JANUARY / FEBRUARY / MARCH

From their website

February 28, 2006 / Many steps add up
It has been another good day for Mike and me. We've walked 25 km today in ten hours – that's 28 km closer to the North Pole, taking into account last night's ice drift. We are really satisfied with that kind of progress! We had an easterly wind today, too, but not as annoying or biting cold as yesterday. –28°C is within our “comfort zone”, unless the wind factor make's life chillier. Fortunately the wind velocity stayed around 5 metres per second, and now it's died down completely. We wonder what tomorrow will bring.
We saw polar bear tracks today and yesterday, but they weren't fresh.

Tonight our position is N85°22'42”, E98°12'51”. The light is fantastic up here! It's bluish violet with a trace of red near the southern horizon. We only have to use our headlights in the morning and for a few hours in the evening. The rest of the time, there is enough light from the sky to navigate.
We see our surroundings well and the ice conditions are still really excellent. Perhaps a bit more chaotic and mixed, but we're making good headway. We still have about 515 km to go. We're going to bed now, hoping to wake to yet another good day tomorrow.

February 27, 2006 / Ten hours in ice-cold winds
It's been yet another good day for us. We're now well within 85 degrees latitude, with a position of N85°08', E99°01'. In 10 hours today we walked 26 km, and having drifted 4 km again last night, it adds up to 30 km of northerly progress.

Our friend the wind is also our enemy. It's been miserable today with the wind blowing from the east at 7–8 m per sec. Well, at least it isn't a headwind. The thermometer may show –28°C, but the wind chills the effective temperature far below that mark. It's dicey to keep our bodies warm enough when we're walking. Without the extra layer of underwear and double wind mittens that we put on this morning, we would have had to stop far earlier. Mike has had problems with his hands before, so he has to be really careful. His thumbs are pretty swollen now, but he's doing all right.
The ice conditions have been almost as good as they were yesterday, perhaps slightly more uneven. There are snowdrifts here and there that we have to climb up and down, and that takes a bit of extra time. But we're happy with the thick and stable ice.
We're feeling some trepidation in regards to the wind tomorrow. We are of course hoping it dies down a bit. The important thing, however, is that it doesn't turn into an unbearable northerly headwind.

February 26, 2006 / A wonderful day of 34 km
Today has truly been an exceptional day! In addition to walking 29 km since this morning, we were given 5 km northerly drift last night, bringing us all of 34 km closer to the North Pole. It just goes to show how quickly conditions can change out here. The GPS position off our camp is now N84°51'30”, E100°. We have every expectation of reaching 85 degrees latitude tomorrow – and it feels fantastic to now be making that kind of progress!
For the first time we feel that we're “within the North Pole”. What I mean by that is the ice is older and thicker and looks just like what I've seen near the pole itself on previous expeditions. Today we walked almost entirely on old ice, which was nice and even, 100–150 cm thick, and far more stable. Even that can break up and form open leads, but there is far less chance of bothersome pack ice. When we came upon small leads today, we simply found a way around them.

The temperature is now –20°C, as well as the wind factor due to the southeasterly wind of six–seven metres per second. We had a new accident this morning – it was the third time a tent pole snapped. That's really disappointing, it shouldn't happen, and it is no fun standing there fixing it in this cold.
There will be no more days of rest until we reach our goal – unless, of course, we have a serious accident or rough weather prevents us from leaving our tent. Time is short, and we really do have to press on as much as we possibly can! Today we walked 10.5 hours, yesterday 11 hours. And we've promised ourselves to walk at least 10 hours each day. That's fine, really; it's not as tiring to walk on good ice. The last few days I've been having problems with my digestion. The fat content has probably been too high, so in order to give me more variation, Mike and I are swapping half our lunches. I get some of his chocolate, while he is treated to oatmeal with fat and nuts. There is no distracting hunger, so we're obviously eating enough – and that's certainly an advantage when we're putting in long days on the ice.

