Children of North Pole adventurer visit Alexandria
Their father, Walt Pederson, was part of the Ralph Plaisted Polar Expedition that reached the North Pole surface in 1968. Written By: Al Edenloff | ×
Siblings Tim and Cathy Pederson stand near wood carvings that were made to commemorate a snowmobiling expedition their father, Walt Pederson, completed to the North Pole in 1968. (Al Edenloff / Echo Press)
The Prairie Woodcarvers of Alexandria hosted a visit from two long-time friends of the club’s activities director, Sonya Anderson, earlier this month.
The visitors, Timothy Pederson of Forest Lake, and his sister, Cathy Pederson of Princeton, are the children of Walt Pederson. They struck up a friendship with Anderson over wood carving years ago.
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It’s April 1968, and an insurance salesman from Minnesota named Ralph Plaisted is looking down at his feet. He’s standing on an ice floe in the Arctic, with 10,000 feet of frigid water below.
And the ice is getting softer.
Plaisted looks around. Miles of ice-covered ocean surround him in all directions. He’s only days into his attempt to reach the North Pole and things look as grim as they’ve ever been. Plaisted and his team of amateur explorers have endured fuel shortages, howling storms, and forgotten supplies. But now, just a few inches of precarious ice separates them from a watery grave.