ThePoles.com has a fresh Polar Update for us today as we head into the weekend. The first, big news, is that Conrad and Hilary Dickinson have successfully completed their Lake Baikal Expedition resulting in them becoming the first people to ever cross that enormous lake in the Winter. Their website was updated with news that they had reached their destination, and that more details would soon follow.

Meanwhile, Rosie Stancer-Mars continues her solo expedition to the North Pole. She ran into a scary moment when she came across an area of thin ice about the size of two olympic swimming pools and decided that rather than trying to go around, she would swim across it, in her dry suit. The whole way she had to break open the ice, that was too thin to support her weight, but thick enough to cause issues. About halfway through her swim, the hood on her dry suit opened up, and water began to get in. You can imagine her relief upon reaching the other side!! All I have to say is brrrrrrr!!!

And finally, what are the children of polar guides to do when they go off to seek a little adventure? Why kite across Greenland of course! That's just what Sarah and Eric McNair-Landry intend to do as they set out for "kiter's paradise" with their friend Curtis Jones. Sounds like a good time for all involved!

ThePoles.com has posted a new Polar Update with some news on the still ongoing arctic expeditions.

Rosie Stancer continues to make progress in her bid to go solo to the North Pole. She spent much of the day yesterday in white-out conditions, gaining 8 nautical miles in the process. After 13 hours of trekking though, the conditions began to improve and the clouds lifted. Hopefully conditions are much clearer for her today. Her last reported position was at 86 54 00N 56 21 22W, which means she still has some work ahead of her.

Meanwhile, Thomas Ulrich and Børge Ousland continue their epic voyage as well, but have reportedly run into a polar bear already. The pair of arctic explorers were surprised to see a bear so far North, and it has prompted them to set up a fence around their camp at night to keep hungry bears away. They've made steady progress as well, despite their own whiteout conditions, having notched 17km over the weekend.

The Polar First Team has made it into Iqaluit on Baffin Island, where they bumped into Will Steger's Global warming 101 Team who happened to have British Adventurer (and Billionaire) Richard Branson along for the ride. Jennifer Murray reports that the record weather delay in Iqaluit is 42 days, a record they don't really want to break.

Finally, the results for the Polar Race are in and you can check to see how your favorite team did. I don't know about you personally, but I was rooting for "The Blue Tits".

When I reach 75 years old, I hope I'm still on adventures like this one. Yahoo News is reporting a story on Barbara Hillary who, at the age of 75, recently completed a ski trek to the North Pole.

The retired nurse, who was diagnosed, then beat, lung cancer at the age of 67, becomes one of the oldest people to ever reach the Pole, and she is believed to be the first black woman to accomplish that feat as well. The fact that she did it as part of an adventure travel group doesn't detract from her success in any way.

A hearty Adventure Blog congratulations goes out to Barbara for her accomplishment and for showing a true sense of adventure, that can inspire us at any age.

Thanks for the tip Outdoor Weblog!

Filmmaker Richard Sidey is putting together an interesting documentary about the impact of climate change on the polar regions of our planet. The film is called Speechless: The Polar Realm, and he is busy editing it now. The video below serves as a trailer for that project and offers some stunning images to remind us just how beautiful, and full of life, the polar regions actually are. I'm not sure about the film as a whole yet, but these great shots definitely have me intrigued.

Speechless : The Polar Realm (film trailer) from Richard Sidey on Vimeo.

ThePoles.com also has an update today with news from the North Pole. It seems that a nasty storm hit the north-bound teams over the weekend causing them to drift off course, in some cases for miles, and forcing the ice to drift Eastward as well. But as of today, things seem to be improving.

Alain and Dixie were waylaid by the storm and spent the day in their tend. Ice drift pushed them to the South-East and caused them to lose as much as 5km distance.

Over on Lake Baikal the team is continuing to progress as they make the first expedition across that lake. The team reports that they are no longer counting the days on the ice nor the days they have left, but instead they dream of all the wonderful creature comforts they are missing, and think of warmer places.

