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First man to cross the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean on foot dead at 72

Sir Wally Herbert died at a hospital in Inverness, Scotland, on Tuesday, June 12, having suffered from diabetes and heart trouble. Herbert was born in York, England, on Oct. 24, 1934 and served with the Royal Engineers in the Middle East from 1951-54 where he developed his surveying skills. While exploring the Antarctic in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Herbert mapped on foot approximately 45,000 square miles of new country and came within 200 miles of reaching the South Pole. He's retraced the routes of famed explorers Shackleton, Scott, Cook, and Amundsen in the Antarctic, and Peary and Sverdrup in the Arctic. Over 16 months during 1968-69, Herbert traveled on foot from Alaska to the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, covering 3,720 miles, reaching the North Pole on April 6, 1969. This was the first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean. Herbert's exploring career spanned almost 50 years, 15 of which spent travelling over 23,000 miles in the wilderness regions of the polar world. He was 72.

Sources: channel4.com, Associated Press, sirwallyherbert.com

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 21, 2007 2:13 PM

« British air force's most decorated gunner in World War II dead at 87 | Main | Choreographer of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Nine," and "My Favorite Year" dead at 57 »

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