Needless to say, we were all blown away by his stories. He was able to decribe all the little things so vividly as it had just happened yesterday. Had three of his fingers amputated cause of froze bites (he had to do this to save his life, so between lose his fingers or his life....he chose lose his fingers). Chased by hungry Polar bears. Burned tent with burned Arktos. Ran out of food in blistering cold and saved by an Eskimo. Arrested by KGB in Russia. He was able to conquer all obstacles and completed his amazing 21,000KM exploration of the far north. Yet, with all his accomplishments, he is the most down to earth, friendly guy I have even come across.
Good to catch up with some old friends and meet the new ones...Hi, Michael! Anyway, to make the long story short, I think a picture speaks a thousand words. So here you go:
Front Entrance
Presentation Area
Some photos of his expeditions on the wall
Panerai on ICE (or should I say Plastic ^_^)
Arktos on ice
Ok, Burned Arktos...this went in flames with his pants
Another shot of it
Our Host of the night...a local celeb who is also a Paneristi
The man himself
Demonstration of how to use a tent in -98F of cold
The famous blue jacket
The durable pants
He said a needle went through his lips...he felt nothing
Polar Bears closing in
3 finers or die
Ok, here...Mike and yours truly
Mike and JC
Mike with Danny and Eric
Oh, Michael's amazing piece
Can't leave tonight without the group shot
Won't be completed without this...oh, the arktos belongs to Mike
And guess what we got for gifts tonight!!!
That's all folks...I really want to continue on but I must get back to bed now. Maybe part 2 will come sometime this week.
Peace
Fred
