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

譯者: Aileen Huang 審譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai

This is me. My name is Ben Saunders.

這個人就是我，我是Ben Saunders

I specialize in dragging heavy things

我的專長是在寒冷的地方

around cold places.

拖行重物。

On May 11th last year,

在去年的5月11日

I stood alone at the North geographic Pole.

我獨自站在地理北極點上

I was the only human being in an area

在那幾乎比美國大1.5倍的區域

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

5,500 平方英里裏面

five-and-a-half thousand square miles.

我是唯一的人類。

More than 2,000 people have climbed Everest.

全世界超過 2,000 人已經攀登過艾弗勒斯峰

12 people have stood on the moon.

12 個人站上月球

Including me, only four people

包括我在內，只有四個人

have skied solo to the North Pole.

曾獨自地滑雪橫跨北極圈。

And I think the reason for that --

而我認為這是因為

(Applause)

(掌聲)

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

謝謝，我認為會獨自滑雪橫跨北極圈這是因為

well, it's as Chris said, bonkers.

如同克里斯所說的，瘋了。

It's a journey that is right at the limit

這是一段考驗著人類

of human capability.

忍受力極限的旅程。

I skied the equivalent of 31 marathons

我滑行的距離相當於31趟馬拉松來回的距離

back to back. 800 miles in 10 weeks.

10周內，滑行了800英里

And I was dragging all the food I needed,

而且，我還拖著所需要的食物

the supplies, the equipment, sleeping bag,

補給品、裝備和睡袋

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

和一套換洗的內衣褲，這些是在將近3個月內所需的所有物品。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

在剩下來的16多分鐘內，我們將要繼續試著做的是

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

試著回答三個問題。第一個是｢為什麼？｣

The second one is,

第二個是

how do you go to the loo at minus 40?

你怎麼在零下40度的環境上廁所

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

有人問：班，我知道在零下40度的環境下

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

暴露出的皮膚可以在不到1分鐘內就被凍傷。所以，你是怎麼上廁所的？

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

我現在先略過這些問題。後面我會一一回答

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

第三個，你是如何突破這些困難的？下一個挑戰是甚麼呢？

It all started back in 2001.

這一切都要追溯到2001年的時候。

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

我的第一次遠征是跟著一個非常有經驗叫做潘哈道的傢伙

This was like my polar apprenticeship.

我就像是一個學徒一樣

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

當時我們試著從(這裡)北地群島

Severnaya Zemlya, to the North Pole.

一路滑到北極圈

And the thing that fascinates me about the North Pole,

而北極（地理上的北極點）最令我著迷的是

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

它正好就位在北冰洋的正中央

This is about as good as maps get,

就像這張地圖顯示

and to reach it you've got to ski literally

想要到那裡，你就真的得滑過

over the frozen crust,

那冰凍的雪殼

the floating skin of ice on the Artic Ocean.

以及北冰洋上漂浮的冰層。

I'd spoken to all the experts.

我詢問過許多專家

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

也讀過很多書籍，研究了地圖和圖表

But I realized on the morning of day one

但是在第一天的早上

that I had no idea exactly

我對我自己將面對的困難

what I'd let myself in for.

毫無概念

I was 23 years old. No one my age

我當時23歲，和我同年的人

had attempted anything like this,

都不曾嘗試過這樣的挑戰

and pretty quickly, almost everything

而且很快地

that could have gone wrong did go wrong.

幾乎所有可能出錯的事情都發生了。

We were attacked by a polar bear on day two.

我們第二天就被一隻北極熊攻擊

I had frostbite in my left big toe.

我的左腳大拇指長了凍瘡

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

我們的食物也幾乎所剩無幾。飢餓讓我們的體重大幅減輕

Some very unusual weather conditions, very difficult ice conditions.

當時的氣候也極為反常。

We had

我們當時

decidedly low-tech communications.

只有基本的通訊工具

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

沒錢買衛星電話，所以只有高頻無線電

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

你可以發現有兩隻滑雪桿從帳棚頂伸出來

There's a wire dangling down either side.

每一邊都有一根金屬線

That was our HF radio antenna.

那就是我們無線電的天線

We had less than two hours

兩個月內，我們與外界的通話時間

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

少於兩個小時。

Ultimately, we ran out of time.

