Record-Breaking Expedition to the North Pole with Eric Larsen

Wild Ideas Worth Living

REI Co-op

Outdoorsports, Athlete, Womensadventure, Yoga, Sports, Mountaineering, Sailing, Alternativelifestyle, Camping, Cycling, Inspiration, Backpacking, Fitness, Nutrition, Paddle, Rei, Rockclimbing, Vegan, Environmentalism, Health & Fitness, Adventure, Entrepreneurship, Author, Skiing, Places & Travel, Writing, Society & Culture, Health, Podcast, Outdoors, Surfing, Sup, Wilderness, Endurancesports, Running, Activelifestyle, Snowboarding, Lifestyle, Trailrunning, Watersports, Climbing, Travel, Wildideas, Snowsports, Girlboss

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Eric Larsen is a pioneering polar explorer who completed the first-ever summer expedition to the North Pole, navigating thin, unstable sea ice and miles of open water. In 2010, he became the first person to reach both poles and summit Mount Everest within a single year. With decades of experience crossing the Arctic Ocean and Antarctic ice sheet, Eric has become a trusted resource and guide for aspiring polar adventurers.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The first known expeditions to reach the North Pole took place in the early 20th century.
0:09.0	Since then, thousands of people have dreamed of traversing the vast expanses of ice, snow, and water required to reach it.
0:17.0	For anyone planning to make a voyage to the North Pole or the South Pole, the best person to ask for guidance is Eric Larson.
0:25.3	Eric is a groundbreaking polar explorer who made the first ever summer expedition to the North Pole.
0:31.6	This is a monumental task because during these warmer months, the sea ice is thinner and less stable.
0:38.0	In 2010, Eric also became the first person to visit both polls as well as Mount Everest all within one year.
0:46.5	I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is wild ideas worth living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-Op MasterCard.
0:59.9	In the world of outdoor adventures, Eric Larson has become a well-known resource and guide
1:05.6	for aspiring polar explorers. He has decades of experience crossing the Arctic Sea and the Antarctic ice sheet.
1:14.5	One of the things he loves most about being on these barren tundras is the silence.
1:20.1	Eric grew up exploring the quiet lakes and trails of the Midwest. The long days he spent
1:25.4	biking and canoeing alone, taught him to embrace solitary trips into the wilderness.
1:31.1	I grew up just in a small town north of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, and I definitely was always trying to be
1:39.8	outside. I loved biking. I got a paper out when I was 12 years old and saved up and bought my
1:47.4	first bike. And I would take a map and I would go ride 60, 70, 80 miles as a 12, 13 year old and just go
1:56.5	around. And it was my way of trying to get farther out from where I was and be out on my own.
2:04.0	I mean, my mom would, as a parent now, I just kick myself.
2:07.4	But, you know, my mom would be like, where are you going?
2:09.6	You got to write down the directions.
2:10.9	And I would write down wrong locations of where I was going because I didn't want anybody to know where I was.
2:19.2	I just wanted to be out on my own.
2:21.3	And so I was just going out in whatever path that I could to try to discover the world around me.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from REI Co-op, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of REI Co-op and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.