Saturday 27& Sunday 28 April (day 62 & 63) :
Latest scenario (Sunday 11 am)
The arrangements for picking-up the two men have changed yet again since yesterday.
An MI 8 helicopter will leave tomorrow about noon with a cameraman on board for Chelyushkin (3 hours' flight) then will fly approximately 300 km (2 hours' flight) to drop fuel, and where the cameraman will remain on standby. Then the MI 8 will fly back to Chelyushkin.
During that time, an Antonov 2 will take off tonight from the Barneo base, and then land in Stredny and wait for the MI to drop the fuel. Then it will take off from Stredny tomorrow at around 3 p.m. to fly the approximately 750-800 km to the Compaq Pole II camp (approximately 4 to 6 hours' flight). On this subject, Dixie and Alain have found an excellent runway that they will mark out tomorrow to facilitate the landing of the single-engined plan. Landing is scheduled for around 9 p.m. (expedition time, or 2 p.m. in Brussels).
On its way back, the Antonov 2 will refuel at the dump, and pick up the cameraman at the same time. The team's return is planned for Tuesday at around 3 a.m. at Khatanga (Monday 9 p.m., Brussels time). The team should be back in Brussels on 2 May at 1 p.m.
Friday 26 April (day 61) : It'll be on Sunday…
For the latest news coming from Katanga via Paris, it seems that we are moving towards a flight with only one helicopter (MID 8) from Khatanga, as the other two available civil helicopters are still at the Barneo base, blocked by bad weather.
The flight will be leaving Khatanga on Sunday morning, and will need ten to twelve hours of flying time to accomplish the operation. And this, according to the diagram indicated on our map of the return, with a deposit of fuel made an hour or two from Tchelyouschkine. In this case, Dixie Dansercoer and Alain Hubert will probably be back in Belgium by Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. We will of course keep visitors informed throughout the weekend.
Tuesday 23 April (day 58) : The explorers are waiting…
Much discussion and questions, one suspects, about the way in which the team will be picked up on the ice. According to the latest information received, it seems that operating from Stredny-Arktichewski is too risky - too many leads (stretches of open water) both for parachuting fuel and for landing the Antonov 2.
So another solution has to be found. Which is why the people in charge of Cepolex are currently talking to the Russian pilots in Katanga about a possible flight, by helicopter this time, between Tiksi and the place where the expedition is to be found, according to the latest news, and why no decision has yet been taken. And all the more so as Alain and Dixie have just today found a gigantic sheet of ice, sufficiently long and thick to enable an Antonov 2 to land; it is a new piece of information that must from now on be taken into account for any future decision.
From today, the men have in any case decided to remain on the spot and to see how things turn out. It is -18°C, but it still feels cold because of a south-easterly wind blowing at about 20 mph.
Sunday 21 April (day 56) : Searching for a landing strip…
For three days now, Alain and Dixie have changed course, having no other alternative since the announcement that no recovery from the North Pole would be possible after mid-May. They are therefore heading northwest and moving towards Cape Arktichewski and Stredny Island (see our map of the return leg) from which the Antonov 2 will be leaving to look for them on the ice. 
What are the unknowns and risks of this recovery?
1. The Russian single-engine aircraft Antonov 2 has a range of only 1,200 km, when loaded to the full (with fuel barrels) and the additional weight to be carried is of no great importance. As far as this last point is concerned, no problem: the sledges weigh no more than a hundred kilos or so and the two men have lost a lot of weight, especially Alain.
But they are too far from Cape Arktichewski; indeed, the men are still 820km from Stredny-Arktichewski at this time and they obviously cannot make the sufficient mileage that would avoid a fuel deposit having to be made, in view of the conditions of the ground encountered these last days (worse than ever, they say). A small fuel deposit will therefore have to be made on the ice somewhere between the place of take-off and the place where the expedition will be on that particular day. This deposit will not be made on terra firma (which would have been the best solution) but on pack ice, which, as has been seen, is worse than unpredictable this year.
