How do you keep up strength through mile after mile of white-water kayaking, crossing a bottomless snow pit in a blizzard, or dangling over cliffs of ice while hanging on to a 200-pound (90-kilogram) kayak sled? Answer: Eat a special mix of high-energy foods, designed by Børge Ousland after 15 years of similar long-distance trekking through the Arctic and Antarctic. The menu was the same every day for 54 days, and by the 24th day Børge was dreaming of pancakes with blueberry jam, sour cream (even though he doesn't eat it at home), and bacon. He also wished he had added a few more calories to the diet and ten more pieces of chocolate for the two explorers to share. Instead, a real treat was a small cup of coffee. Each vacuum-sealed plastic package of rations was prepared in Norway and ready to go from the start of the trip: 

Breakfast = 1,150 calories
Oatmeal, corn oil, powdered cream, and sugar
Add water, stir, and heat.

Lunch = 2,570 calories
More oatmeal, corn oil, dried fruit, nuts, and sugar
 
Afternoon snack = 300 calories
Chocolate and dried reindeer heart snacks
 
Dinner = 1,700 calories
Freeze-dried ox, lamb, pork, or reindeer mixed with mashed potatoes, spices, and butter
Heat and stir.
 
Børge believes that a diet of 50 to 55 percent fat is better fuel for the slow daily grind than more carbs or protein. Even after leaving the ice field and running into hikers who offered fresh fruit, cheese, and bread on the final kayaking leg to Puerto Natales, the trekkers stuck to their packaged foods and the same rations they ate from the first day.

—Jeanne E. Peters