最重要的是，我們的時間不夠

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

我們滑行了400英里

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

但離北極還剩200英里的時候，時間就不夠了。

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

夏天已經降臨，冰雪也開始融化

we spoke to the Russian helicopter pilots on the radio,

我們透過廣播向俄羅斯直升機駕駛通話

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

他們說：你們的時間不夠嚕，小夥子們

We've got to pick you up."

我們得把你們接上來。

And I felt that I had failed, wholeheartedly.

當時我覺得徹底地失敗了

I was a failure.

我是個失敗者

The one goal, the one dream I'd had

這是我一生中唯一的目標

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

一個我夢想許久的目標，卻連邊都沒看到。

And skiing along that first trip, I had two

在這次的旅途之中，每當旅途變得更加艱難時

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

我就會在內心裡不斷重播兩個畫面

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

不斷地激勵我繼續前進。

The first one was reaching the Pole itself.

第一個就是成功地抵達北極這件事

I could see vividly, I suppose,

我能夠想像自己

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

走出直升機的艙門，響起搖滾樂當背景音樂

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

我手握滑雪桿，上面掛著英國國旗，你知道的，隨風飄揚

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

我甚至能看見自己親手把國旗插在北極上

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

那會是一個光榮的時刻，背景的音樂也同時達到高潮。

The second video clip

第二個畫面是

that I imagined was getting back to Heathrow airport,

我想像自己馬上又要到倫敦 Heathrow 機場

and I could see again, vividly,

那是一種身歷其境的幻想

the camera flashbulbs going off,

照相機的閃光燈不斷閃著

the paparazzi, the autograph hunters,

有跑來要簽名的粉絲們

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

和想找我出書的出版商。

And of course, neither of these things happened.

當然，這些都沒有發生

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

我們沒到達北極，也沒因此賺到錢

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

沒有錢找人宣傳

of this expedition.

就沒有人會知道這次的探險。

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

當我回到Heathrow時，我媽、我哥都在那裡等我

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

我爺爺手裡還拿著一支小國旗

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

就這樣，我回到母親的身邊

I was physically exhausted,

我當時已經精疲力盡

mentally an absolute wreck, considered myself a failure.

心靈受到很大的創傷，認為自己是個失敗者

In a huge amount of debt personally to this expedition,

為了這趟探險還欠了一屁股債

and lying on my mum's sofa,

我每天躺在我媽家裡的沙發上

day in day out, watching daytime TV.

看著電視節目。

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

我哥發了一封短信

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

是從辛普森家庭引述的，寫著：

"You tried your hardest and failed miserably.

你竭盡全力，卻以悲慘失敗為結局

The lesson is: don't even try."

所以結論是：一開始就別去做。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

三年時間一晃而逝，我終於從沙發上爬起來

and start planning another expedition. This time,

並且開始計畫另一次探險

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

這次我打算獨自一人

from Russia, at the top of the map,

從俄羅斯直接穿越地圖頂端

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

到達北極圈，

and then on to Canada.

然後直接抵達加拿大。

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

沒有人獨自完成橫跨北冰洋的壯舉

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

兩名挪威人曾在2000年完成，卻沒有人能獨自穿越。

Very famous, very accomplished Italian mountaineer,

享負盛名的義大利登山家

Reinhold Messner, tried it in 1995,

Reinhold Messner在1995年曾嘗試過

and he was rescued after a week.

最後他在一周後被救起。

He described this expedition as 10 times

他形容那次的旅程

as dangerous as Everest.

比攀登艾佛勒斯峰還危險10倍。

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

所以，這大概也是我為什麼想要試一試的原因

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

但我知道，想要平安的回家已經是件不容易的事

let alone make it across to Canada,

更別說還要穿越北冰洋，最後到達加拿大

I had to take a radical approach.

我必須得有不同以往的作法。

This meant everything from perfecting the

這表示我得先從熟練使用一種

sawn-off, sub-two-gram toothbrush,

特別縮短且不到2公克的牙刷開始

to working with one of the world's leading nutritionists

還要和世界上最頂尖的營養學家合作

in developing a completely new,

從頭開始去共同制定出一套全新

revolutionary nutritional strategy from scratch:

革命性的營養策略

6,000 calories a day.

一天6,000大卡。

And the expedition started in February last year.

去年2月，旅程展開了

Big support team. We had a film crew,

我們有一個廣大的支持團隊：一位攝影師

a couple of logistics people with us,

和幾位後勤人員

my girlfriend, a photographer.