2. The Antonov 2 must have a 300m-length of ice to be able to set down its skis; the landing surface must in addition be as naturally flat as possible and the ice must be at least 60cm thick. However, since they changed course, Alain and Dixie have been noticing that the ice too is getting thinner - today, this evening, they are camping on new ice that is 30cm thick. Too thin for any possible landing.
3. Since they left Cape Anisiy, on 25 February, they have not yet come across ground that would be suitable for an Antonov 2 landing: we must hope that they find some, and of course pretty soon.
We are of course talking here about the optimal conditions for a pick up; but all specialists also know that the Russian aviators who work the Arctic pack ice are superb pilots who, in an emergency, are capable of amazing feats.
4. When is all this going to happen ? As soon as Cerpolex has the available machines. Because, for any operation of this kind, one needs the presence on the ground (here, on Stredny Island in fact) of an MI 8 helicopter which, on stand-by, could provide any possible support and assistance.
During the first days of this week, Cerpolex was still occupied with a major operation for the National Scientific Foundation (NSF), which is recovering probes placed on sea-beds at a depth of more than 4,000 metres (see this programme here). It is therefore only with effect from Wednesday or Thursday that the men of Compaq Pole II could be recovered. For two days, the men have been virtually going round in circles with a drift that is driving them crazy, pushing them at times to the East and at times to the West, and the mercury has again dropped to -30° C, the weather is set fair, but of course their hearts are no longer in it... And they still have to find a landing strip…
Friday 19 April (day 54) : They continue walking while HQ prepares the "Recovery" operation…
Due to the preparation of the operation for recovering Alain and Dixie, we are unable to provide a complete analysis of the situation today; we will write it during the weekend. Just some info therefore on the day's satellite (Iridium) slot; on top physical form and maintaining good morale despite having to give up, the two men continue to walk despite the odds (they know that they have to get as close as they can to Cape Arktichewski) in an atmosphere from another world (pack ice more chaotic than ever, gigantic blocks of ice as tall as cathedrals, etc.) and therefore have to move towards the place from which the Antonov 2 should be leaving, all being well, to pick them up next week...
Wednesday 17 April (day 52) : Two bits of bad news
Let's start with the first one: Alain and Dixie have not moved from their tent today. White out, zero visibility and wind from the Southwest all day blowing between 35 and 50 kph. Assessment: 20 km of drift to the East pushing the expedition by the same token a few kilometres to the South. Yesterday, they were 1,164 km from the Pole, this evening, the GPS counter reads 1,172 km... Not much to rejoice about.
Now the second one : Canadian company First Air (which picks up adventuring explorers at the North Pole if they stop their journey there) has just confirmed some news that we have been suspecting we might hear for some weeks now: this year, unlike other years, its Twin Otters based at Resolute Bay will not be able to pick up adventurers at the North Pole after mid-May, whereas usually the pick-up happens up to the beginning of June (sometimes up to mid-June). Why? Because, say First Air Canada, this spring, things are different. On the one hand, the weather is particularly lousy this year (-44°C around Ward Hunt in April, which is what the expeditions that have chosen this route have been experiencing in recent days, which is totally unprecedented); on the other hand, the previous winter was particularly warm, which had the direct consequence of breaking up and fragmenting the Arctic ice floe more than in the past. Landing after mid-May could prove far too dangerous; so no expeditions will be picked up after that period.
This is bad news for the expeditions which are trying to reach the North Pole in general, and for Compaq Pole II in particular.
