Børge Ousland

Pick-up with ceremony at the North Pole

Barneo, Wednesday: They arrived safely at Barneo and are now enjoying the Russian facilities. A warm, big tent, chairs and food. And it would surprise us greatly if they didn’t down a shot of Vodka or two. – The Russians do know how to keep warm…

The flight back to Svalbard is due to arrive around 19:00 and they hope to be back to Longyearbyen around 22.00.

So long!

Homing in on the North Pole

Camp 6, Tuesday: They reached the North Pole last night at 23.15! After a staggering 14 hours on skis they could camp at the very top of our Globe!

The day was stunningly beautiful, but shockingly cold. With gusts from Northeast and nearly -30°C they had to hide behind full facemasks and was iced down like snowmen.

The ice was eventful with every type of hindrance, lost of pack ice, 2 big leads were they had to get the swimsuit out to cross and on huge lead that diverted them for 2 hours before finding a safe place to cross.

But they all showed phenomenal stamina and was richly rewarded as they reached their goal. The report this morning describes a very tired, but very happy lot. Børge is very pleased with both strength and spirit. Very impressed indeed!

Now they are waiting out in the tent. The plan is that they will be picked up in a few hours and flown back to Barneo base. And the hope is that they will reach a plane back to Longyearbyen this evening!

So, with a bit of luck, the first shower is around the corner, – and then they will be power up their mobile phones… So start bombing them with ‘hurrah’ sms messages!

Stay tuned, we will keep you updated!

Physically and mentally on the top (of the Globe)

Camp 5, Monday: Again they did 19 km. But today it did not come without hard work.

From the outset the wind came from North-East and made life pretty cold. But more worrying was a severe drift towards South! It was painfully slow going through very rough ice with lots and lots of leads. Most of them were in North-South direction and no problem, but a few were wide. At one point they even took out the diving suit and they swam 20 metres with sledges and all to the other side.

Very exciting stuff!

But the first half of the day it was like going the wrong way on a rolling carpet. Then the wind died and the drift stopped. And late in the afternoon the drift started again but this time towards North!

Crazy. But camping at 89°41N / 132°E they were happy and now they are very much focused on what the ice will do tomorrow. Play ball or trip them?

Camp 4, Sunday: They did 19km today and conclude 3 days of amazing regularity. Today they were out in 9 hours and really had to stretch themselves. They did all take turn in working the compass and leading the way.

And that was not easy. The ice today was dramatic and that had to make some very fast and decisive decisions.

A couple of times some of them even had a foot in the water, but gain they camped super satisfied and full of adrenaline.

The camp tonight is at 89°32,34N / 138°E, so about 1/3^rd of the distance is behind them.

Here they fight pack ice and Rodolphe crossing very thin ice by use of sledges.

Camp 3, Saturday: A great day. The mood in camp was upbeat as they covered 19 km towards the North Pole. And that was in quite exciting ice.

They crossed a lot of leads today, some open and so wide they had to use the sledges as a bridge, some were newly frozen and they had to tip-toe over. On top of that most of the day was on one-year-old ice that had in places had build up into formidable pressure ridges. In a few placed they were still packing and they could hear the agonising rumbling if the ice crushing and building.

Very impressive stuff.

The weather has been great, though cold and windy. They drifted 5km west last night, and the drift continued throughout the day. But towards the evening it all calmed down and they had a great evening in the warmth of the tent. The only mishap was that Chris had broken a piece off one tooth (not unusual in the cold). But so far that was no worries.

The camp was at 89°22,39N / 141°E

Camp 2, Friday: The first full day is behind them, and they are very pleased. All have done well, and tackled quite varied and exiting ice. lots of pressure ridges, but only very little open ice.

The wind has been bitterly cold and from East-North-East. That had given them a mostly westerly drift with a touch towards the north. That means they camped at 89°12,30N / 146°50E – about 18km nearer to the Pole.

That must be considered very good! But they need good progress to have a chance to get there. Only one team has managed to reach the North Pole so far this year as there are lots of drift and tough conditions, so everybody is fighting up there now (one man was even evacuated this morning after a bad fall through the ice). The next days will give us a clearer picture of their chance to get there.

Now they are in the tent and getting ready for a good sleep before getting up tomorrow morning.

Breaking camp this morning, and Chris fighting the pack ice.

Thursday (still): Everything has gone according to plan. The flight out to Barneo was smooth, though spectacular. To land with a jet on a sheet of floating ice sounds more like a plot for a disaster movie. – But all went well. And they marvelled at being in such a wild place.

Later in the day the helicopter took them to the starting point. The low flight was a real eye opener to what is facing them over the next days.

After landing at 19:00, they put on the skis and started off. The first day was just a 1,5 hour test to see that all is ok, and get accustomed to pulling sledges etc. They cane across several leads, some with open water but most newly frozen. The wind but dying down and the ice drift was westerly, so they were very happy with the conditions.

Now they are well in the tent, having just crossed into the 89th degree North, 89°01,26N / 150°E to be precise.

A very good night from the happy campers!

The Antonov 74 has just landed on the ice, and the helicopter is leaving them all to themselves in the Polar sea.

Thursday: Børge called inn this morning and told they were on their way to the airport. And 09:20 they sat on the plane!

That was about time. Because the volcano cloud from Island is homing in on the Svalbard region. So another delay could have been long!

The wind has died down up there, and conditions seem good. The plan is to land up on the ice runway at the icesheet were the Barneo base is. Hopefully they can get the helicopter to fly them straight out to their starting point this evening.

We’ll find out!

All set. Here are the guys loading the sledges into a taxi to head off to the airport.

Wednesday: The wind did not die out, and our friends stayed in to Longyearbyen. They were on standby all day till 15:00. That means they have to stay put at the hotel and be ready to depart at short notice.

Then at 15:00 the message was that next update would be tomorrow at 07:00.

On the bright side can be noted that they have managed to delay their return date from the North Pole by 2 days. That is very good news, because they want to go all the way, AND get there.

So, all in all, the spirit is high and all spear fingers not holding onto a glass (this evening) is crossed.

Stay tuned!

Enegetic - having trained for months, this was day 1...

Tuesday: All went as planned and they all checked in at the Longyearbyen Airport. But then time passed and after some hours they were informed that the flight was delayed due to too much wind in the Arctic sea.

This is not the random excuse, though. All travel in this totally isolated area, with absolutely no infra structure at all, is just for the very experienced. You do not take risks at all. So – in a way a delay is reensuring even though it is a bit enjoying as you are gearing yourself up for the start of the trip.

They went back to town for a big lunch and is now kicking their heals waiting for the next update.

We’ll keep you posted!

LATEST: No flying today. Better luck tomorrow!

Dinner with the Webers! They weere waiting for husband and 2 sons closing in on the North Pole