He鈥檚 been acknowledged by many as the greatest modern-day explorer. After becoming the first man (alongside partner Borge Ousland) to travel to the North Pole without the help of a motor or dogs during winter, Mike Horn took a break by summiting a few 26,000-foot peaks in Pakistan. He聽swimmed聽the entire length of the Amazon River, unsupported, and circumnavigated both the equator and arctic circles (again without motors).
Horn鈥檚 next adventure will be another global circumnavigation, this time north-to-south, and again un-motorized. Next month, he鈥檒l set sail from Monaco aboard Pangea, his 105-foot aluminum ketch (which he designed himself), pick up supplies and crew in South Africa, then sail聽to Antarctica, where he plans to kite-ski solo across the entire continent. Rendezvousing with Pangea on the other side, he鈥檒l then sail up to the North Pole via the Bering Strait, where he鈥檒l embark across the ice floes on foot, pulling a sea kayak. Eventually, he鈥檒l make it across to Greenland, where he鈥檒l once again rendezvous with Pangea, then sail back to Monaco, completing the circumnavigation. Horn expects the journey to take a full year, with six of those months spend on foot, crossing the poles.听
What鈥檚 the key to a successful polar crossing? Aside from planning, logistics, and a whole lot of effort, it all comes down to food. A lot of food. For his four-month-long Antarctic trek, Horn will be pulling a 450-pound sled, most of which is food. His daily consumption will start at 6,000 calories, increasing to 7,500 across the first week, as the toughness of his task and the conditions he faces increase, and the caloric needs of his body grow to match the challenge. He鈥檒l eventually consume up to 12,000 calories each day.听
That's no easy task. To reach those numbers, Horn uses base foods like muesli and oatmeal as delivery vehicles for high-fat ingredients like honey, malt powder, and olive oil. In addition to mixing olive oil into virtually everything he eats, Horn also freezes it into cubes, which he sucks on between meals, as he moves. He consumes up to a liter of the fatty oil per day. But it鈥檚 not all olive oil; Horn also consumes up to 2.2 pounds of homemade chocolate each day. Why homemade? Store-bought chocolate doesn鈥檛 have enough calories, so he starts by melting that down, adding cocoa butter, then reforming the new, more nutritionally dense mix into new bars.听
During his polar crossings, Horn is sustaining 60 to 69 percent of his maximum heart rate for months at a time. That range is known in fitness circles as the fat burning zone. But since Horn is trying to get places, not get shredded abs, he needs to replace all the calories he鈥檚 burning. The extreme temperatures also add to his body鈥檚 need for fats. High-fat foods are the most calorie dense possible, so Horn is conveniently able to serve his body鈥檚 needs, and pack the most efficient energy-to-weight foods possible.听
It can鈥檛 all be fat though. After all, even polar explorers need to poop. His days start with a breakfast of muesli or oatmeal, mixed with fatty additives. As soon as he鈥檚 done with that, he starts snacking on the go, eating nuts and chocolate throughout the day. If he鈥檚 got a sweet tooth, he鈥檒l eat brownie batter that has been mixed with olive oil, frozen, and cut into cubes. If he craves something salty, he鈥檒l eat potato chips that have been smashed up, mixed with olive oil, and given the cube treatment too. He also snacks on smoked salmon and lengua (75 percent of beef tongue鈥檚 calories are from fat).听
Horn鈥檚 evening snack typically consists of more chocolate, now served with rice pudding. He also carries a variety of soups鈥攂utter double cream, split pea, and cream of tomato are his favorites鈥 all also mixed with olive oil.听
And then, for dinner, Horn relies on freeze-dried foods, similar to those eaten by backpackers the world over, but here custom-made for him by a company called Trek and Eat. They鈥檙e high-calorie, high-fat meals like pasta with salmon, beef Bolognese, and Thai curry. He tells us they鈥檙e, 鈥渧ery tasty.鈥
Horn also uses food for motivation. If he achieves weekly goals for distance covered, he rewards himself with a 鈥渂onus bag鈥 that鈥檚 loaded with cubes of homemade chocolate. This strategy helps him push through tough sections, keeping himself on schedule.听
If you鈥檝e ever been on an ambitious backpacking trip, then you鈥檒l know that, while eating is a necessity, preparing food can take precious daylight hours away from actually covering distance. Horn鈥檚 polar crossings are no different. He spends up to five hours per-day melting snow, cooking, and eating. After about five hours of sleep each night, that leaves him with 14 hours of travel time in the day. Sometimes, even that much isn鈥檛 enough.听
While Horn and Ousland were on their historic two-month, pitch-black winter trek to the North Pole, they needed more than 14 hours of travel time each day in order to match their rate of travel to their diminishing food supply. Instead of bailing on their objective, the team instead reset their biological clocks to a 30-hour day, giving them 30 percent more time spent moving, rather than eating or sleeping. Horn attributes their success to this knuckling down. Where most people would have tried to ration their supplies, eating less each day, Horn and Ousland ate more, thereby giving themselves the ability to work harder. Think about that the next time you鈥檙e trying to make time on the trail. It may be more food, not less, that makes you faster.听