Wilmette Teen Back Home After Skiing to North Pole

Chicago Tribune, April 26, 2010

By Ruth Fuller

After an eight-day trek to the North Pole on skis, Taylor Sweitzer said his toes were still tingling after he returned Monday to his homein Wilmette.

"I think they are frost-nipped, not frostbitten," said Sweitzer, 15, a sophomore at New Trier High School.

Sweitzer, his father, Rick (director of The Northwest Passage), and four others camped on moving ice floes during their 69-mile trip to the pole.

"There were places where the ice was moving apart, making it really difficult to travel," he said. "Some days we might travel eight to nine miles, and overnight we might actually lose ground while we were sleeping because it was moving so fast."

Sweitzer said he has wanted to ski to the North Pole ever since he flew there as a boy with his father, who runs two adventure travel companies based in Wilmette. Their party flew to Norway, then took a helicopter to the jump-off point.

Sweitzer is no stranger to outdoor adventure, he said, having climbed the Grand Tetons, the Matterhorn and Mount Kilimanjaro.

For more information, please visit www.nwpassage.com or call 1-800-RECREATE.