For those who are attempting the journey from the Ward Hunt side, it is hard to see how they could complete the remaining 500 or 600 km, when they are moving at an average of 3 or 4 km per day, and they only have 30 days to reach the Pole. They would have to speed up to at least 20 km/day to succeed. Singapore's Khoo Swee Chiow (see our "Other expeditions / Live"section) is moving fast, but he is travelling light and is being re-supplied on several occasions. The other expeditions like the three British women or the Sjogrens, for example, have chosen to go it alone, and reaching an average of 20 km per day with the weight they are dragging and the terrain they are crossing is in the realms of Utopia. This is an opportunity to realise the difference between the effort required of expeditions who are travelling entirely unassisted, and those who are being re-supplied en route.
For Compaq Pole II, the situation is much more worrying. Because the men are having to reconsider the goal of their expedition yet again. After having dropped the idea of completing the crossing just a few days ago, they had defined a new objective, stopping at the Pole which they thought they could reach by the beginning of June. Which would have been possible if the conditions on the ground had improved, and in recent days, that had been the case.
But the news from First Air came like a bolt from the blue, and a new strategy is now required. Having been informed yesterday by HQ, Hubert and Dansercoer said they wanted time to think - after all, are we not living in a world where nothing is urgent?
Perhaps, but the factors that the two polar explorers have to take into account will remain inevitable. One: it is impossible for them (or virtually impossible) to reach the North Pole before 15-20 May. Two: the men only have 47 days' food supplies in their baggage. Three: as First Air will not pick up anybody beyond the North Pole, it will be French TO Cerpolex that will have to pick up the expedition. Four: Dixie and Alain want to continue heading north to go as far as possible, and it is hard to see them doing an about-turn towards Cape Anisiy, especially when the drift will be pushing them in the opposite direction to the way they would have to go. Five: Cerpolex, which sets up the Barneo tourist base near the North Pole each year (see our account last Friday), it usually closes it again in the first few days of May. That does not leave much time. Six: obviously the Cerpolex management will leave it as late as possible - in other words the end of April or early May depending on the programme of their clientele - before picking up Alain and Dixie. That is so that the two men can get as close to Barneo as possible during those two weeks, or any other point of departure of an aircraft or helicopter that is prepared to take them. But where will Alain and Dixie be at that time? At their present rate of progress, and even if they pull out all the stops, as they say, will they not be too far away from any airport for a recovery operation to be organised conveniently? It will have to be an MI 8 helicopter or a small Antonov (Twin Otter type plane), and those aircraft, which are the only ones that could pick up the two men, only have a range of 1200 km when they are full to bursting point. And it should not be overlooked that they will be making an outward and return journey. If the pick-up is beyond that distance away, it is a quite different operation that needs to be set up, with interim camps being set up, fuel dumps on the ice and of course, the risk of the drums disappearing into the a crevasse that suddenly appears, or not being able to land to refuel where the drums have been dropped, due to particularly broken ice, which is changing the terrain from day to day in the Arctic this year.
In other words, for the Compaq Pole II expedition, the cold sweats are far from over...
Sunday 14 April (day 49) : Their troubles aren't over…
Even though we hear their voices almost every day by satellite (Iridium), even though we regularly receive e-mails via iPaq, it is difficult really to imagine what these two exceptional athletes are experiencing.
Yesterday, we learned that, against wind and tide, they continued to advance (the call was short); today, we were able to receive the latest news of the pack ice in rather more detail.
Alain and Dixie are still ill; Alain has a stomach ulcer and the sore is giving him terrible pain - especially when he pulls the sledge. Dixie, for his part, did not sleep and spent almost the entire night vomiting - serious indigestion. "It seems to me that I made a mistake", Alain confided to me, "because for the sake of a few milligrams, always trying to eliminate weight, I slightly increased the fat content of our daily food during its preparation with Arnaud Tortel. I think that it is these small grams of nothing that have made all the difference these last few days. I was obviously wrong…" One should add to this small medical assessment, the feet (Alain's) that are covered with leaking skins (moisture in the shoes all the time) and a knee (Dixie's) that is not working very well either.
