If you want to get the world's attention, walking and skiing to the South Pole in record time before your 20th birthday might do the trick. That's 19-year-old Parker Liautaud's plan.
Liautaud will venture out on Nov. 23 on a 40-day expedition. His goal is to bring attention to climate change, an issue he has been passionate about since a young age. Liautaud talked about his past arctic ventures and upcoming expedition alongside the founder of the Climate Reality Project, former Vice President Al Gore, Monday at Social Good Summit.
"I, to an extent, felt a responsibility to try to do something dramatic," Liautaud said. "To re-ignite a dialogue, there needs to be a sort of shock to the system."
When he was 15 years old, Liautaud tried to become the youngest person to walk to the North Pole. Though extreme weather derailed his attempt with just 15 miles to go, Liautaud tried again the next year and finally reached the North Pole at the age of 16.
He went back again the following year — although he had achieved his goal, he realized his task was far from over.
"The arctic became a sort of beacon for me — a symbol of global change," Liautaud said. "I thought that it could become a very powerful mechanism to communicate the importance of these changes by actually going there and communicating live from the places that are being hit the hardest."
Born in Palo Alto, Calif., Liautaud moved to London at age 9. He returned to the U.S. last year to attend Yale University, where he is currently in his second year.
Now practically a veteran arctic explorer, Liautaud will not just be trying to break a record, during his journey later this year he aid scientific research by testing a lightweight weather station that collects meteorological data every 30 minutes and collecting snow samples that will be used to test the isotopic composition of Antarctic snow at various locations.
"I'm inspired by you," Gore told Liautaud. "It helps so much to hear and feel the determination and the passion and the courage that you're bringing to this."
We caught up with Liautaud after his on-stage chat with Gore. He clarified the nature of the records he is attempting. Along with his partner, polar explorer Doug Stoup, Liautaud will attempt to record the fastest unsupported expedition from any point on the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. They need to complete the voyage in less than 21 days and 23 hours.
"It all basically centers around mental strength and making sure that we're mentally able to take on challenges that we don't expect," Liautaud told Mashable. "I'm both nervous and excited."
The record attempt is scheduled to begin on Dec. 3, after the research portion of the expedition. If successful, Liautaud will also become the youngest male to ever complete such an expedition.
A communications team in a custom-designed truck will follow Liautaud and Stoup, keeping a distance, to document the voyage. Liautaud stressed that there could be no transfer of materials between his team and the communications truck or else the expedition could not be classified as unsupported.
The entire expedition will be live streamed on the Willis Resilience website, named for Liautaud's partnership with the Willis Group, an international insurance broker.
About Social Good Summit
The Social Good Summit is where big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions and is brought to you by Mashable, The 92nd Street Y, The United Nations Foundation, The United Nations Development Programme, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ericsson. Held during U.N. Week, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders to discuss a big idea: the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve our greatest challenges.
Date: Sept. 22 through Sept. 24
Time: 12 to 6 p.m. each day
Location: 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y.
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Image: Willis Resilience
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