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.

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.