We saw polar bear tracks today, several days old. Judging from their size it was a young bear. But those can actually be more dangerous. You encounter them where you don't expect, because they don't have the experience of older bears.
We're hoping the weather report will tell us that the southeasterly wind will continue. That should give us yet another good day tomorrow.

February 25, 2006 / A marathon day!
Today was quite a marathon. We walked for 11 hours, on excellent ice and a weak wind at our backs, so we decided to put in an extra couple of hours. The result was 25 km progress. Mike and I have decided to walk at least 10 hours a day in the weeks to come, and to press on even longer on good days. A simple calculation shows that we have to conquer one degree of latitude every six days, if we're to reach the North Pole before our food runs out. It's difficult to stretch our supplies beyond what we've already done – the “slimming program” that extended our food to a 70 day total. But we believe we can do it, we're sticking to our plan and pressing on every day. The margins are not exactly on our side, however, so those plans are very vulnerable to unforeseen developments.

Suddenly we notice how much lighter it is than just a week ago. We haven't had a chance to appreciate it because of the “white-out” with snow and poor visibility – but today it was perfectly clear in the middle of the day. The growing light showed itself full force and that really felt wonderful!
The terrain has made it easier to progress a good distance. We're walking on excellent ice, nice and even and flat, with little pack ice to slow us down. On the other hand, we have come to quite a few open leads today. The ice around us has been broken up the last few days' strong winds, but now they're once again quickly freezing closed.

This morning we crossed the widest lead of them all – more than half a kilometre wide! We donned our suits as a safety measure, and that was definitely a good idea. The thickness of the ice that had formed on the sea varied greatly, and several times it broke underneath us as we walked and crawled, pulling the pulks behind us with long ropes. It felt good to get that out of the way early in the morning. The rest of the leads presented no problems.
Well, that was today's report. We are happy to hear that so many people are following our journey – it inspires us to be able to share this great adventure.

February 24, 2006 / Mike resorts to pepper spray
Hi, it's me again. We're now at N84°20'12” and roughly E101°30'. Once again it's been a rather special day – and we started it with yet another accident. Mike was a tad bit careless and released pepper spray, which gave us a rather hilarious start. We thought we were going to die inside that tent!

Pepper spray is intended as a defence of last resort when you're standing eye to eye with a polar bear, and it's extremely effective. Well, it worked. Shortly after breakfast, our tent was suddenly full of it, and we could hardly breathe – we lay next to each our vent gasping for air, struggling to catch our breath. That episode certainly did get our blood circulation going.

The weather was borderline today, with 10–12 meter winds per second coming from northeast, and almost zero visibility in the snow. We decided to stay in the tent to see how things developed. I listened to the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, while Mike enjoyed his music. Around noon the wind had abated a bit – we packed our equipment and broke camp. It was still a miserable day. Even so, it did us good to get out of the tent. It is so easy to just remain there once you've settled into your sleeping bag. Hence it feels like an even greater victory when you get it together and brave the elements.

Our progress may not seem impressive: 4 km in 6 hours. That leaves our countdown at 632 km, since we drifted a bit south. In difficult conditions and reduced visibility, we crossed an average of one lead of seawater every hour. When they're covered with snow, they can be deadly. We have to always be scanning, looking left or right, trying to read the terrain. Sometimes a snowdrift will run straight across the water. But we managed to cross each lead safely.

At the end of our day, we came to a huge lead that was newly frozen and started walking. We were fine, but discovered that the ice was very varied, with patches of very thin, dangerous ice that looked almost the same as the thicker ice. Here and there the ice had cracked, and was obviously moving, forming pack ice a number of places. Mike and I decided it was best to withdraw, retreating several hundred metres onto solid ice. By tomorrow we expect the lead to have frozen, so that we can continue without taking undue risks.

The wind is supposed to come from a more southerly direction tomorrow, and the weather forecast calls for good weather the next few days. We don't mind it so much when the wind is at our backs.