還有我的女朋友，她是名攝影師

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

一開始進行的挺順利的。我們搭乘英國航空到莫斯科

The next bit in Siberia to Krasnoyarsk,

接下來是從西伯利亞到Krysnoyarsk的短程飛行

on a Russian internal airline called KrasAir,

搭乘一家俄羅斯國內航空公司，叫做 KrasAir (諧音很像墜機)

spelled K-R-A-S.

K-R-A-S

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

接下來，我們租了一架俄羅斯的老爺機

to fly us up to a town called Khatanga,

飛到一個小鎮叫做Khatanga

which was the sort of last bit of civilization.

這裡應該是最後看得到人的地方了。

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

我們的攝影師，一個只要坐飛機就會暈機的人

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

在上飛機之前跑去問飛行員，我們得飛多久才能抵達

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

那名俄羅斯飛行員面無表情地回答說：

"Six hours -- if we live."

6個小時 -- 如果我們還活著的話。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

We got to Khatanga.

然後我們就這樣到了 Khatanga

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

有個笑話說：Khatanga並不是世界的盡頭

but you can see it from there.

但是在那裡你可以看見世界的盡頭。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

本來我們只打算待一個晚上，最後卻被困在那裏10天

There was a kind of vodka-fueled pay dispute between

原因是喝完伏特加，酒醉後的酬勞糾紛

the helicopter pilots and the people that owned the helicopter,

我們被困在直升機飛行員和機主之間

so we were stuck. We couldn't move.

那裡也去不了。

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

最後，第11天的早晨，我們解決了所有的問題

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

把東西裝上直升機。兩架直升機一起飛到冰層邊緣

dropped me off at the edge of the pack ice.

在那裏將我放下。

We had a frantic sort of 45 minutes of filming,

我們拍了一段45分鐘的超棒影片，以及攝影照片

photography; while the helicopter was still there,

當直升機還在那裏時

I did an interview on the satellite phone;

我透過衛星電話接受了採訪

and then everyone else climbed back into the helicopter,

然後其他所有人登上了直升機

wham, the door closed, and I was alone.

碰的一聲，飛機艙門關上了，只留下我一個人。

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

現在我不知道透過文字是否能夠還原當時的感覺

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

我當時滿腦子就是想著走回機艙門

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

碰碰碰地拍打艙門，然後說：

I haven't quite thought this through."

好啦大夥們，其實我還沒下定決心。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

更糟糕的是，你看這個白點

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

螢幕右上角那個，那是滿月。

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

因為我們在俄羅斯被耽擱了一陣子

the full moon brings the highest and lowest tides;

滿月將帶來最大或最小的潮汐

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

當你站在結冰的海洋表面時

high and low tides generally mean

最高或最低的潮汐，意味著

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

有趣的事情將要發生了 -- 冰面將會移動

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

如你們所看到的，我當時正拖著兩個雪橇

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

和95天的食物和燃料

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

總負重量是180公斤，大約是400磅。

When the ice was flat or flattish,

當冰面是水平或是幾乎水平時

I could just about pull both.

我可以同時拖著兩個雪橇

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

當冰面不是水平時，我一點辦法也沒有

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

我只能先拖一個，然後回頭再拖另外一個。

Literally scrambling through what's called pressure ice --

嚴格來說，我穿越的是這些所謂的起伏冰面

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

風、潮汐和洋流的壓力

the wind and the tides.

把冰擠碎推高了。

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

NASA形容去年冰層的情況是有史以來最惡劣的

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

而且冰層一直在飄浮移動。

I was skiing into headwinds for nine

去年那10周內，我一個人滑雪時

out of the 10 weeks I was alone last year,

我逆風滑行了9周

and I was drifting backwards most of the time.

大部分時間我是被冰層帶著向後移動

My record was minus 2.5 miles.

我的時速紀錄是負2.5英里。

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

早晨起來收起帳棚，向北滑行了7個半小時後

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

架起帳棚，然後我發現從出發的地方開始算

than when I'd started.

我反而退後了2.5英里。

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

簡直像是逆水行舟，我努力向前滑的速度還趕不上冰層後漂的速度

(Video): So it's day 22.

（影片）這是第22天。

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

我正在帳篷裡準備出發

The weather is just appalling --

天氣狀況很糟糕

oh, drifted back about five miles

前夜晚上

in the last -- last night.

