Jean-Louis Etienne lifted off into the sky Monday morning and has been enjoying the view as he spins around in the Arctic sky.

The huge white balloon that is carrying Etienne to Alaska has been flying through the air at about 1,000 feet above the Arctic Ocean, and his support team expects him to reach the North Pole by Wednesday evening.

Etienne launched his solo odyssey from the Norwegian island chain of Svalbard, about halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The first portion of his flight may end up being the most exciting, as Etienne navigated the balloon through valleys and over mountains through mist and fog.

"I flew along the mountain sides and had a few scary moments suddenly seeing dark rock faces slipping by," Etienne said to his support team in France during his first phone call from the balloon.

The explorer also described the view to his team, telling them that while they spoke he was gliding along at the edge of a huge cloud of mist. The gondola that carries Etienne was just touching the mist while the balloon was in the bright Arctic sun.

Luc Trullemans is the expedition's router. He said that on Monday he told Etienne to take the balloon up to 2,000 feet in order to reach wind blowing from the south. On Tuesday the best wind was lower, so Etienne dropped to 1,000 feet. By Tuesday afternoon he was cruising along at about 14 mph.

According to the team's press release, this would be the first balloon flight over the North Pole. The first flight over the North Pole took place in 1926, but there's some debate over whether it was completed by Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett, or by the team led by Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Umberto Nobile.

Byrd said he flew his plane over the North Pole before returning to Svalbard, but his assertion that he reached the Pole has since been disputed. Since Amundsen's team flew their 348-foot dirigible from Svalbard to Alaska, they can credibly claim to have flown over the North Pole.

During the flight Etienne is collecting scientific data on the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere and the earth's magnetic field.

Since Etienne left land behind and began his voyage over the Arctic Ocean, the trip has become more relaxing. Space inside the gondola is small, but there are six little portholes that he looks through as the balloon spins in the cold air. The temperature outside the balloon is about 10 degrees, while inside it's a toasty 60.

"I'm really enjoying being where I am," Etienne told his team. "I'm imagining what the sea of clouds ahead of me is like as I enter it."

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.