We have arrived at the Russian Ice Camp in Barneo, around 40 miles from the pole, and already the setbacks seem to be mounting already.
We flew in on an Antonov 74 aircraft which is a combined passenger / cargo aircraft that is designed to take off and land on small runways, just like the temporary ice runway that is constructed at the camp every year.
The plane landed into an unusually fierce gale-force snow storm which has already caused delays to our final push towards the pole. At the moment, there is little that we or any of the other expeditions can do other than to simply sit out the storm and check the weather forecasts for regular updates. We’re expecting to be stuck here for a couple of days however.
Our expedition isn’t helped by the fact that the ice station is also expected to drift away from the pole in the coming days. At the moment, we’re at 89° 22′ 00″ but the ice that the camp sits on is constantly shifting. It had previously drifted towards the pole but in the coming days, it is fully expected to drift east, taking us further from our ultimate goal.
Nevertheless, the team are in high spirits. There is a communal area at the ice camp, which we are on the edge of, and we are getting on well with the other expedition teams. One of the groups is a BBC film crew with Sir David Attenborough whilst the other is a team of around 20 super-fit marathon runners. They have come from all over the world to take part in the annual North Pole marathon. The idea of running a marathon in these conditions all seems extremely surreal but I’m told that some runners can complete the event in around four hours (although some can take as much as 12 hours).
For the time being, it is simply a case of trying to kill time and re-evaluate the weather situation to see when we can finally start the big push. The weather forecast for the coming days is promising, so here’s hoping that we can start making some real progress.
I have to say a big thank-you to everybody who has donated to my two charities so far and if you would like to donate to either cause, please visit my JustGiving pages at:
http://www.justgiving.com/DavidNewmanNorthPoleRiders
http://www.justgiving.com/DavidNewmanNorthPoleBASIC
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From Sean Casey:
Good Luck. That sounds like one hell of a challenge! Furthermore, to be competing against a 15 year old certainly sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you. Once again, Good, Good Luck!!