Saturday 20 April 2013

North Pole

Despite my best efforts it has just been to cold and too damp in the tent to dry my liners properly but they are at least warm so I decide to chance them - they should be fine as long as we don't spend too much time standing around!

We make good time for the first few hours and then spot some tents up ahead. They seem too close to be at the pole or to have drifted away overnight but so near to it as to make no sense stopping there so something must be up. It turns out that one of the Chinese team was fiddling with their bindings whilst standing on a frozen over lead - not always the best of ideas! The inevitable happened and he too took a dip and so they had to stop to get him dry and warm.
We greet the Chinese team and then shoot on for the last two nautical miles and get to the pole. It turns out to be a pretty comical finish as it is difficult to find an exact spot via GPS and so there was a few minutes of walking in circles over a 10m squared patch of ice until the coordinates converged to cheers and photographs.

 
 

Very shortly after, and this is a matter of minutes, we started getting cold and then a couple of minutes later really cold and it only got worse whilst we put the tents up. This was a mixture of the temperature dropping down to -35c, a strong icy wind that had built up and the number of stops we had over the last hour or so.
I tried to light our stove but needed to refill the fuel which was neither fun nor easy with my hands in such a state and managed to get a couple of ice burns for my troubles. It also took quite a time to get my boots off as given all the stops, my liners has started to freeze solid. Just a couple of examples of how tough things can suddenly get in this environment when you switch off!


Even once we were all in our tents it was still so cold that some people ended up getting into their sleeping bags. Finally, this and a hot dinner did the trick and some life came back to the camp and we went outside to celebrate when the Chinese team arrived - a crate with some wine and vodka had been dropped nearby by a helicopter from Barneo!








From then on it was back to our tent for Usukhu's birthday party and further celebrations with a wide range of drinks, music and conversations. Guy excelled yet again by whipping up pizza bagels and tortillas for everyone. We had the whole of our group and various guests in our tent which meant lying on top of each other but that just made it more convivial and perhaps more importantly warm!



A cracking night was had by all but judging by the state of our tent (I am impressed it is still standing given the number of less than graceful entrances and exits it suffered during the course of the evening) and the silence from the rest of the camp given that I am writing this at 10am on the morning after, today could be a low key affair.




The plan is to head back to Barneo once the dog sled team arrives and then back to Longyearbyen if the plane is available or stay another night there if not and back tomorrow for our last night before heading home.

We take a few photos on short forays from the warmth of the tents and play a bit of frisbee



but the afternoon brings on the same cold spell as yesterday and we retreat to sleeping bags to keep warm.

The dog team finally come in at about 6pm and so the choppers are to come at about 8 to take us to Barneo.



Good fun loading the chopper with the dogs and then sharing the cramped space with them again. All sorts of drinks being passed round on the trip back - especially Aquavit. It turns out that Barneo has been pretty much dismantled so no food, mess tent or sleeping tents await us. However, even though we are about 80miles from the pole it is significantly warmer here so spirits are raised. Have a quick drink with the Russian pilots in the only tent remaining.

Obviously, next am a large storm has come in and although it is not that cold (only -25 or so) it is very windy so there is concern as to whether the plane will be able to land or not. However all the Russians are heading out today - quite a few will be on our plane - so they are almost certain to land and take off. Not too sure if that is a good thing!

Nevertheless we pack up to make sure that we are ready to go - especially if there is only a short weather window. The wind has abated a bit by the time the plane comes in and many of us lend a hand to the packing effort of getting 20 sledges, 3 large dog sleds, 18 dogs and a whole heap of Barneo kit into the plane as quickly as possible. Almost typically, just as we have finished one of the Russians turns up with a tractor pulling a large amount of stuff which he wants loaded - a large row breaks out as he is both insistent and also unconcerned by the fact that the plane is already full. Eventually we are asked to get on and so it is not quite clear what happened...
There aren't enough seats on the plans but from somewhere a couple of camp chairs appear and then a few of Barneo staff join us in the back of the plane as the cockpit and tiny passage to the main door are full of people and gear. With all of this the crew don't even bother with the cursory and comical safety instructions as on the way up.
Back to Longyearbyen for a last group meal and then off to the airport in the morning to catch flights home.



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