Wally Herbert

Sir Wally Herbert is best known for leading the British Trans-Arctic Expedition from 1968 to 1969. His four-person team became the first undisputed to reach the North Pole on foot (or rather, by dog sled) by traveling from Alaska across the frozen Arctic Ocean to Spitsbergen.

The grueling expedition took a total of 16 months, beginning in the winter of 1968 and concluding in 1969. The team was forced to camp and survive an entire winter trapped in the ice before they could complete the final push over the geographic North Pole.

While there were previous, heavily debated claims of reaching the pole by explorers like Robert Peary, Wally Herbert's 1969 expedition is widely considered the first completely undisputed surface journey to the geographic North Pole. His team traveled entirely over the sea ice without relying on aircraft for transport to the pole.

In addition to being an explorer, Wally Herbert was a highly accomplished writer and a talented artist. He wrote several books detailing his expeditions, including *Across the Top of the World*, and used his artistic skills to paint detailed portraits of the Indigenous peoples and polar landscapes he encountered.