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According to Charles Kuralt's book "To the Top of the World" published by Holt, Rheinart, and Winston, Ralph Plaisted and his party's attempts to reach the North Pole by snow mobile "ended in failure." on May 4, 1967.
Minnesota adventurer Ralph Plaisted and three companions, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl and Jean-Luc Bombardier, are regarded by most polar authorities to be the first to cross the ice to the North Pole, finally completing a polar quest that spanned nearly 150 years in 1968. After a first attempt to reach the Pole on snowmobiles was thwarted at 83 degrees, 20 minutes by storms and open water in1967, Plaisted began the successful 412 mile traverse from Canada's Ward Hunt Island on March 7, 1968. Wearing Inuit-inspired clothing, navigating with a sextant and resupplied when possible with fuel and supplies dropped by a Dehavilland Twin Otter, the expedition members spent 43 days, 11 hours on the ice before reaching the North Pole. Plaisted signalled a United States Air Force C135 weather recon aircraft using a handheld radio and at 10:30 a.m. eastern daylight time, April 20, 1968, the USAF LARK-47 flew overhead confirming the party was exactly at the North Pole.
