Par nokļūšanu Dienvidpolā sacentās norvēģis Amundsens,

to the South Pole: the heart of the Antarctic continent.

If you include the coastal ice shelves, you can see that the Ross Ice Shelf --

kam bija suņu kamanas un haskiji,

un britu kapteini Skotu,

it's the big one down here -- the Ross Ice Shelf is the size of France.

kam bija poniji, daži traktori un suņi.

Antarctica, if you include the ice shelves,

is twice the size of Australia -- it's a big place.

Skotam viss nogāja greizi,

beigās viņš ar vīriem palika kājniekos.

And there's a race to get to the Pole between Amundsen,

the Norwegian -- Amundsen had dog sleds and huskies --

Sasniedzot Dienvidpolu 1912. gada janvāra beigās,

and Scott, the British guy, Captain Scott.

viņi tur atrada Norvēģijas karogu.

Scott had sort of ponies and some tractors

Tur bija telts, vēstule Norvēģijas karalim.

Viņi pagriezās, lai dotos atpakaļ uz piekrasti,

and a few dogs, all of which went wrong,

and Scott and his team of four people ended up on foot.

un visi pieci gāja bojā atpakaļceļā.

Kopš tā laika – tas bija pirms 93 gadiem –

They got to the Pole late January 1912

to find a Norwegian flag already there.

neviens nav slēpojis no piekrastes līdz polam un atpakaļ.

There was a tent, a letter to the Norwegian king.

And they turned around, headed back to the coast,

Katra ekspedīcija, par kuru dzirdēts, ir sākusies no Dienvidpola,

and all five of them died on the return journey.

tajā izmantots transports, suņi, pūķi vai citi palīglīdzekļi.

Since then, no one has ever skied --

Neviens nav devies turpu un atpakaļ.

this was 93 years ago -- since then, no one has ever skied

Tāds arī ir plāns.

Mēs esam divi.

from the coast of Antarctica to the Pole and back.

Tas arī viss.

Vēl pēdējā lieta pirms tualetes jautājuma.

Every South Pole expedition you may have heard about

is either flown out from the Pole or has used vehicles

or dogs or kites to do some kind of crossing --

Gribēju ieskenēt, bet aizmirsu...

Man ir skolas liecība. Toreiz man bija 13 gadu.

no one has ever made a return journey. So that's the plan.

Two of us are doing it.

Tā ir ierāmēta mājās uz galda, un tajā rakstīts:

That's pretty much it.

"Benam trūkst uzņēmības, lai paveiktu kaut ko nozīmīgu."

One final thought before I get to the toilet bit, is --

is, I have a -- and I meant to scan this and I've forgotten --

(Smiekli)

(Aplausi)

but I have a -- I have a school report. I was 13 years old,

Ja esmu kaut ko iemācījies, tad to,

and it's framed above my desk at home. It says,

ka neviens nevar būt jūsu potenciāla noteicējs.

"Ben lacks sufficient impetus

Jūs esat vienīgais, kas izlemjat, cik tālu iesiet un ko spējat.

to achieve anything worthwhile."

Dāmas un kungi, šis ir mans stāsts.

Liels paldies!

(Laughter)

(Applause)

I think if I've learned anything, it's this: that no one else

is the authority on your potential.

You're the only person that decides how far you go and what you're capable of.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's my story.

Thank you very much.