Before Art Mortvedt set out on a 600 mile expedition to fly over the North Pole in the Cessna 185 you see before you, he knew he would have to remove some of the excess weight from the aircraft to preserve fuel. He began by unfastening the engine and wing covers from the “Polar Pumpkin,” then packed only the gear most vital to his survival, including 3 thermos bottles of hot water and a few extra pairs of gloves. In his heavy down flying suit and beaver skin hat, he departed from the Eureka Weather Station in Nunavut, Canada and began a steady incline in order to skirt over the hills just north of the station and further off, the mountains of Ellesmere Island. Imagine coasting 6,000 feet above meandering glaciers, hazy wind-blown snowscapes, jagged fjords, and “ice rubble” cluttering the Arctic Ocean. The landscape was both magnificent and menacing, and soon strong winds caused Art to burn more fuel than he had anticipated. Although he had emergency fuel stored at Ward Hunt Island and return fuel stored in Ice Station Barneo, he was feeling nervous. He whispered under his breath, “I must find Barneo.” But first, Art had to reach the North Pole.

On November 22, 1999, Art had landed on the South Pole, and if he could complete this mission, the “Polar Pumpkin” would become the only single engine production aircraft flown solo over both poles of the world. With the help of NASA, he had also equipped the aircraft with a Hyperspectral Imager to detect microscopic life in the ice and snow. A significant goal of Art’s mission was to “collect data that may shed light on climate change” in an effort to “highlight the critical importance of polar regions to science and the health of our planet.” The stakes were high.

While the weather en route was mostly clear, visibility reduced as Art neared the North Pole. He wrote in his flight log, “I become increasingly concerned that I would not actually be able to find and land at Ice Station Barneo,” so he noted the coordinates of a few other locations he could retreat to and set up camp just in case. Thankfully, Art reached the North Pole and flew over what he called “The Top of the World.” While he had hoped to take a few spins around the North Pole, he knew his best course of action was to head directly to Barneo. Through a thickening fog, Art was able to spot the runway and tents of the ice station and make a safe landing on April 6, 2013, after 7 hours in flight.