Tom Avery is one of the only 41 people ever to have reached both the South and North Poles. He was born in December 1975 and brought up in England, Brazil and France. His passion(强烈爱好) for adventure began when he was just seven years old and first read about the expeditions(探险) of famous explorers.Perhaps this was the start of his plan to put together the ultimate(终极的) joumey —— to the very top of the world, the North Pole, following the route taken by Robert Peary in his 1909 adventure.
Both Peary and Avery set off from Cape Columbia in Canada. Peary had a larger team and in fact had four support groups. Every 160 kilometers, a group would leave plenty of food and then turn back. The team therefore got smaller the further north they travelled. While Avery didn't have as many on his team, they did have food dropped by plane for them at four locations.
Avery's team also had the obvious benefit of modern technology, but Avery doesn't believe this made a big difference. He credits (把……归功于) his team's success to the 16 Inuit dogs that pull the sledges(雪橇)."It wouldn't have been possible without them,"he said."Your speed depends on the dogs and how quickly you can get a sledge through the ice."His team were travelling at the end of winter and this meant that the ice was thinner and could easily break under a person's weight. This was an added danger.
Another difference between both men's journeys was that Peary was far more experienced than Avery and had already been on several trips to the Arctic.
Peary claimed(声称) to have reached the North Pole in 39 days, but some historians argue that this was not possible. Avery's team actually beat this time and became the fastest to get there on foot. Avery says,"We told everyone we could do it and that we wouldn't fail. But it certainly wasn't easy."
