Name: PECS
Price range: $

Expedition is a generic term for a journey eg. Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme.

Expedition is also a term for any Path that is not a Crossing, Circumnavigation or Loop and is divided into 4 variants.

An Expedition is also a variant of an Expedition Path.

An Expedition's geographical objective should be named in the label eg North Pole Expedition, Expedition to the Pole of Inaccessibility, etc.

EXPEDITION

An Expedition starts at a Coastline, Outer Coastline, Inland, Offshore or Mid-Ocean margin and reaches a recognisable point eg. South Pole.

Expedition variants:

Expedition
Full Expedition
Inland Expedition
Mid-Ocean Expedition

Examples:

North Pole Expedition
Full South Pole Expedition
Inland South Pole Expedition
Mid-Ocean North Pole Expedition

RETURN EXPEDITION

A Return Expedition starts and ends at the same point or along the same line, reaching a significant feature at its furthermost point.

The first half of a Return Expedition must satisfy Expedition Path criteria.

A Return Expedition starts and ends at a Coastline, Outer Coastline, Inland, Offshore or Mid-Ocean margin and reaches a recognisable point eg. South Pole Return. Such expeditions usually benefit from self-supplied caches - offloading supplies on the inward leg and recollecting them on the outward leg. Such a strategy still qualifies as Unsupported if all other unsupported criteria are observed.

Return Expedition variants:

Return Expedition
Full Return Expedition
Inland Return Expedition
Mid-Ocean Return Expedition

A Return Crossing is also possible

Examples:

Return North Pole Expedition
Full Return South Pole Expedition
Inland Return South Pole Expedition
Mid-Ocean Return North Pole Expedition

For longest distance record purposes, Return Expeditions are classified differently to one-way journeys and will be titled Longest Return Journey if a record one-way journey is longer. If the Return Expedition is the overall longest distance it will be titled Longest Journey.

ALTERNATE RETURN EXPEDITION

An Alternate Return Expedition starts and ends at at a different Coastline, Outer Coastline, Inland, Offshore or Mid-Ocean margin, reaching a significant point at its furthermost point. The first half of a Return Expedition must satisfy Expedition Path criteria.

An Alternate Return South Pole or Alternate Return Antarctica Expedition travels out and back on a different route that is less than 90 degrees of arc between start and end.

An Alternate Return North Pole or Alternate Return Arctic Ocean Expedition must include any point on the Northern Pole Line and have less than 90 degrees of arc between start and end.

A Greenland Alternate Return Expedition has less than 90 degrees of arc between start and end in relation to the Ice Divide

Alternate Return Expedition variants:

Alternate Return Expedition
Full Alternate Return Expedition
Inland Alternate Return Expedition
Mid-Ocean Alternate Return Expedition

Examples:

Alternate Return North Pole Expedition
Full Alternate Return South Pole Expedition
Inland Alternate Return South Pole Expedition
Mid-Ocean Alternate Return North Pole Expedition

REVERSE EXPEDITION

A Reverse Expedition starts at the North or South Pole or other significant feature and ends at a Coastline, Outer Coastline, Inland, Offshore or Mid-Ocean margin.

Reverse Expedition variants:

Reverse Expedition
Full Reverse Expedition
Inland Reverse Expedition
Mid-Ocean Reverse Expedition

Examples:

Reverse North Pole Expedition
Full Reverse South Pole Expedition
Inland Reverse South Pole Expedition
Mid-Ocean Reverse North Pole Expedition

COMPLETE GUIDELINES AND DEFINITIONS