76-year-old army veteran from Bengaluru completes Arctic expedition and Polar Plunge

A 76-year-old former Indian Army officer from Bengaluru recently completed an expedition to the north pole and the Arctic.

Lt. Col. (Retd) O.P.N. Kalyan, who had served in the Army Service Corps (ASC), undertook the expedition between August 22 and September 1, 2025, during which he also undertook a Polar Plunge in the Arctic Ocean.

Ambition

“I always had an ambition to visit Antarctica and the Arctic during my service. After my retirement, I had the privilege to go on an expedition to Antarctica in 2024 which was a wonderful experience. Now I got an opportunity to go to the North Pole and Arctic Islands at the age of 76, and my ambition has been finally fulfilled,” said Lt. Col. (Retd) Kalyan.

The Army veteran commenced the expedition from Longyearbyen in Norway on the ship, Polar Quest, along with a group of 48 people, on August 22. To visit the various islands during the expedition, the team had to use Zodiac boats.

Extreme weather conditions

“We were ferried on the Zodiac boats and visited Smeerenburg and Virgohamna Islands. We spent about two hours on each of these islands. The weather was extremely cold, windy, and the temperature was two degrees celsius. We also visited the Nordre Russoya islands where we saw a few glaciers, birds, and the Arctic Foxes,” he said, adding that during his 10-day cruise to the Arctic Islands and North Pole from Longyearbyen, the sun did not set.

“We had completely sunny days throughout the day,” he said.

He said that on August 30, the expedition ship, Polar Quest, stopped about two kilometres from the Glacier Island called Burgerbukta where he took the Polar Plunge in the Arctic Ocean.

Minus zero temperature

“The ocean temperature was minus two degrees celsius and outside the temperature was three degrees celsius. Last year, I carried out the Polar Plunge in the Southern Sea in Antarctica, and now I did once more in the Arctic Ocean,” he added.

After retirement from his service, Lt. Col. (Retd) Kalyan served as the curator of the ASC Museum in Bengaluru for 15 years.