At Polar Velocity: Doug Stoup | GP Interview #20
By: Raman Frey
Tags: Interview, Explorer, Climate Change, Adventure, Environment

Arctic Ocean, March 2005, skiing from Siberia to the geographic north pole.

GP: You live in Tahoe City, in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. What are some of your favorite spots in the Sierras? What’s so special about this mountain range?

DS: The reason I moved to Tahoe is because of the Sierra Nevadas.

The biggest alpine valley in the world lies on the east side of these majestic mountains. They call the Sierra Nevadas the High Sierras, because they contain the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Mt. Whitney towers at 14,505 ft and is surrounded to the north by endless high altitude delights.

The entire range has amazing rock walls, deep canyons and raging waterfalls. Yosemite sits in the middle of the range and I think is one of the seven wonders of the world. The main reason for moving to the area is that an adventurer like myself can usually find skiing 10 month out of the year and seldom do you run into another human. It offers amazing wildlife, turquoise blue lakes and giant sequoia trees. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Skiing the Antarctic Peninsula Nov. 2017 photo: Stein Retzlaff

GP: What kicked off your initial interest in traveling to the earth’s poles?

DS: As a youth, I read all the books of the turn of the century explorers and was always fascinated with their stories.

In 1999, I was successful in skiing and snowboarding down the highest peak in Antarctica, the Vinson Massif at 16,077ft. I fell in love with Antarctica.

Two months later I chartered a Russian research vessel and travelled to the Antarctic peninsula where I pioneered skiing its mountains.

My thirst has never subsided!

Six months later, I found myself leading a blind man to the geographic south pole, 62 days, 787 miles on skis. I have since been to Antarctica 49 times. Including 18 trips to the South Pole.

In 2003 I had my first experience on the Arctic Ocean. I skied from Siberia to the north pole in 2005 and placed weather/location beacons to help climate scientists find out more about the Arctic Ocean. Since then I have led 17 North Pole trips.

It has been an honor to discover Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean but what I am most proud of is the funds and awareness that I have raised throughout my expeditions to help out mankind!

Doug Stoup, Marc Cornielson, Petter Nyquist at the North Pole with location beacon that Doug designed to help climate scientists find out more about ice movement on the Arctic Ocean, April 2005.

GP: How has Ice Axe Expeditions changed given all of the travel restrictions?

DS: I have done some online courses and have a few more domestic ski hut trips in the west scheduled. I am hoping that restrictions will be lifted before spring. This pandemic has really affected my business. We will get through this though.

December, 2000, Doug’s first south pole crossing. Doug became the first American man to ski from the coast of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole.

GP: Would you mind telling us a little more about how you weave purpose into your expeditions? How do you tether together adventure and addressing climate change?

DS: I have been skiing to the poles for 20 years at this point.



I needed to have more of a purpose in doing these trips for me to continue. I want our efforts to make a difference in the world, but I also want us to push the limits of human endurance, to show what’s possible if someone has true determination. In 2000, we took a blind man to the south pole. Since then, I’ve led several other handicapped adventurers (spinal cord injury) from the coast to the south pole. These trips were very fulfilling.

At this point, we’ve raised over 20 million dollars for various charities. We now make it a priority for me to lead these people to the poles.

I’ve also been involved with climate change as a data collector in some of these remote places and have successfully placed instrumentation to collect data for climate change scientists.

Aron Anderson, a paraplegic sit-skier, at the geographic south pole. They skied about 500 miles in 24 days from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole unsupported. They also raised over 1 million Euros for childhood cancer.

GP: How is your mentoring of younger people going now? Are you passing the baton to anyone in particular? You easing off the throttle yourself?

DS: I have been mentoring younger generations for 6 or 7 years now. Several of these individuals I hand picked for their enormous potential, after they expressed an interest in being mentored. I’ve always said ”expeditions with purpose,” and that’s what we do. Four of these adventurers have started a Non-Profit called Do Good Shit. It’s a 501c3 that builds sustainable toilets in remote places around the world (Mt. Everest, The Torres Del Paine region in Chile and Argentina, and even on Donner Summit in California). One of the individuals has been guiding for me and will be leading his first North Pole trip next April. So yes, I really enjoy the mentorship process and we’ve been seeing great results.

GP: What’s next for you? A move to Oregon? What are some of the other stunning places you might spend time? Are you considering a long sail somewhere?

DS: Covid has been a time of introspection, a time to consider a potential pivot.



All of my expeditions so far have involved international travel. This is not happening right now. So I’m planning some more ski hut trips in the Rockies and the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. I’m also considering making a move to Oregon. California has been on fire every year and all indications are that this is going to get worse. I like the coast of Oregon. The mountains are not that far either. I spent several weeks in Oregon this summer and really enjoyed it.

I am also considering purchasing an expedition sailboat. This would be an aluminum hull craft, one that can travel to the polar regions or equator. This has always been a dream of mine. We’ll see.