Ralph Plaisted

Ralph Plaisted
Plaisted c. 1968
Born(1927-09-27)September 27, 1927
DiedSeptember 8, 2008(2008-09-08) (aged 80)
OccupationInsurance salesman
Known forExpedition to the North Pole via snowmobile in 1968
Spouse
Riki Magnolo
(m. 1967; death 1998)
Children3

Ralph Summers Plaisted (September 30, 1927 – September 8, 2008) was an American explorer who, with his three companions, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl and Jean-Luc Bombardier, are regarded by most polar authorities to be the first to succeed in a surface traverse across the ice to the North Pole on April 19, 1968, making the first confirmed surface conquest of the Pole.