Melting: Last Race To The Pole

The self-shot documentary follows explorers Eric Larsen and Ryan Larsen on their expedition to the North Pole.

Worries over global warming and growing tensions due to resources hidden under the Arctic ice cap mean the area is of increasing interest around the world. Melting: Last Race To The Pole highlights the effects of climate change on the ice caps of the Arctic Circle, and is billed as possibly the last journey to the North Pole.

Larsen and Waters became the latest members of a group of less than 50 people ever to make an unassisted journey to the Pole. Given that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, the ice is melting so fast that soon it may no longer be possible to reach the Pole overland.

The two explorers risked life and limb in their expedition, which you can see in the two-hour documentary special that premiered Dec. 9, 2015. Viewers are treated to a self-shot first-person account of one of the most dangerous voyages on Earth, traversing thin ice and freezing water over the course of a 480-mile, 48-day trip.

While 10 miles a day might not sound like much under normal conditions, try doing it while pulling two 320-pound sleds loaded with everything you need to survive in one of the most hostile environments on Earth. If the extreme cold doesn’t get you, there are hungry polar bears to worry about.

If the documentary inspires you to make your own expedition to the North Pole, you’d better do it quickly before the ice melts.