Attenborough, at 83, reaches North Pole

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LONGYEARBYEN, Norway, April 17 (UPI) -- Sir David Attenborough, longtime host of British nature shows, has achieved a childhood dream at 83, traveling to the North Pole.

Attenborough's new series, "The Frozen Planet," is to be released next year, The Times of London reported. To make it, he traveled to both ends of the earth, reaching the South Pole for the second time in his life only a few weeks before heading north.

In an interview in Longyearbyen, the principle settlement on the Norwegian outpost Svalbard, Attenborough said he got to the poles the easy way, using planes and helicopters. He felt somewhat guilty "because I was brought up to think that these were the most inaccessible spots on the planet and the most hostile, and it turns out they are perfectly accessible."

"I have got there with no effort from me, by technological devices which have plonked me on both places," he said. "But it's jolly nice to have done it."

He endured some hardship in the Arctic. He landed at a Russian camp on the shifting sea ice 57 miles from the pole and spent days tent-bound.