Tim Magee tells chilling tale to Brundidge Rotary
Published 3:00 am Thursday, September 24, 2015
![MESSENGER PHOTO/JAINE TREADWELL Troy attorney and adventurer Tim Magee was the program guest of Cot Wallace, center, and Chip Wallace, right, at the Wednesday meeting of the Brundidge Rotary Club.](https://www.troymessenger.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2015/09/0924rotary.web_-300x170.jpg)
MESSENGER PHOTO/JAINE TREADWELL
Troy attorney and adventurer Tim Magee was the program guest of Cot Wallace, center, and Chip Wallace, right, at the Wednesday meeting of the Brundidge Rotary Club.
Troy attorney Tim Magee had a chilling tale to tell at the Wednesday meeting of the Brundidge Rotary Club.
Magee presented Part One of a two-part presentation of “Magee Goes Bi-Polar,” and the Rotarians stayed around to ask, “When’s part two?”
Magee was an enthusiastic presenter and the Rotarians were eager listeners as he told about his adventure to the Geographic North Pole.
Magee could have talked all day and into the night about his many adventures including the seven continents, 35 countries, the Geographic North Pole in July 2007 and “The Great White Continent” of Antarctica reaching the Geographic South Pole in January 2009.
Most of the Rotarians were in school when students were required to give book reports that ended with, “If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the book.”
Rotarian Danny Graham was among the Rotarians who want to know more about Magee’s travels, especially to the South Pole.
But, on Wednesday, they had to settle for just a glimpse of what the North Pole sans Santa Claus is like.
Magee described the Geographic North Pole as an amazing and incredible place. He backed his observations with a PowerPoint presentation that took the Rotarians along with him when he boarded the nuclear-powered icebreaker, Yamal, in Murmansk, Russia and all the way to the North Pole and back.
The photographs Magee shared of the 13-day adventure were mainly ice and more ice. “We were told that everything in the Arctic is weather dependent, so not to be in a hurry to get to the North Pole,” he said. “We had to plow through a lot of ice to get there and it was noisy, very noisy, as the ice was being broken.”
The icebreaker followed leads, or icy rivers, through the huge ice fields. The passengers stood on the deck each day amazed and astounded at the ice-cold beauty all around them.
“One of the highlights of the trip was the sighting of live polar bears,” Magee said. “They are huge animals and strong animals that can swim 50 to 60 miles and they can smell 25 miles away, so you can imagine that they were amazed at the smell of us.”
When the icebreaker reached 85 degrees, the passengers had to pay their respects to the “God of the Sea” before they could pass on. Magee paid his respects in much the same way he does when the Troy University Trojan score a touchdown.
Much of the journey was spent breaking ice, getting to know the other passengers and dining in fine style.
When the icebreaker neared 90 degrees, the passengers became excited in a giddy sense at the thoughts of being at the top of the world. Magee was among them.
“I had planned to go to the Geographic South Pole first but I was excited to be nearing the Geographic North Pole,” he said. “I knew it would be a one-time adventure and I wanted to experience everything about it.”
The 13-day journey through a sea of ice ended with Magee taking the Polar Plunge in the North Pole waters that were around 27 degrees and 8,000 feet deep.
Only five of the 91 passengers were brave enough to dip in the Arctic waters but Magee said he was there for the total Geographic North Pole experience.
Later, the passengers celebrated their arrival at the top of the world with champagne and pizza. Then, they embarked on the journey home in the only direction they could go, south.
On the way home, they stopped at Franz Josef Land where they met a band of adventurers who were as surprised to see them as they were to “happen” upon them. They saw humpback whales and took quiet time to savor the experience that not many people will ever have.
Magee said the trip to the North Pole was very expensive but worth it all. He knew when the trip ended that he would go south as far as he could go. He would have, also, the Geographic South Pole experience and he did.
So, if you want to know more about Tim Magee’s polar experiences, you might want to get chummy with a Brundidge Rotarian because he will be back.