Yesterday's incidents show how important it is to stick close together. I am always just behind or right in front of Mike. As soon as I saw him losing his balance at that second lead, I unhooked myself from my harness and came to his aid, helped him up, and fished his equipment out of the water – including a ski pole that was floating in the ice slush. To lose equipmen can almost be worse than getting wet. We have only one extra ski pole and one extra ski; if we lose two, we can be in serious trouble.

We're in the tent once again and our dinner is waiting for us. Tomorrow we're going to cross that lead.

February 23, 2006 / Mike falls through the ice!
Today has been far from a perfect day. We've had two very serious accidents. Before breaking camp this morning, we expressed that it would be another day of even progress, without any major surprises. But they came. The weather was poor, with an ice-cold breeze from the side, probably 10 or 12 meters per second, and almost no visibility.

We walked and made solid progress. Then suddenly Mike disappears through a snow-covered lead that he did not see. It looked white, just like everything else, under its snowy blanket. By the time he realized that there was only water and really thin ice. he had already lost his balance. He got his foot wet, but quickly managed to make onto firmer ice. We set up the tent in a hurry so could dry his foot and change socks.

In less than an hour, we were walking again. We pressed on for another five or six hours, until we came to one of many leads. It looked like a normal crossing point, and I made it across just fine, onto an ice floe that was perhaps ten square metres. When Mike tried to follow, the little ice floe slid forward, and he suddenly found himself with one foot on each side of a widening gap. He fell into the water to his waist and got really soaked. Fortunately, he grabbed the edge of the ice and pulled himself up, before rolling in the snow. That soaked up most of the water from his outer clothing, and he could just brush off the snow. His ice-cold underwear was a different story.

Once again I pitched the tent immediately. What saved us is that the temperature was fairly mild, only –15°C, otherwise this accident might have been far more serious. The rest of the day we've been drying clothes. With great success, I might add; they're almost dry, and he'll be able to wear them in the morning. We brought my reserve stove into the tent and hung everything up inside. The mittens were rinsed in freshwater to get rid of the salt before we dried them.

Well, we are 12 km closer to the North Pole, and have 637 km to go. Our position is N84°17'41”, E102°49'09”.

February 22, 2006 / Another day on great ice
Today has been another great day, no doubt about it. Mike and I have skied 21 km today. Last night we actually drifted 2 km south, as the wind became westerly. Fortunately it turned once again during the day, into a nice, even tailwind.

We're now 651 km from the North Pole, position N84°10'01”, E103°46'. The ice continues to be excellent, better than I can remember at this latitude – and that really helps us. Both of us are hoping that these conditions continue for a long time!

We are seeing more open leads. The ice obviously breaks up a bit in the shifting wind – and the wind is stronger than normal. But we're glad the leads are very narrow. Usually we're able to find a safe crossing point immediately nearby, although we did have to swim once today.

We have kept up a steady pace for 9.5 hours. First we walk 2.5 hours in one stretch early in the morning to put a bit of distance behind us, while our oatmeal breakfast is till giving us lots of energy. Then we pause for ten or twelve minutes, before taking turns leading, switching every 80 minutes. In the course of the day, we have five breaks.
I'm not so hungry as I was before the weekend. We're getting enough calories now. Everything is working really wall, and our routines function perfectly. Talk to you tomorrow!

February 21, 2006 / Børge and Mike reach N84°!
After a challenging day of heavy wind, we've reached N84°00'17”, E103°57'. All day we've had a 10 metre per hour wind at our back and have walked almost blindly. It's exhausting, because the whole time you're trying to distinguish features in the ice, trying desperately to discern the terrain. The ice has been very changeable and suddenly you're right on top of something. We must have crossed ten or fifteen open leads today – fortunately finding a way across or around them all, not having to swim once. But they are rather spooky, as they fill up with snow. If you're not paying attention, they can appear perfectly fine – before you suddenly step through snow floating on deep water.

Mike and I have been very careful and have managed well. Most of the day has been on young ice, a metre or so thick, which is very prone to movement. A number of times we've met fresh pack ice. But now we're once again on older ice, and here in our campsite it's far safer.

