However the various expeditions led by Robert Peary (1856-1920) to Greenland and the North Pole definitely fall into the “because it’s there” category – the glory of becoming the first person to reach the top of the world, an ambition he had harboured since being a young naval officer.

His first two expeditions (1886 and 1891) taught him a lot about the difficulties of crossing the Polar regions and it was on the second that Peary adopted Inuit survival techniques; he built igloos during the expedition and dressed in practical furs in the native fashion. He adopted these practices both for heat preservation (furs) and to dispense with the extra weight of tents and sleeping bags when on the march by building igloos instead. Peary also relied on the Inuit as hunters and dog-drivers on his expeditions. He pioneered the system (which he called the "Peary system") of using support teams and establishing supply caches for Arctic travel.

Peary made further expeditions in 1898-1902, and 1905-1906, both times establishing “Farthest North” records. The second of these expeditions proved highly controversial with Peary claiming to have discovered a new land in the north-west which he named Crocker Land after his sponsor, George Crocker. Although honoured for this by the American National Geographical Society, it later turned out that the land did not exist.

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