Mental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North PoleMental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North Pole

Triumph by Snowmobile

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In 1968, decades after Peary’s and Cook’s competing stories emerged, a Minnesota insurance salesman named Ralph Plaisted was sitting in a bar, talking to a friend about snowmobiles. His friend said that if snowmobiles were so great, he should be able to ride one to the North Pole. Plaisted accepted the challenge. Thus began one of the most improbable expeditions, led by one of the unlikeliest adventurers, ever made to the Pole—a journey by Ski-Doo that ended up being the first to indisputably reach 90° North latitude. We’ll look at how Ralph Plaisted did it.

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  1. Mental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North Pole

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Mental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North Pole

Many wanted to claim its discovery—but only one could be the first. In The Quest for the North Pole, 
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