"Skiing to the North Pole requires some kind of protection against Polar bears. The bears are some of the world's most dangerous predators to humans, in considering us a great meal value. Grizzlies will attack, but the Polar might actually consume a person.

During an Everest expedition in 1999, we made friends over Internet with Michael, an HRT (High-risk team) police officer from New Jersey. That came out handy this weekend, as Michael took us to a shooting range to practice bear protection.

We used shotguns, Remington 870. These are heavier than the handguns (Magnum 44)  used sometimes. They are however gentler on the bears and so preferred in the Arctic's. The shotguns have powerful recoil but provide a much better hit target ratio than a handgun.

The really good news for a bear however, is that the gun is loaded with two kinds of ammo; Buckshot's and Slugs. The buckshots will merely pinch the bear, thus providing time for the animal to change itīs mind about the attack. Only if the bear chooses the wrong strategy, the second shot - a slug - is fired. These slugs are used by HRT to blast cars to a halt and will do the same to a bear.

The kickback was pretty strong, especially with the slug. It's important to place the gun correctly to the shoulder, and lean into it. A horrible blast follows as the trigger is pushed. It is then equally important to let go with the kickback and not to push into it. If it's all done right, the recoil will not hurt you.

We used Winchester ammunition: 00 buckshots, packing nine 38 caliber pellets in each.The  slugs were 62 caliber (app 15mm) 1.5-ounce slug. We will carry 10 slugs and 25 buckshots. We will additionally bring a Magnum 44 for backup.

Target practice was easy with the shotgun; we hit target perfectly from 50ft/15-m range. This range is about max optimum for the heavy ammo. For the Magnums, weīll need even closer range to shoot target without previous long-term practice. That gun will thus be used only for close range encounter and as backup."