RESOLUTE BAY, Nunavut (AP) – Five men led by a British explorer are attempting to recreate the American explorer Robert E. Peary’s disputed 1909 expedition, when he claimed to have reached the North Pole in a record 37 days.

The current expedition, led by British explorer Tom Avery, aims to verify Peary’s claim by matching his 37-day time for the 475-mile trek from Cape Columbia in northern Nunavut, the Inuit territory of Canada opposite Greenland. The team planned to leave Sunday morning.

Peary was a graduate of Bowdoin College who had a home in Fryeburg.

The fastest journey since Peary’s day was by a Canadian team in 2000 who reached the Pole after 43 days. Avery’s five-strong team will travel in a similar style to Peary’s with Canadian Inuit dogs and custom-built wooden sledges.

“They want to solve the greatest polar mystery of all time,” said Geraldine McGrory, a spokeswoman for the Barclays Capital Ultimate North Expedition. “They want to prove that Robert Peary did what he said he did. Robert Peary died with his record unsubstantiated, and that’s the key thing, to prove it can be done.”

Avery is a 29-year-old polar explorer from Sussex, England, who in 2002 became the youngest Briton to reach the South Pole – a record beaten weeks later by a 23-year-old.

The Arctic Ocean is one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet. The team will face temperatures as low as 49 degrees below zero and constantly moving ice.

“Robert Peary had the right weather conditions and was able to do it in 37 days,” McGrory said. “They are going to aim to do that, but who knows.”

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