Explorer finds wedding at North Pole

LONDON, April 13 (UPI) -- A British explorer who skied 140 miles to the North Pole said he unexpectedly ended up gate crashing a wedding at the top of the globe.

Mark Wood, 45, who skied solo from the Russian ice station to the North Pole to raise awareness about climate change, said he arrived at the pole Wednesday to discover Norwegian explorer Borge Ousland and his intended, Helge, becoming the first-ever couple to marry at the North Pole, the Coventry Observer reported Friday.

"At the South Pole there's an American base, but at the North there's just ice," Wood told the BBC. "But when I arrived Borge Ousland was getting married. He had 20 or 30 people at the North Pole, flown in by helicopter."

Wood, who skied to the South Pole in January, said the happy couple invited him to participate in the festivities and he was able to end the day with a glass of champagne and fireworks.

"It was a fitting end really to my North/South expedition, it couldn't have ended any better for me to have him here and have all the fireworks and champagne," Wood said.

Ousland said his wedding featured a Lutheran pastor and about 30 guests, including a best man and a maid of honor.