14 DAY TRIAL // Even the most remote places on Earth aren't that remote anymore. When you think of Arctic expeditions, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare probably aren't the first things that come to mind. But it's exactly those tools that a teenager heading to the North Pole is using to document his journey and keep his followers informed. Parker Liautaud, 15, will be the youngest explorer to ski the Last Degree to the North Pole if he manages to complete his journey. But, when and if he does, he's got a special Last Degree badge waiting for him on Foursquare as he plans to check in at the 'location.'
Parker started the 110-km trip on April 2nd and has since covered almost half of the distance. He is only accompanied by experienced Arctic explorer Doug Stoup. Any skiing trip this long would be a challenge in itself, but the Arctic conditions make it a great undertaking. Apart from the freezing cold, one of the biggest problems is the constant shifting of the ice and the unpredictability this adds to the journey.
In one of his last messages, he notes that the ice moved them quite a significant distance away from their goal. "We drifted about 1.7 Nm [3.14 km] south overnight. Hopefully, it'll change. We'll just have to work extra hard. Maybe we'll do some extra long days," he said. And we know this because he tweeted it and posted it on Facebook.
Don't think that this is just another teen over-sharing information, all the tweeting and the Facebook page are part of the plan to raise awareness of the environmental issues facing the Arctic region and the planet at large. This was the main reason for the expedition and the reason why the progress is being publicized so much. You can follow along on Twitter, Facebook and check out some of the videos related to the trip on YouTube.
