Børge Ousland

It’s the 30th of March and, well… To be blunt we’re bored to death here on this base. There is nothing to read. It’s certainly a new and uncomfortable situation for us to suddenly have nothing to do.

Mike and I are now in a super-hot and extremely crowded tent with 10 parachute jumpers – so there isn’t exactly a lot of space to move about. We’re here to warm ourselves. At night, however, we retreat to our own little tent in order to be by ourselves and to get some fresh air. It’s far to hot in here, too much noise and too many people. If you’re used to being alone for a long time, you need a soft transition. We definitely notice that, but it isn’t exactly easy to find solitude here at the base. Both of us are really looking forward to being picked up.

That package that Cathy sent from Switzerland, with chocolate and fondue and lots of good food – well, it hasn’t arrived yet. There have been to airdrops, with tractors, fuel and all sorts of other stuff. But no package for us. It’s probably stuck in Moscow; an unfortunate logistics failure. That, of course, is not really so important…

The important thing is to be happy for what we have done, what we achieved. I’m just giving you a glimpse of status and conditions. We know, of course, that we have nothing to complain about, not really…

There was a small surprise last night. We were lying in our tent and it was very quiet. Not gust of air, one of the calmest days we’ve had. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the tent shook. I quickly grabbed my revolver, thinking that a polar bear had snuck into the base. It turned out that it was only the tent pole breaking, for no reason at all. Perhaps it was some kind of last farewell from the Arctic winter. Well, we left it that way all night – and I don’t know if I’m motivated to repair it at all. Seems to me that I’ve repaired enough tent poles on this trip. Certainly there is something very wrong with the metal alloy that can’t take the cold.

That was a brief status report. The tractors are certainly working. The Russians have worked hard and cleared a nice runway on the ice – everything is soon ready to receive the aeroplane that is landing in a few days.

Well, our story continues… We have arrived safely at Ice Base Borneo. The first helicopter landed here yesterday – before that, there was only barren ice. But yesterday the Russian arrive, set up their first tents, and received an airdrop of fuel and necessities from Murmansk. Then their helicopter flew to pick us up at the North Poles, landing at 18h00 last night, Norwegian time. The flight only took 15–20 minutes. This year Ice Station Borneo is situated at N89°32’ – in other words very close to the North Pole.

Yes, Mike and I have met civilization again, or at least its most northerly outpost, after having been on our own for over two months.

The plan was to stay in the spacious tents that the Russians have set up. But it was simply too hot for us there – and far too noisy and full of smoke. We decided to set up our tent once again and stay there. I suppose we felt a need to retreat. It’s good to have a haven that is only ours, so we slept in the tent as usual.

It’s been great to have that option, while feeling most welcome to visit the Russians’ camp, to warm ourselves and enjoy meals there. We’re not suffering any discomfort. We have arrived safely, and we’re both fine, physically and mentally. Mike is more than eighty percent recovered, and it will soon be ninety percent. He’s on the last round of antibiotics and his body seems to be healing really well.

The key to positioning Ice Base Borneo is to find a good runway. They require a nice and smooth and wide lead that has been frozen since early this winter, and which hasn’t been ruined by compression and pack ice. That’s why the latitude of this drifting ice base can vary so much from year to year, depending on the ice conditions.

The Russian team has found the perfect lead, and it is right nearby. But surrounding it there is loose ice and it is covered with snow. To clean the “runway” they use a small tractor equipped with a snowplough. Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned. Yesterday they dropped this tractor from the aeroplane – but the parachute failed to open. When it hit the ice hard it shattered into a thousand pieces. Tomorrow they are flying in a new tractor to clear the icy airstrip. It will be a while before it’s ready, but they still have a week before the plane is coming to pick us up. That lands here on April 2.

We will try to send you some photos from life at Borneo. Our daily routine is very relaxed now, we’re giving a helpful hand here and there, but mostly we are just kicking back and getting used to the thought of returning to civilization and the life that we must gradually once again become a part of at home.

Now we are finally here – at the North Pole! We’re exhausted, but extremely satisfied and overjoyed in reaching our goal. This has been an incredibly tough journey; but it’s been tough in a good way – because we have managed to deal with all of the difficulties that we have encountered on the way. We have stood together and worked hard.

I am really grateful to have been here together with Mike! He is one of the strongest people, both mentally and physically, that I have ever been on an expedition with. And it is because we have played on each other’s strength that we have managed to complete this journey. Neither of us would have had a chance to go it alone. Since Day One it has been a question of teamwork; we have built this expedition stone by stone, so to speak. Mike and I have strived for a common goal. That’s why it feels great to be far closer friends than before we left. We’ve done it together!

You no doubt notice the great joy in this message, after all the difficulties we have been through. I must admit there were times when I was unsure whether we would reach the goal – but not once did we consider giving up. We followed our plan, seeing how long our food would take us.

