It is around 20:00 on Thursday evening and it has been a very good day as we have broken from the base camp in Barneo and started the challenge to the Geographic North Pole.
The storms were expected to rage on for a few more days but they subsided in the morning which meant that we could get going just after noon. The helicopters were flying out of Barneo although the plane was still grounded. Nevertheless, we were able to get out on the ice by around 12:05 which is a big relief for all of us.
We undertook a solid seven hour walk once we eventually got out onto the ice, climbing across various pieces of ice rubble and ice pans.
One thing that has struck us whilst we have been walking is just how mild conditions are at the moment. Temperatures are currently hovering between -10° and -3° – unheard of in this part of the world at this time of year. Rune our leader has never known it to be this mild.
The mildness does however leave us open to the risk of open water and we encountered that for the first time just 3 hours outside of Barneo. We eventually made our way around this after finding a snow bridge that was long enough to cover the gap.
We are now at camp, out on the Arctic ice pans surrounded by ice rubble, with the team firing up the heater for this evening’s supper.
Overall, after 7 hours of solid walking, it can be quite disheartening to realise that we’ve made just 4km net progress. There is a notable ice drift towards the east which means that we are only at 89° 19′ 34”. To put that in perspective, we were at 89’27”00 when we first landed in Barneo, giving us a real challenge over the next eight days or so.
It is likely to be another few days before I call in my next podcast so I would like to make a special mention to my daughter Chloe who celebrates her 16th birthday on Friday. I’m really sorry I won’t be there to celebrate with you Chloe but rest assured that I’ll be thinking about you, I hope you have a great day and I’ll see you when I get back.
I again 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 and http://www.justgiving.com/DavidNewmanNorthPoleBASIC
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From Jools Scholes:
Take care! That snow bridge looks scary! Please send my love to Mike – I hope you are all enjoying the challenge – everyone is thinking of you at home
Happy birthday Chloe
Jools
From Mike Roe:
Good luck Paul, Alice and the whole team from everyone at Footdown, particularly the Bath Fifteen. Go guys!
From Gerry Holland:
Good luck to Paul and Alice. We’re trackin’ ya!!
From Nana and Baba (the Outlaws)
From Vodka Warrington:
Please pass on my bext wishes to Father Abraham aka the Reverend aka Mike Scholes.
He’s missing the best ballooning weather of the year so far back home. Off for my 3rd flight of the weekend soon.
Good luck. I’ll know you’ll keep on keeping on and on and on..but he does shut up sometimes
best wishes to all
Ian Vodka Warrington
From Robin Bloor:
David, Good luck & best wishes to you and all your colleagues from Robin, Bonny, Christopher ( in abscence) & Charlotte. Watch out for the bears!
From Vivienne Newman:
I do not like the look of that snow bridge – go the long way round David.
Hope all is well. xx
From Julia Mewes:
Good luck to you all, especially Mike Scholes: make sure you come back with all your fingers & toes!
Much love, & well done!
From Lynn Harris:
That ice bridge looks…errr….interesting! Good luck David on this amazing journey. Lynn