newsminer.com • Explorer with a cause to take on poles, Everest

...That’s a hardship he doesn’t want to handle when he attempts to ski to the North and South Poles and climb Mount Everest — all within 365 days.
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For the Mount Everest excursion, he’s enlisted Aron Ralston, the mountaineer renowned for amputating his right arm with a dull blade in 2003 after it was pinned by a half-ton boulder at the bottom of a canyon in Utah.

Ralston said that ordeal has made him a more focused climber — and person.

“This trauma has turned into such a blessing for me in my life,” said Ralston, who gives motivational speeches between rafting trips and climbing expeditions. “It’s been the biggest miracle of my life. It’s the transformation of my life — from being this fun-seeking kid in my 20s, my life and happiness all built around my self-centered desires. Now, my fulfillment comes from causes.”

Larsen’s undertaking fits that description. He wants to raise awareness of global warming and the effects it’s having on melting ice caps.

His motto? Think snow.

His mission? Saving the last frozen places left on the planet.
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Putting his plan in motion will cost nearly $750,000, and Larsen is still scrambling to find backing in a troubled economy.