Today is Day 61 of this expedition. It is the 23rd of March – and that is precisely the day we planned on arriving! This is the day the Russians are once again establishing Camp Borneo. And during these days now, the sun returns to the North Pole. This all sets a beautiful frame for our expedition; we started in darkness, and could finally enjoy a couple of days of midnight sun, just before completing the journey.

I would really like to thank everyone who has followed our expedition. Thank you for great support, good thoughts and the many wishes people have sent us. I am very grateful for that support and the interest. I know it may seem utterly senseless to head out on an expedition such as this, surrounded by the ice and cold. But nevertheless, I do hope that what we are doing here – stretching ourselves to reach our goal – may inspire someone to follow their dream.

Thank you for joining me on the journey.

Børge and Mike have arrived safely at 90 degrees latitude – better known as the North Pole.

“This journey has been so tough that I think it will be a very long time until someone tries to repeat our expedition,” says Børge Ousland. He is tired after the hardship both of them have been through, but spirits is high and his friend and expedition partner Mike Horn is in much better than a couple of days ago.

At this moment they’re setting up their tent and establishing their camp.

“I’ll give you the details later. There’s a long list of people that I have promised to call. And I’ll soon send some more photos.”

Well, we congratulate them – hoping they will also have time for a good, relaxed dinner. Rumour has it that they have been saving their victory cake for a very long time, and it is high time to thaw it! Tomorrow will be a well-deserved day of rest – their first in more than a month.

Yes, we have reached N89°48’39”, E87°25’34” – and I have good news! Mike’s medicine has started worked; he’s far better today. He was fatigued this morning, but he is definitely improving. We’ve put him on a double dose of medication, so everything is looking good here.

The pains I had in my foot are gone now. My short skis are working well and holding together; there’s no change there. I have many good thoughts, especially now that my friend feels better. I think it’s great to be up here – and I am really looking forward to finishing this journey while enjoying the light of the midnight sun. It’s here now.

We have 21 km to go, and we’re both extremely motivated for the final stretch. Tomorrow we’re looking toward the North Pole – there isn’t much else to say.

We’re following our routine, sleeping soon and waking up at our normal time tomorrow. Then we’re pushing for the Pole on what we expect to be the last day. The weather has already changed; the wind is blowing from the Northwest, so we’ll probably drift a bit back tonight. But we put 25 km behind us today too after walking for 11 hours – so everything is looking good.

We’ll talk more tomorrow, hopefully from the North Pole.

These enthusiastic students send greetings and best wishes to Mike and Børge before their final stretch! The class at West Sound Academy, Poulsbo in Washington state, and their teacher Julie Snyder, have been following every step of the expedition as a project.

Our position is N89°35’19”, E79°37’51”. We have walked 25 km, but our situation is unchanged – Mike is in very poor condition. The day before yesterday was his worst on the expedition, and yesterday was even worse. Today has been a bit more stable.

It seems that the total strain on his body has been excessive. Well over a month ago he got frostbite and infections in his hands, and soon afterwards a lot of pus came out of his thumb. After that he has been chilled and frozen several times. His nails are cracked and his hands do not look good. All this and the incredible exertion of walking 10–12 hours a day has surely taken its toll. It’s a month ago since we had our last day of rest. The result seems to be that he now has a general infection in his body. He is very run down due to the infection and is barely hanging together.

We really do need a day of rest. The problem is that already on Thursday the weather is changing and we’ll be getting northeasterly winds, and from Friday and through next week the forecast is strong northwesterly wind – that’s the worst direction. We simply don’t think we stand much of a chance walking against that wind and would probably just drift backwards. So our only chance to reach the Pole is to continue walking and get it over in the next few days. Fortunately, we only have about 45 km to go.

We have talked about this thoroughly, and it is, of course, entirely Mike’s decision how much he wants to press himself. I have time and again repeated that the most important thing is our health. But he insists on not giving up and is dead set on continuing. The only question is whether his body is willing. We’re taking it one day at a time.

Today we have managed to continue. Mike is taking a double dose of antibiotics – and we just have to hope that the medication works. His symptoms indicate internal problems. He is tired, greatly fatigued, is suffering from nausea and stomach cramps. Last night he was unable to eat and simply had to throw it away before freezing… He has problems with… hasn’t vomited yet, but he has to stop now and again when we walk because of his cramps. It’s rough for him and he is clearly suffering.

On the other hand, Mike has an iron will and is extremely motivated to finish this journey. I am doing everything I can to help him, making sure that he rests and sleeps as much as possible. We can only cross our fingers and hope that we can make the final, obviously demanding stretch. Our challenges are not over yet, but I am convinced that we’re gong to make it.