冰面往後移了5英里

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

在探險的後期，冰層不在是問題

It was a lack of ice -- open water.

因為已經沒甚麼冰了，到處都是一片水面

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

我預料到這會發生，因為我知道北極圈正在暖化

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

我知道這裡將會出現一片廣闊的水域，所以我準備了秘密武器

This was my little bit of bio-mimicry.

這裡有關於仿生學的一些知識

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

北極熊在北冰洋只知道向前走

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

如果牠們遇到水面，牠們會游過去。

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

所以我們和挪威科學小組合作，基於救生衣的原理

based on a sort of survival suit --

設計了一套潛水裝

I suppose, that helicopter pilots would wear --

我想，直升機飛行員也許會用得到

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

當我爬進這件外套裡，它會從靴子蓋到手套

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

還可以拉上來蓋住我的臉，形成密閉的一圈。

And this meant I could ski

這表示我可以在非常薄的冰層上面

over very thin ice,

滑雪，

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

如果我掉下去，也不會是世界末日。

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

所以即使到了最糟的情況

I could actually jump in and swim across

我可以跳到水裡，然後游過去

and drag the sledge over after me.

還能拖著我的雪橇。

Some pretty radical technology,

這是相當先進的技術

a radical approach --but it worked perfectly.

也相當好用。

Another exciting thing we did last year

我們去年做了另外一件

was with communications technology.

與通信技術有關的令人興奮的事情。

In 1912, Shackleton's Endurance expedition --

1912年，Shackleton的長途遠征中

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

有一名隊員，叫做Thomas Orde-Lees

He said, "The explorers of 2012,

他說：“2012年的探險家們，

if there is anything left to explore,

-- 如果還有甚麼地方沒有人去過的話 --

will no doubt carry pocket wireless telephones

毫無疑問的會裝備小型手機

fitted with wireless telescopes."

配上無線望遠鏡。”

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

好吧，Orde-Lees算錯了大概8年。這是我的小型無線電話

Iridium satellite phone.

衛星電話

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

所謂的無線望遠鏡就是口袋裡的數位相機。

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

我在北極的72天中

I was blogging live from my tent,

每天從我的帳棚裡更新我的部落格

sending back a little diary piece,

發表一些日記片段

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

傳送一些我的旅程中的訊息

the ice conditions, the temperature --

冰層的狀況、溫度

and a daily photo.

以及每天的照片。

Remember, 2001,

要記得在2001年

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

我們和外界交流的時間只有不到2小時的無線電通訊。

Last year, blogging live from an expedition

而去年，我可以隨時更新探險的部落格

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

在這個被稱作比艾佛勒斯峰還危險10倍的地方。

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

那不完全是高科技

in what's called a whiteout.

這只是所謂雪茫裡的導航。

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

當你迷失在厚重的迷霧、低雲層或風雪飄茫的時候

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

你看不太清楚。 你只能看到綁在我

ribbon tied to one of my ski poles.

雪橇上的黃色緞帶

I'd navigate using the direction of the wind.

我利用風向作指引

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

算是一種低科技跟高科技的另類結合。

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

我在5月11日抵達極點

It took me 68 days to get there from Russia,

從俄羅斯到那裡一共花了我68天

and there is nothing there.

結果那邊什麼都沒有

(Laughter).

(笑聲)

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

那裡連一個路標都沒有，整個淨空

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

純粹因為那些是海冰，都是浮冰

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

在那裏插個竿子，通常不用多久就飄往加拿大或格陵蘭

I knew this, but I was expecting something.

這一切雖然我都很清楚，但是心裡還是有些期待

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

這是很複雜的感受: 這階段氣候已經非常暖和了

a lot of open water around, and

周遭有很多開放水域

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

當然，憑一己之力到達目的地讓我很陶醉

but starting to really realize

但是我也開始真正的明白

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

繼續橫跨到加拿大

which was still 400 miles away,

剩下400英里旅途的成功機率

were slim at best.

就算在最好的狀態下，也很渺茫了。

The only proof I've got that I was there

唯一能證明我抵達的證據

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

是我GPS上的一張模糊照片，這小巧的衛星導航玩意兒

You can just see --

你看得到

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

這裡有個九跟一連串的零

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

北緯90度—絕對的北極點。

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

我拍了照。 坐在雪橇上，錄了一段影片日記。

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

接著再拍幾張照片，然後拿出了衛星電話

I warmed the battery up in my armpit.