Since this morning, we have walked more than 20 km, but thanks to the northerly drift today and last night, we can chalk up a total of 27 km. It feels great to finally be making that kind of progress!

We are very tired after walking almost blindly for 9.5 hours. Now we're looking forward to a good night's sleep. Just finished our dinner.

February 20, 2006 / 700 km to go – in 40 days
Hi, this is Børge calling from N83°45'38”, E103°40'. We have walked 18 km since this morning and only drifted three kilometres south last night. Fortunately, the southerly drift seems to have stopped for now.

We made good distance in the 10 hours that we walked, putting in some extra time to cross an open lead at the end of the day. It was about 30 metres wide. We had to swim and break the ice, more or less using the pulks as battering rams and swimming behind them. It took us half an hour and was pretty exhausting. As we stood there on the other side looking back, we thought how strange it was that after almost exactly 9 hours, we've come to challenging leads each of the last three days out on the ice. This one, however, was narrower and much easier to cross.

The ice has been good to us today, and the weather relatively mild, only –20°C. The skis and pulks glide well. We can really feel the beneficial effect of taking the Sunday off; even though we had an exceptionally long day, we were not tired. And it helps with solid rations – we're no longer thinking about restaurants the whole time. All in all we're pleased with today's progress.

We needed that. The gruelling start of our expedition came as quite a shock to us, and really threw us off schedule. Nevertheless we never lost faith in our ability to reach our goal, and still believe we can reach the North Pole in winter. Time is short, however – and we have to cross 700 km of ice during the next 40 days. Of course there is always a risk of unforeseen incidents, but I am convinced we're going to make it.
Today we've been out on the ice for 30 days. Tomorrow we're pressing further north, closer to N84°.

February 19, 2006 / A day of music
It's been wonderful with a day of rest. We've really relaxed, eaten well and listened to music on our mp3-players. We have also taken the time for minor repairs on our pulks and skis. Today we sent you some new photographs via our satellite phone.

Outside, it is still snowing and there is a northerly wind, but it's not too cold and actually rather cosy inside our tent. Here we're stretching out and giving our muscles a break – that will give us a nice reserve of energy for the days to come. At the moment we're drifting quickly south and have returned to the latitude we were at a day and a half ago. Our position is now N83°36'18”, E103°14'41”.

Not far from us we can hear the sound of pack ice being formed, as the ice floes move hard against each other. That means the lead of open water is closing, and tonight it will continue to freeze. We don't anticipate any problems when we're ready to continue northwards tomorrow morning.

Today we changed the plastic bags that we use inside our sleeping bags. Those form an effective barrier against condensation; our sleeping bags remain perfectly dry. And all of our equipment stays nice and dry thanks to the precautions we're taking. We've developed a good system to control and prevent moisture. All is well with us at our campsite. Tomorrow we're looking forward to continuing with renewed energy

February 18, 2006 / Starting the day with a swim
Mike and I started our day with an invigorating swim. Even though the wide lead of open water beyond our camp had frozen during the night, new movement had opened a new lead of 20 m. After a short swim, we reached firm ice.

We've walked nine hours today on excellent ice. The air has been milky white, snowing and cloudy. The thermometer shows –23°C, which is pretty mild, but I assure the northwesterly wind gives a wind factor equalling a far colder temperature. We packed ourselves in with warm clothes and didn't have any problems.

The physical distance we've skied is more than 16 km, but our GPS reveals that our net progress is only 10 km. We are drifting 500 metres per hour south, due to the 5 m per second wind from northwest. Our weatherman tells us to expect two more days like this.
Tomorrow we're taking a day of rest, only our second since the expedition started four weeks ago. I think it's a good idea to take a break while the weather is miserable anyways – so this Sunday we're going to let our bodies rest and build up our reserves.

