I was looking through some of my old blog posts recently and came across this entry from Day 29 of our unsupported North Pole Expedition: After lunch we were stuck in the middle of open water, big pressure ridges and rubbled ice so we took the rubbled route which took roughly an hour to get both our sleds through a 100 meter section. Whatever reference I used in the past to define epic has now changed to today's brutal slog. We finally made it to a small cracked pan then connected to a corner of another pan, then another, then a thin ice lead, some pressure, big drifts and... Finally, a big open pan! I couldn't believe my eyes. From worst to first, I said out loud.

Thinking back, I'm not sure if I remember that exact day, but I know the feeling for sure. Every day on the Arctic Ocean is a pendulum that can swing for or against you with no apparent rhyme or reason. It's overwhelming at best. For significant parts of every day, we get bogged down in rough fractured ice struggling for hours to make just a few hundred meters of Northward progress. In those moments, every fiber of your being wants to quit and go home.

Despite this, we keep moving forward. But it's not easy, so we buttress ourselves with mantras and sayings to keep us focused and optimistic. We remind ourselves that at some point, and no matter how much bad ice we may be in at the moment, good ice will follow. And in doing so, we are able to push through all the physical and mental hardship and keep moving forward until conditions improve.

Everywhere I look these days, I see people struggling with all kinds of bad ice... accidents, disease, uncertainty, getting laid off from a job, bills... you name it. Life piles up, cracks, splits and blocks the path forward, just like ice on the Arctic Ocean. In those moments, everything seems crazy and hard but what I've learned is that, at some point, things will change and become better.

My friends keep offering their sympathies on a cancelled North Pole season. And while I appreciate the sentiment, it's hard not to brush off the failure as just another piece of bad ice.

After all, I'm back at home with Maria and the kids, riding my bike, coaching U-12 soccer and planning for next winter... Good ice will follow.

Photo: (Mostly) good ice.