Rune Gjeldnes
Rune Gjeldnes (born
1971-05-20, in
Surnadal,
Norway) is a Norwegian
adventurer. He completed his military education in 1992, where he met fellow adventurer-to-be
Torry Larsen, also of
Møre og Romsdal. Gjeldnes served in the
Norwegian Naval Special Operations Command until 1997.
Together with
Torry Larsen, Rune Gjeldnes travelled across
Greenland in 1996. In 1997 he planned and completed the "Arctic Ocean 2000" expedition–a 109-day, 2,100
kilometer trip—becoming the first to cross the
Arctic Ocean without resupplies. In 1998 Gjeldnes and
Bjørn Loe became the first to
paddle the
Rio Merevari in
Venezuela. Rune participated in
North Pole expeditions in 1997 and 1998, crossed
Baffin Island in northern
Canada in 1998, and later the same year climbed
Mt Aconcagua (6,959
m/22,831
ft). From 1999 to 2000 he again worked for the
Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN).
In February
2006, Rune Gjeldnes completed "The Longest March", a three-month 4,800 kilometer solo
ski trek across the
South Pole region, becoming the first person to cross that area alone without being resupplied. His route went from
Queen Maud Land, over the Pole, and on to
Terra Nova Bay. The final couple of weeks of the journey had to be made on foot, as Gjeldnes had lost one of his mountain skis off his sled, this before having to descend a glacier of 2,000 m (~6,500 ft)
a.s.l. in order to reach his destination. The distance is the equivalent of the
North Cape of Norway to
Cairo in
Egypt plus 300 km. The expedition had a scientific element as Gjeldnes took regular blood samples of himself to be used in studies of the human immune system under extreme conditions.
He now holds the records of the longest ski journey without being resupplied and the longest ski journey generally. He is the only person to ski across the
North Pole, the
South Pole and
Greenland without resuplement.
*
The Longest March web page – From the website of SEAL Adventure, Gjeldnes' company
*
"Adventurer finishes polar trek" – By Arnfinn Mauren,
Aftenposten, 3 February 2006
*
RNoN The Longest March page 