Pen in hand, the table of the incredible distances that can be seen to remain to be covered (this Sunday evening, they are still 1,178km from the Pole) and, especially, the unending reversals at the coal-face which for 50 days have marked out the route of their adventure (these started with eight days of delay at departure), one might expect that the two rogues would weaken, lose their morale, take advantage of their rest and decide that the comedy had gone on long enough...
Well, no : 24 hours of rest were all they needed and, in spite of their crippling pains, they decided to resume the daily yoke and to accomplish as much work as they possibly could. Walking, always walking, pulling sledges and no longer thinking of anything - the Zen Attitude. Before envisaging the most favourable outcome of the adventure. because of course we are already in mid-April - and the decision bell will soon be ringing.
Thus, yesterday, in spite of a North Wind that blew head on during their 7 hours of progression, making the temperatures that were already less than freezing plummet still further (- 38°C in the evenings), they covered 6km and, today, likewise; 12 kilometres in two days. Knowing that, if the wind had been southerly or south-easterly as it usually is in this region of the pack ice and at this time of year, they could have made more than 30 or 40km of progress - the ice becoming, as indicated by the maps of the Russian researchers and the forecasts resulting from the observation of the terrain, definitively flatter...
It is in such conditions that Compaq Pole II continues...
Friday 12 April (day 47) : Our two Belgians are seeking refuge
in the Zen Attitude...
A very short e-mail sent via iPaq (Compaq) at noon today, giving the day's position, a follow-up of a satellite message saying that they had indeed set out once more into that hellish pack ice and that Alain is better (no more stomach ache), but that they can't understand anything any more.
A drift that cost them at least 4km backwards today (8 km on the counter, whereas they had estimated that they had covered at least 12km), a North wind that prevented them from getting out their sails whereas, this time, the ground had never been so flat and unbroken since the beginning of their expedition. The cold which had its claws out, - 38° C this evening (7 hours time difference (+) between Brussels and the expedition), whereas it is already mid-April, the drift which goes in all directions, sometimes to the North, sometimes to the West, sometimes to the South... "But what the hell are we doing here?", Dixie shouted down the telephone… "It's crazy, everything's against us… We can't think of anything any more, we have only one choice, to seek refuge in the Zen Attitude…"
A ray of hope, however: the improvement of the ice that we noticed on the maps sent by our Russian friends (see our new close up map) is confirmed on the ground. It is well and truly effective. So, the miracle we're waiting for, will it come tomorrow ?
Wednesday 10 April (day 45) : No, they are not giving up ...
Contrary to announcements made in certain sections of the press, Alain and Dixie are far from giving up. It is true that they have had to re-define the objectives of their expedition and will continue to be disappointed about not having succeeded in making the crossing unassisted as originally planned. 
To announce that they are giving up when the men have been having such a hard time for 45 days, when they are determined to make every effort to use up their 100 days' worth of food and attempt to reach the North Pole, when they are walking 8 hours a day like madmen, and today, for example instead of taking a day off due to Alain catching a bad cold yesterday, they have decided to continue walking and doing their everyday tasks, just shows a complete lack of understanding of adventure. The two will continue to slog away. Day after day, step after step, problem after problem. The idea of calling for help and being picked up by the Cerpolex infrastructure has never even crossed their mind.
That eventuality is even less topical after what they told us about today, and comparing their information with what we have heard from St. Petersburg about the state of the terrain (see our news, click below). Ahead of them lie a few tens of kilometres of flat ice and very little hummocking. "If I had been feeling better", says Alain, "during the six hours when we were moving ahead today, we could have covered the whole distance using the kites, because the terrain was level enough. But with this cold, I didn't want to risk it. We still have a long way to go".
Some optimism then, cold temperatures once again (-30°C), discomfort in Alain's sleeping bag (last night, he could feel the ice sheet melting under his thighs!), 6 hours' walk, going 1.5 km backwards during the night (drift), fine weather, marvellous scenery. Alain has swollen glands, while Dixie is in fine form and helping his companion.