We're camped by a new lead that is at least 200 or 300 m wide. We can't really tell, because our headlights don't reach far enough to illuminate anything on the other side. Our GPS coordinates are N83°39'58”, E103°20'41”. With the strong southerly ice drift, I'm sure our position will be very different when we start walking again Monday morning.
Dinner is ready – a tasty lamb stew for me, while Mike is having cod with leeks, both dishes accompanied by mashed potatoes. I stick to meat, alternating between lamb, pork, reindeer and beef. The food is excellent, the high point of a hard day.

February 17, 2006 / Stopped by the sea
The sea stopped us today, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We woke up to a northerly wind and frost in the air. Despite a very reduced view, we walked on as far as we could – but after seven hours, we came to a wide lead. It was 200 metres to the other side. We searched out a narrow stretch and donned our waterproof suits as a safety measure, before walking out on the newly formed ice. Unfortunately it was too thin and broke underneath me after only 20 m – so we had to retreat to firmer ice.

We spent a long time following the lead of open water in both directions, in vain searching for a safe crossing point. After a couple of hours, we had to give up and set up camp near a spot where the lead was narrower. In the morning, we're hoping the ice will have frozen thick enough to carry us to the other side. Our position here is N83°36'37”, E103°22'25”.

This shortened day yielded 9 km, this time minus 2 km ice drift in the wrong direction. That's just how it is on some days – and today has been a bit miserable with the weather as well, walking head on into the wind. We do notice that it is more difficult to navigate now that the moon is gone. Morning and evening are dark, while there are a couple of hours of dim light in the middle of the day.

It's important for us to treasure our unique experience – and the changing light here surely deserves an Oscar for beautiful effects every day! It's not all toil; we lift our heads and truly appreciate what surrounds us.

February 16, 2006 / With a reddish sky behind us
The position here is N83°32'30”, E103°09'24”. We have walked 16 km today, and strong winds last night gave us another 5 km of northerly progression. Fortunately the wind calmed down considerably by the time we started walking. The weather forecast is a more northerly wind, but we're hoping the meteorologist is mistaken. Right now it's completely calm, no wind howling over the tent.

The ice was a bit rougher during the first part of the day, giving way to flat, wide-open surfaces this afternoon. We're walking mostly on older ice, formed last year, which is far more stable then the ice we saw earlier. There haven't been any signs of ice movement or open leads today either – and that's a great advantage for us.

The moon is gone now. It gets dark early. But there are a couple of hours in the middle of the day with extraordinary light. It's quite a show! The southern horizon is gorgeous with a tinge of reddish orange, and somewhere below it the sun is waiting for us.

We've put in a good day and are exhausted after our nine hours on ice and snow. That is about as much as we can manage, seeing the extent of our chores in the morning and evening. In a couple of days, we're planning to grab a day of rest – it will soon have been 14 days since our last one. It's going to be great to just stretch out our bodies, relax and get some extra sleep. And for that we'll be rewarded when we continue our journey.

Before that, however, we're looking forward to normal rations. I'm getting very hungry and keep thinking about restaurants and tasty dinners that I've enjoyed through the years. It's going to be a relief to eat a normal meal; but I've saved up my three extra day rations. That way we have the option of spending a few extra days out here, extending our expedition to 70 days. We now have 41 days of food left and 721 km to go. If we reach our goal in the month of March, we'll still be the first ones to walk to the North Pole in winter.

February 15, 2006 : Best day yet!
After a fantastic day, we have reached N83°21'33”, E104°07'03”. I can't remember seeing such good conditions – almost completely level, with only a few walls of block ice where the large ice floes have collided. The ice is thick and firm. All day we've been helped by a tail wind, northeasterly and 7–8 metres per second. Since this morning we've walked 24 km, and if we include the ice drift, our progression is 27 kilometres. That's fantastic! But I must say it's well deserved.

Let's hope the good conditions continue.
Today we saw fresh polar bear and fox tracks, but no other signs of life. Early on, it became cloudy and started snowing, so it's been quite dark – with the good ice that hasn't been a problem. To keep our bearings in the darkness, we've fastened two-foot long ribbons to our ski poles. As we walk, we pay careful attention to the angle they make in the wind. First we use our GPS to mark due north, then measure the angle of the ribbon – and that's the angle we try to keep when we're skiing. Every couple of hours we double-check it with our GPS, to make sure the wind direction hasn't changed. It's been stable all day.