Finally, two supported North Pole expeditions are also making progress. Rose Stancer is head North on a solo expedition was also caught in the storm, and reports that she lost distance thanks to negative drift, but is expected to be back on track today. Adrian Hayes is hoping for a resupply today, as long as the weather holds out.

I haven't posted one of these in awhile, but ThePoles.com has an arctic update for us today with all kinds of news about teams reaching the North Pole.

First we have word that Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill of the Polar First Team reached the North Pole on Friday evening. The two helicopter pilots are attempting to set a World's Record by flying around the globe via the North and South Poles.

Those taking a more traditional route to the Pole include Adrian Hayes who at last report was at 89.27.9 degrees N, 63 W, which means he should arrive very shortly. Rosie Sancer has had a supply drop, and she continues on her solo expedition to the northern most point on Earth, while Alain and Dixie are making slow, but sure progress as well, despite some nasty weather. You'll recall that they're the team who are traveling from Sibera to Greenland by skis, via the North Pole.

Meanwhile, famed polar explorer Borge Ousland and his Last Degree Team lived up to their name, reacing the Pole yesterday. Congratulations guys! Nice work!

NationalGeographic.com has posted an update for Will Steger's Global Warming 101 Expedition. You'll recall that the Global Warming Team set out to visit Inuit villages in the Baffin Islands to collect data on the direct effects of global warming on their lives.

The expedition has come to an end, after 78 days, and 1000 miles, of trekking across the sub-arctic region of Canada. Along the way the team collect hard data on temperatures and the thickness of the ice, but also spoke with the tribesmen living in the area, and getting their anecdotal reports of how life is changing as the temperatures increase.

They found some interesting results, such as previously unknown species appearing in the area like dolphins, robins, and other birds common further South. They also noted that the number of days the Inuit have to hunt is decreasing, and less snow and ice has made it more difficult to build igloos while on their hunts.

This is only the first of this type of expedition as well. It seems that Steger and his team will be heading out to other polar regions to collect more data, and interact with other native tribes in those areas. One thing is for certain, the planet is getting warmer, and it's going to have some profound consequences on the environment and how we live.

Antarctic Explorer and Adventure Blog Crush Object Hannah McKeand has announced her next big adventure In 2008, she intends to ski to the North Pole, setting off from Ward Hunt Island in Canada.

As per her Antarctic expedition, Hannah will be going solo and unsupported to the geographic North Pole, which has only been done on this route two other times by British explorer Pen Hadow and of course, Norwegian Borge Ousland. That will be some pretty impressive company to be in for sure, but at the rate she's going, they'll be happy to be in Hannah's company as well.

The page notes that she is currently looking for companies and individuals intrested in sponsoring the expedition. You've got the full endoresment of The Adventure Blog Hannah! Which, along with that and $2 will get you a cup of coffee. ;) Good luck on this next expedition. We'll be following that adventure as well.

Polar Explorers Børge Ousland and Thomas Ulrich are up to their old tricks, launching a very ambitious expedition today. According to ThePoles.com the boys have teamed up once more for another epic journey that won't end at the North Pole, but will just begin.

Both men were guding teams to the North Pole at late as last week, but now they've been dropped at the Pole together to set off on their own. This time, they'll be traveling by skiis across the frozen Arctic Ocean to Franz-Josef Land, in Siberia. A trip of more than 900km. From there, they'll drop the skiis and move into kayaks as they travel another 350km to Cape Flora. The journey won't end there however, as they'll board a sailing ship that will take them back to Norway, but not to warm beds and lovely nordic women. Instead, Ousland and Ulrich will be dropped off at the North Cape, and they'll trek back to Oslo on foot.

When it's all said and done, the pair expect the journey to take about three and a half months, and they'll carry all of their supplies with them, as they'll be doing this one unsupported. This should be another amazing expedition to follow. Travel safe guys!