先讓電池在我腋下暖起來

I dialed three numbers. I dialed my mum.

我撥了三個號碼。 我撥給我媽。

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

我撥給我女朋友。 我撥給我贊助商的執行長。

And I got three voicemails.

結果撥通到三個語音信箱

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

(Video): Ninety.

（影片）九十

It's a special feeling.

很奇特的感受

The entire planet

這整個地球

is rotating

在我的腳下

beneath my feet.

旋轉。

The -- the whole world underneath me.

這一整個星球在我的之下

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

最後我媽的號碼終於接通了。 她正在超市排隊

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

結果她開始哭，叫我晚點再打給她。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I skied on for a week past the Pole.

經過北極點後我繼續滑了一星期

I wanted to get as close to Canada as I could

試圖儘量地接近加拿大

before conditions just got too dangerous to continue.

在狀況惡化到不得不停止之前

This was the last day I had on the ice.

這是我在冰上的最後一天

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

我那時跟計畫團隊提議

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

他們回我說 「班，狀況真的太危急了。

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

你目前位置的南方已有一大片的開放水域。

We'd like to pick you up.

我們要來接你

Ben, could you please look for an airstrip?"

班，你可以找個降落跑道嗎？」

This was the view outside my tent

這是帳篷外的景色

when I had this fateful phone call.

在我接到這通晴天霹靂的電話的時候。

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

我從沒打造過降落跑道。 我的探險計畫經理東尼說

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

「班，聽好，你得找到500米的

flat, thick safe ice."

又平又厚又安全的冰地」

The only bit of ice I could find --

我唯一能找到的一點冰

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

花了我36小時才找到這塊合適的降落跑道

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

我靠著滑雪撬量測，長度整整有473米

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

我沒跟東尼說，更沒跟飛行員說

I thought, it'll have to do.

我心裡想，就將就著用吧。

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

（影片）噢 噢 噢 噢 噢

It just about worked. A pretty dramatic landing --

這跑道勉強可用，但是降落很驚險

the plane actually passed over four times,

那飛機其實飛越了四次

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

我那時有點擔心他會放棄降落。

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

我知道那飛行員名叫特洛伊 我那時候預期

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

靠這工作維生的傢伙是條壯漢

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

飛機降落的時候，真是非常情緒化的一刻，我的雙眼都霧掉了

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

我心裡想，我一定要在特洛伊面前維持好形象

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

要維持堅毅的探險家形象

The plane taxied up to where I was standing.

飛機在我站的地方停住了

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

門打開後，一個男的跳了下來，大約只有這麼高，他說「嗨，我是特洛伊。」

(Laughter).

(笑聲)

The co-pilot was a lady called Monica.

副駕駛是個名叫莫妮卡的女士

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

她穿著手工編織的毛衣坐在那

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

他們是我看過最溫和的人，但是那天，他們是我的救星

Troy was smoking a cigarette on the ice;

特洛伊- 特洛伊站在冰上抽菸

we took a few photos. He

我們拍了幾張照片

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

他爬上梯子說「你坐後面」

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

他把菸蒂丟出去後，爬到前座

and I climbed in the back.

然後我就爬到後座了。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Taxied up and down the runway a few times,

飛機在跑道上來回滑行了幾次

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

把冰壓扁一點，然後他說

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

「好，現在來試一把」

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

我現在知道這是標準程序，不過當時我很緊張

He put his hand on the throttle.

他把手放在油門

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

你可以看到引擎控制其實是在駕駛艙的艙頂

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

就是那個桿子，他把手放在油門上

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

莫妮卡輕輕地把手放在他的手上

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

我心想「天啊，就賭這一把，不成功便成仁」

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

往前推進後在跑道上亂跳後就起飛了

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

其中一個雪橇剛好在跑道末端時扣到壓力脊

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

我看到特洛伊在駕駛艙跟控制器奮戰

and he just took one hand off, reached back,

這時候他放開一隻手往後邊伸過去

flipped a switch on the roof of the cockpit,

彈開了駕駛艙頂的一個開關

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

然後牆上亮起「請繫上安全帶」的燈號

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

我在空中才看到了整個景象

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

當然，當你身陷冰地，你只能看到眼前的障礙

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

不管是壓力脊還是一攤水

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

這或許是為什麼我沒因為跑道的長度而遭到責難

I mean, it really was starting to break up.

