Dr. Peter Skafte carried two Bearikade Weekenders to the Ultima Thule. His plan included protecting a 2 week's worth of food from marauding adolescent Polar Bears. While adult Polar Bears are skilled sea hunters, adolescents frequently pester camps for food. Their size is similar to Grizzly Bears and therefore their attempts to get food from the Bearikade would go unrewarded. Peter is demonstrating one of the extra benefits of the Bearikade. He appreciated this dry and warm chair while in camp.


On July 5, 2003 at 22:11 six international explorers, three men and three women, became the first to set foot on a small island in the Arctic Ocean, which is the Northernmost point of land on this planet. Its location is North latitude 83-42-052 and West longitude 030-38-494. This discovery may solve one of the world's oldest geographical mysteries that have come down to us from the ancient Greeks. Two Santa Barbara area explorers, Mara Boland, a horse trainer from Santa Ynez, and Dr. Peter Skafte, an anthropologist from Santa Barbara were among the six expedition members.

The expedition flew from Iceland to the north coast of Greenland. Although only 432 miles from the North Pole, the area is generally snow free during the short summer and has rich flora and fauna. The entire northeastern section of Greenland, the size of Texas and Oklahoma, is the world's largest national park.


The base camp was set up at Bliss Bay. Expedition members then trekked west 12 miles until they reached the coast south of Kaffeklubben Island. At this latitude the sea-ice is covered with huge pools of icy water in July. Only six people in the group, who were equipped with chest high waders, could search the sea-ice for a new Ultima Thule. They were: Mara Boland, Dr. Peter Skafte, Dr. Marilyn Geninatti, Ans Hoefnagel, Dr. Frank Landsberger and Dennis Schmitt.

The team first crossed the sea ice to Kaffeklubben Island, which is less than a mile long, and from there they continued north. Hundreds of melt water pools had to be crossed. If anyone fell into the water, miles from the shore, they could become hypothermic and die. Finally, after a 12 hour search, the team spotted an ice-free island 140 feet long, 60 feet wide and 14 feet high. The island is composed of rocks and boulders of all sizes.

In an era when satellites photograph every part of the globe on a daily basis, how could this little island go unnoticed until now? The answer is that even a couple of inches of snow cover blocks imaging in the visible wavelengths. Perhaps Global Warming is responsible for revealing the answer to one of the oldest geographical mysteries.

Contact Dr. Peter Skafte at skafte@aol.com for information about guided tours in Greenland's National Park in addition to personalized trips to the Himalayas.