Ralph Plaisted; First to Reach North Pole by Surface Travel

Ralph S. Plaisted and his team reached the North Pole by snowmobile in 1968, covering 825 miles over 43 days. (By Associated Press)

Ralph Summers Plaisted was born Sept. 30, 1927, in Bruno, Minn. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Navy during World War II, serving as a baker in the Aleutian Islands.

After the war, he did odd jobs around Minneapolis-St. Paul before starting an insurance agency. He continued selling insurance until 1971, when he took his children out of school and moved the family to a wilderness site near a remote lake in Saskatchewan.

They built a log cabin and lived for a year on moose, fish and caribou meat. "That was as adventurous as the North Pole," Tobkin said.

For 38 years, Mr. Plaisted ran a small fishing camp at the site for spring and summer vacationers. He also lectured about the North Pole trip and the family wilderness adventure.

Mr. Plaisted's first wife, Leora, and third wife, Riki, died during their marriages. His second marriage, to Gail Plaisted, ended in divorce.

Besides his stepdaughter, survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Jackie Hafner of Woodbury, Minn.; a son from his second marriage, David Plaisted of Buffalo, Minn.; a daughter from his third marriage, Taffy Plaisted of Florissant, Colo.; a brother; six grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Tobkin said her stepfather often counseled his children that if they really want to do something, "you need to make it happen and do it."

Mr. Plaisted did just that, although on the 20th anniversary of his North Pole triumph, he vowed he "wouldn't go back there if you put a million dollars on my desk right now." It was far too dangerous.