我的意思是，這真的正在解體中

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

為什麼？ 我不是傳統定義中的探險家

I'm not skiing along drawing maps;

我不靠地圖滑雪

everyone knows where the North Pole is.

大家都知道北極在哪

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

南極有個很大的科學站 那裡有降落跑道

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

也有咖啡館跟紀念品店

For me, this is about exploring human limits,

對我而言，這是人類極限的探險

about exploring the limits of physiology, of psychology

是人體跟心理極限的探險

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

也包含科技。 這些想法讓我非常振奮。

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

就個人而言，這關乎潛力。

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

對我來說，這是挑戰極限的機會

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

真的挑戰我自己的潛力極限，看我能達到什麼程度。

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

更廣泛的說，我很訝異許多人在一生中

just scratching the surface of their potential,

只有開發到自己潛力的表面

just doing three or four or five percent

只付出他們所有潛力中的

of what they're truly capable of. So,

百分之四到五。

on a wider scale, I hope that this journey

所以，我希望這趟探險

was a chance to inspire other people

是激發其他人的機會

to think about what they want to do

讓他們思在所擁有的短暫時間中

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

要如何真正的應用自己的潛力

we each have on this planet.

在我們共同擁有的地球上

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

這是我在尾聲所能做的總結。

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

下個問題是，你在零下40度如何接通電話

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

答案當然是商業機密

and the last question,

最後一個問題

what's next? As quickly as possible,

我的下一步呢? 我儘快說明

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

如果我還有一分鐘，我再說詳細點

What's next:

下一步呢?

Antarctica.

南極

It's the coldest, highest,

它是地球上最冷、最高

windiest and driest continent on Earth.

最廣闊也最乾燥的大陸。

Late 1911, early 1912,

在1911年末，1912年初

there was a race to be the first

有個競賽

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

看誰第一抵達南極點：南極大陸的核心

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

如果把沿岸冰架算進去，你可以看到羅斯冰架

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

是下面這一大塊- 羅斯冰架跟法國一樣大

Antarctica, if you include the ice shelves,

南極如果加上這些冰架

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

是澳洲面積的兩倍之大，是一個大地方。

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

話說這個到南極點的競賽中有挪威籍的阿孟森

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

阿孟森有雪橇還有哈士奇

and Scott, the British guy, Captain Scott.

還有英國籍的史考特船長

Scott had sort of ponies and some tractors

史考特有小馬跟拖車

and a few dogs, all of which went wrong,

還有幾條狗， 這些全部都出了狀況

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

結果史考特的團隊最後只能步行

They got to the Pole late January 1912

他們在1912年一月抵達南極點

to find a Norwegian flag already there.

看到了挪威國旗插在那

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

那邊有頂帳篷，還有一封給挪威國王的信。

And they turned around, headed back to the coast,

於是他們轉頭，朝海岸前進

and all five of them died on the return journey.

回程途中，他們一行五人全數罹難

Since then, no one has ever skied --

在那之後，再也沒有人滑雪去南極。

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

這是93年前的事，在那之後，無人再度挑戰

from the coast of Antarctica to the Pole and back.

從南極海岸到南極點的來回路程

Every South Pole expedition you may have heard about

你知道的每個南極探險

is either flown out from the Pole or has used vehicles

回程都有用某些工具幫助，像是用飛機、

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

其他交通工具、或是狗，或是風箏等

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

從沒有人成功走完回程的路途。這就是我的計畫。

Two of us are doing it.

我們一共有兩個人

That's pretty much it.

大概就這樣了

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

最後，在我解釋上廁所的事情之前

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

我本來要掃描起來跟大家分享的，但是我忘記了

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

我13歲有一張成績單

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

被框起來放在我家裏的書桌上方

"Ben lacks sufficient impetus

評語說道

to achieve anything worthwhile."

「班缺乏達到任何目標的動力。」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

(Applause)

(掌聲)

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

如果我有學到任何東西的話，那就是

is the authority on your potential.

沒有人有權力影響你的潛能。

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

你是唯一可以決定自己能走多遠以及能完成什麼目標的人。

Ladies and gentlemen, that's my story.

先生及女士們，這就是我的故事，感謝你們

Thank you very much.

非常謝謝你們