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\u201cWe were disappointed, but we still believed in our dream,\u201d said Jancik, who founded ECHO Geophysical Corp. a few years later and hired Zerbst as a geophysical analyst. That partnership allowed them to advance their expedition planning while working together professionally.<\/p>\n
In 1996, their dream came true. With funding from corporate sponsors including Osprey Pack, North Face and PowerBar, Jancik, Zerbst and eight others set out for the top of the world. Team members included Jancik\u2019s wife, Dr. Terri Baker, who served as team physician, and renowned wilderness photojournalist Galen Rowell, who documented the adventure in a 1996 Life magazine photo essay.<\/p>\n
They took a bush plane from Iceland to the northern coast of Greenland. \u201cWe landed on the coastal plains, between the mountains and sea,\u201d Jancik said. \u201cNo runway, just tundra.\u201d<\/p>\n
An arduous itinerary<\/h2>\n
After establishing base camp, team members strapped on backpacks holding about 100 pounds of gear and embarked on a 30-day trek across the Arctic with three ambitious goals.<\/p>\n
They wanted to be the first explorers on foot ever to reach Oodaaq Island, believed to be the northernmost point of land on Earth, the \u201cUltima Thule\u201d of ancient literature and cartography. The Danish discovered the island by helicopter in 1978 when surveying the north coast of Greenland.<\/p>\n The itinerary also included two other firsts \u2014 exploring the untouched Moore Glacier, the largest valley glacier in the Benedict Range, and climbing Star Spangled Banner Peak, so named by Peary, who saw the mountain from the north coast of Greenland but never tried to climb it.<\/p>\n Navigating the peak\u2019s snow-covered ridges and hidden crevasses required skill and stamina, but the bigger concern was planning for any contingency. \u201cThe most challenging part wasn\u2019t the climbing and hiking,\u201d Zerbst said. \u201cIt was the logistics and equipment coordination. Once that bush plane leaves you on the tundra, you better be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n Four weeks, hundreds of Power Bars and many blisters later, the team accomplished all their goals, with one unintended detour. They didn\u2019t actually find Oodaaq Island, but rather an unknown island farther to the north, which had never been documented.<\/p>\n From the majesty of musk ox herds to the adversity of navigating frigid water on foot, the team embraced beauty and hardship. \u201cWe spent hours wading in glacial meltwater streams up to our thighs,\u201d Jancik said. \u201cSome team members suffered nerve damage as a result. But there is nothing like being in a wilderness where no one has ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n A documentary about the expedition, \u201cTo Be at the Top of the World,\u201d aired on Denver\u2019s PBS station later that year. In 1998, Jancik and Zerbst were inducted as fellows of The Explorer\u2019s Club, an elite international society dedicated to scientific exploration.<\/p>\n Five years after realizing their dream, Jancik and Zerbst headed to the far north again in July 2001. Their nine-person Return to the Top of the World team departed with four new goals.<\/p>\n They wanted to be the first Americans to climb the highest point in Earth\u2019s northernmost mountain range. That meant summiting Helvetia Tinde, or Swiss Peak, which was first climbed in 1969 by a British military expedition.<\/p>\n They also wanted to make the first-ever ascent of a major peak in the Roosevelt Range, a goal that tested their physical limits as they climbed ice, often at a 55-degree angle, over the course of 24 hours. At the summit, they named the mountain John Denver Peak in memory of the late singer-songwriter, who lived in Colorado for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n Beyond their mountaineering goals, the team wanted to reach Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost continuous point of land on Earth, first explored by Peary in 1892. They also gathered water samples for research on potential pollution in the pristine Arctic.<\/p>\n Successful on all fronts, the team returned home to a hero\u2019s welcome and news conference with Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and John Denver\u2019s family members, who thanked the expedition members for their efforts to honor a beloved Colorado icon. Their adventures reached a wider audience with the 2002 publication of a book, \u201cUnder the Midnight Sun: The Ascent of the John Denver Peak and the Search for the Northernmost Point of Land on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2004, when The Explorers Club marked the 100th anniversary of its founding with a special event in New York City, Zerbst was there to share the story of the Top of the World Expeditions alongside a lineup that included explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, National Geographic President Gilbert Grosvenor and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.<\/p>\n Zerbst returned to the northern Arctic in 2007 as the leader of the Greenland Odyssey, a 100-person icebreaker excursion sponsored by The Explorers Club, and again the following year on a smaller follow-up expedition. He also leads hunting and fishing trips in Colorado.<\/p>\n Jancik has traveled all seven continents and summited the high points in 48 states and 19 countries, including the mountains Kilimanjaro and Fuji. He also serves on the board of the Rowell Fund for Tibet, which awards small grants for Tibetan environmental and humanitarian projects in memory of Galen and Barbara Rowell.<\/p>\n While they haven\u2019t trekked together in many years, Jancik and Zerbst have talked about returning to the Arctic.<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2026\/07\/explore250x300-Photo1-John-Jancik-Ken-Zerbst.jpg\")
Returning for round two<\/h2>\n
Looking back, and looking ahead<\/h2>\n