Børge Ousland

We have landed in Tromsø in Northern Norway. There is an airline strike – but fortunately our aeroplane is one of the ones that continues its flight. Everything is according to plan. We’re landing in Oslo a bit past 7pm; looking forward to that.

Finally! Today we left Ice Station Borneo. Even though it was lousy weather all night, our meteorologist in Switzerland, Hans Ambühl – the same guy who provided us with weather reports during our expedition – said there should be a short spell of good weather in the middle of the day. And he was right! So at 12 noon the aeroplane landed, with our families, many friends and sponsors. It was really fantastic to be surrounded by friends and loved ones, a truly wonderful conclusion to our journey. And not least – a while later, it was great to set our feet on firm soil, in Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen.

I assure you we’re two overjoyed Arctic explorers. And we had our first shower. Incredible to let warm water flow over a body that hasn’t felt water for 71 days. That’s one of the greatest pleasures in coming here now. Tonight we’re celebrating in one of the better restaurants here in Longyearbyen. Tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, we’re landing on the Norwegian mainland – my family and I returning to Oslo, Mike and his family continuing to Switzerland.

I want to once again thank everyone who has followed our expedition, supported our efforts and sent us their good thoughts.

Bad weather prevented the aeroplane from coming to Ice Station Borne, N89?33’. That’s bad news for us – we were really looking forward to going home. Right now it’s snowing and there is an 8-metre per second westerly wind. The aeroplane has no chance of landing on the ice under such weather conditions. But our Swiss meteorologist tells us there should be an opportunity tomorrow.

It feels like we’ve been waiting here a long time. Very boring, of course, but it shows once again that nature runs this show. We just have to be patient; that’s a key requirement for expedition life.

Here is a brief report, nothing dramatic. We both have a job now – drilling for water. I’ll explain that. We’re working on the runway at Ice Station Borneo. The shafts on the tractor that was doing the job are broken, so it all has to be done by hand. The spare parts are being flown in tonight, along with fuel for the helicopters, and dropped by parachute.

We have been promised that the airdrop will also include our package. All that great food we’ve been waiting for will arrive tonight. It’s a bit close to the date we’re going home; Mike and I wish we had more time to munch and enjoy the delicacies, snacks and tasty tidbits – but I guarantee you that it will be a feast!

Like I said, we’re helping on the runway. The holes and bumps need to be even out to ensure a safe landing. Here is how it’s done: With an ice drill we makes holes all the way through the 1.5–2 metre thick ice. Since the immense weight of the ice is pressing down on the sea, seawater is pushed up through these holes. The water flows out, fills all the holes and cracks, and freezes to a nice even surface. We have no pump here at Borneo, so that’s why we’re drilling for water.

We still have a ways to go – the runway is about one kilometre long. But it will all be ready for the aeroplane that’s landing Monday night, to pick us up and carry us homeward.

That’s our report from Ice Station Borneo, just over 50 km from the North Pole.