Polar explorer Eric Larson on Saturday reached the first of three major poles he plans to conquer in 2010 when he stood at the South Pole’s Amundsen-Scott Research Station. After 47 days of dragging gear-laden sleds across the Antarctic ice, Larsen and his two partners, Dongsheng Liu and Bill Hanlon, toured the research station at the far reaches of the planet only to realize that he recognized one of the workers as an old friend from Grand Marais, Minnesota, which Larson calls home. Check out his audio dispatch here.

Before the end of 2010, Larson also plans to stand on the North Pole and the summit of Mt. Everest. If he succeeds, he will be the first. Larsen will be writing a first-hand account of his journeys for the first issue of Wend magazine this year, whose headquarters, like Embark’s, are in Portland, Ore.