My right knee is hurting. It's been sore for a few days now, but it hasn't gotten any worse. I'm hoping the medication I'm taking will help. Fortunately, the burden on my knee lessens as the pulks grow lighter for each day. Days like this with good ice also help.
Now we're going to eat dinner – been looking forward to that all day.

February 14, 2006 / Heading north to older ice
We're now within 83 degrees latitude, more precisely at N83°07'01”, E104°28'23”. After skiing 15 km today, and thanking the wind for another 2 km, we have 769 km left of our expedition.
We woke up to milder temperatures, only 26 degrees below, which is far more comfortable – although it chilled five or six degrees this afternoon.

It's been a magnificent day! Like we're on a different planet. The ice is amazing in the moonlight, an otherworldly landscape of jagged block ice. The moon has become our sun – I know that may sound strange – but its light is strong enough to show us our surroundings and allow us to navigate. And the moon is there all the time, merely moving in a circle in the sky.

There haven't been any signs of animals, nor have we seen any open leads at all – and that's good. We're encountering more and more of the old Arctic ice, although right now we're camped on a floe that is less than a year old. These days we've been passing through varying ice, but we certainly want to reach more continuous older ice as soon as possible; it's thicker, more stable and far safer.

The last few days we've seen areas where tremendous forces have smashed the ice into blocks of various sizes. Even though the leads between the floes of new ice are frozen now, there is always the risk that they might reopen in stronger winds or currents. We would rather not be there when that happens, so we're in a hurry to progress further north. Fortunately the southeasterly wind seems stable, and it's pushing us in the right direction.

February 13, 2006 / Under a full moon
This is Day 23 of the expedition. Despite a rough day with lots of block ice in an apparent compression area, we managed to walk 14 km. Taking into account last night's northerly drift, we've progressed another 16 km, leaving 786 km to go. Today we almost reached N83°. Out position is N82°57'45', E104°54'01”. All is well, really, just a bit of challenging ice – and the pulks really didn't slide well on the ice.

With the full moon, we se quite well, and it's much easier to navigate. In addition, we have the faint light from the southern horizon in the middle of the day. We could almost have managed without our headlights for a couple of hours. I must admit that it's great to see our surroundings properly, no longer wandering in darkness. We've passed through a mixture of old and new ice, apparently a compression area with a lot of block and pack ice.

Both of us are doing fine, and we're looking forward to making N84° our next goal.

February 12, 2006 / Delicious visions of crêpes with blueberries
“We have now reached N82°49'10”, and our longitudinal position is E105°10'25”. Mike and I walked 18 km today, and the wind and currents gave us an additional 2 km last night. Conditions are favourable. I have rarely seen such good…” (poor connection)

Twenty kilometres is their best day yet since the expedition left firm soil. Børge and Mike are greatly encouraged by a combination of improved ice conditions, northerly drift, a lack of bothersome wind, and pulks that become lighter for each day. They now “only” have 802 km to go until they reach the North Pole.

They may not be sleeping much in their icy cold tent, but whether dreaming or conscious they have recurring visions of tasty food! Børge reports a longing for blueberry crêpes with sour cream, while Mike counts chocolate-coated marshmallows as others would sheep.

The duo is taking every precaution possible to avoid problems in the extreme cold – and the factor they most yearn to change right now, is the temperature

February 11, 2006 / Looking forward to next Saturday
We're now camped at N82°38'31”, E105°36'09”, after walking 16 km today and gaining a bonus of two from last night's northerly ice drift. Even though it's young, the ice has been excellent today, nice and flat and hardly any movement.

