We’ve taken the South, now we’ll aim for the North as Sarawakian Muhammad Irwan Yusuf Abdullah is all set to conquer the North Pole as a one-man National Expedition in 2017.

The 36-year-old will be preparing himself for the gruelling challenge by going to several countries including South Korea and Japan to get more comprehensive training to train up mentally and physically.

“The training will hopefully help me handle the challenges including the extreme cold temperature which could lead to frostbites, the possibility of being exposed to polar bears as well as the difficult,” said Irwan.

Muhammad Irwan Yusuf said the expedition is scheduled to begin in April 2017 and he will go to Norway before taking a special flight to the Arctic Circle to begin skiing on the solid-ice surface North Pole.

He was speaking to reporters after the announcement of the expedition organised by the Seven Continents Exploration Club (KE7B) by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth chief Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusuf at Wisma PBB in Kuching, Sarawak.

According to KE7B’s planning, the expedition will either be done by “All The Way” skiing method for 222 kilometres over 21 days or the “Last Degree Ski” option for 111 kilometres over 11 days.

The club had previously organised a South Pole Expedition earlier this year, the Annapurna High-Altitude Cycling Expedition featuring Shahrom Abdullah last year and the Greenland expedition in 2014.

Irwan himself competes in duathlons, and also delves in mountain biking and white water rafting. This year, he will participate in the New Zealand South Island Bicycle Tour, the 100-mile Bromo Tengger Semeru Ultratrail Race, the Himalaya Bicycle Expedition and Japan’s Mount Fuji Ultratrail.

Source: Bernama and The Star.