Otherwise conditions have been stable today; the ice has been more or less the same today. Temperatures have been about –28°C and the winds calm. Today the tent poles snapped once again, just suddenly. We are extremely careful, knowing the materials have proven to be very fragile in these Arctic conditions. We were setting up the tent when we just heard a small explosion, and the tent pole snapped in three places all at once. The tent itself is great, it’s incredibly good – it’s our home, it’s spacious and we love it. There is, however, something very wrong with the tent pole materials. We can only hope…

Yes, here I am again – or more precisely at N89°21’26”, E79°05’25”. From here it is 71.8 km to the North Pole. We walked 25 km today and in this respect we have had a good day.

We thought our surprises were over – but this morning we woke up to a truly magnificent sight! Suddenly the sun seemed much brighter; we saw it in a completely different light, so to speak. There were shadows that hadn’t been there before. We started wondering if what we thought was a glimpse of the sun the last few days, wasn’t that at all – merely an illusion created by sunlight bending over the horizon. We know that happens at the North Pole a few days before the sun really comes up.

Well, we’re close to the North Pole, but there is still a ways to go, so we suppose it’s only natural that it rises here a little earlier than at N90°. The sun sure looked different today. Suddenly there were true shadows and a terrific play of light on the ice. It gave us a real burst of renewed energy to see our surroundings in a whole new way, with real sunlight, instead of the muted pastel landscape that we have been walking in the last few weeks.

As I’ve been walking today, I have been recapitulating our journey. There are many great feelings. Today has been a good day with regards to conditions, and skiing has not been too difficult.

My friend, however, is quite ill. Rather than getting better, Mike feels worse, having had one of his roughest days ever. He almost never gets sick and can hardly remember the last time. Today we put him on antibiotics. In addition, we have contact with a physician to find out if there is anything else that should be done. Be assured that we’re doing everything we can right here. I have taken some of the weight from Mikes sled and have taken over the various and sundry tasks that need doing, in order to make it more manageable for Mike. Naturally we’re evaluating the situation continually. He is suffering; there is something wrong with his entire system. And that is a real pity.

Yes, today we reached 89th latitude with a good margin – the golden latitude! – and our position now is N89°07’55”, E78°49’41”. After walking 26 km today we have 97 km to go. It’s been a good day, for me, with good ice, even though we have felt the grip of the strong wind from east-northeast. We’ve had alternating white-out and sun. Never seemed like it wanted to go down – the sun has followed us along the horizon.

The ski repairs that I did last night have worked well. Finally! They’re half a metre shorter now. That’s definitely a disadvantage when there’s a white-out, because long skis work like elongated sensor, letting you feel the terrain in front of you. With these short skis, it’s more like I’m stumbling ahead, partly blind – I can’t even see the tips of the skis below my facemask. But I’ll manage, and I think they’ll last all the way in. There are just a few days left.

Much worse is the fact that Mike has had real problems with his body today. He’s been a bit troubled for several days, but today it was really bad – one of his worst days on this journey. Mike has been tired and nauseous, warm and cold and then warm again, and his kidneys and stomach hurt. We suspected a fuel leakage inside his pulk, and that it may have contaminated some of his food. However, we really don’t know; we can’t smell any stray fuel in the pulk – but one way or another he got something in his body that he shouldn’t have.

That’s why it’s been a tough day for Mike. I suggested that we camp early, but he insisted on continuing. He’s made of tough stuff and endured the entire day – without any significant decrease in pace.

So, that is our story: It’s been good for me, terribly tough for Mike. We hope we find the cause of his ailments. In the meantime he can eat as much of my food as he wants. We have more than enough.

Mike and I have had a really good day! We have walked 31 km and drifted 5 km last night, putting a distance of 36 km between the two camps. That leaves 124 km to go before we reach the North Pole. Tonight’s position is N88°53’19”, E80°14’47”.

The wind has come from the east and the ice continues to drift northwards. The ice is really moving fast – it’s amazing how much conditions can change from one day to the next. The drift has certainly been useful and it seems to have closed the leads. Ice conditions have been excellent.

We enjoyed the company of the sun for four hours today. For a while it was completely over the horizon, before slowly sinking sideways just below. It’s light round-the-clock now.

Temperatures have been around –28°C, with an easterly wind of 7–8 metres per second. That has made it a bit chilly, but we really haven’t had any problems, and we continued walking at a nice even pace for 10 hours. Tonight the winds have calmed completely.

I wasn’t satisfied with the ski repairs that I did last night, and saw the need for some improvements. Anyways, I’ve been at it a couple of hours now, making the adjustments I want. I have doubled the skis with the sections that I sawed off the back, screwed and bolted them together as best I can, before refastening the bindings. Now they’re twice as thick, much stronger, and really should last all the way to the North Pole.

We’re not far away from 89th degree latitude. We’ll reach that tomorrow.