The wind has turned northeasterly, so walking has been a bit miserable, and now we're drifting almost due east. It's gradually warming up just ever so slightly; the thermometer shows –32°C. It seems that the ideal temperature for us is between 30 and 25 degrees below, so we're hopeful that the weather will warm up another notch. The weather report is favourable for the next few days.

We did our job and walked for nine hours today. I must admit we felt tired after only sleeping half the night. It's difficult when temperatures are extreme. After having been on the move for three weeks, we are happy to report that everything is working well, equipment and routines, and from day one our cooperation has been excellent.

We divide our tasks, for instance making breakfast every other day. We start by firing up the stove and making meltwater. While the stove is going, we scrape frozen condensation from the inside of our tent. When the water is warm, we fill our thermoses, make two portions of oatmeal, and enjoy our breakfast close to the warm stove. Afterwards, we have to dry these fantastic plastic bags that we use as a condensation barrier between our bodies and sleeping bags; they become rather most inside in the course of the night. Then it's time to put on our clothes and get going.

All in all it takes three hours from the time we get up in the morning, until we have skis on our feet and are ready to pull the packed pulks further northwards. Naturally the morning is the worst time, because of the cold. After we've walked for an hour, we're fine.
It's now three weeks since we started – but it feels like we've been out here for an eternity.

Right now we're really looking forward to next Saturday – because then we'll start eating normal rations again. I'm thinking a lot about food, and I'm sure Mike is as well. Ten days ago we made a decision to reduce our rations to be on the safe side; it was necessary to gain an extra safety margin after the incredibly slow and difficult start of our expedition. We were conscious about saving fuel, too, when the weather was milder. Now our food and fuel will last a total of 70 days, rather than 67 – so we can continue for at least another 49 days.
It looks doubtful whether we can reach the North Pole by this year's first sunrise, 23 March. The most important thing for us, however, is to finish our expedition and reach our goal. That's why we've “slimmed down” a bit. If we progress faster, then we can always enjoy larger meals towards the end of our journey. Spirits are great and I assure you we're highly motivated!.

February 10, 2006 / Skiing by moonlight
We have walked 17 km today and the direction of the ice drift is still working to our advantage. Our position is N82°28'38”, E105°57'43” – it's encouraging to be almost halfway to the 83. degree latitude. We can feel that the thermometer shows a constant –36°C, but we manage fine as long as we're moving.

I've found a great system for keeping my body warm: long woollen underwear, then woollen shorts and long synthetic netting underwear over that again. On my torso, I have a thin wool top, as well as a netting top onto which I have sewed thin fleece arms. That really helps keep my arms warm, so I get good circulation and warmth to my finger, without sweating too much on the rest of my upper body. It's superb. My hands are protected by woollen mittens, then thin fleece mittens, and finally a pair of windproof mittens. And of course I have full facial protection. I use a windproof vest and an extra windproof jacket to regulate my body temperature if there's a breeze for any length of time.

It's been a good day for us. The ice was a bit chaotic first part of the morning. But the light is magnificent! There are several hours of twilight in the middle of the day, and the moon is almost full. All day we've been able to see our surroundings and find the best path through the ice. We've veered eastward on fairly flat stretches of snow and ice, in order to avoid areas of difficult block ice – and that really helps us progress. There may not be enough time to read a watch, but we can distinguish the contours and contrasts of the illuminated ice well enough to choose a good path.

I mentioned that the moon is waxing – we also see the most incredible blue vault when we turn and look south. And there's a reddish violet tinge nearest the horizon. It's only up here in the Arctic and at this time of year that you can experience a sky like this.

A gift of woollen mittens from Mandal for Mike
It's been a great day, really. We're still walking on young ice, only 50–80 cm thick, interspersed with an occasional older ice floe. There is no discernable movement between the floes, and we haven't seen open water for quite some time. Believe me, we're both grateful, because it's hardly tempting to go swimming when it's 36 below. The coldness is not a problem when we keep moving, but if we touch anything in the tent with unprotected hands, whether our toothbrush or a vitamins jar, it's so cold that it actually stings. The cold is a nuisance; we have to wear mittens en be extremely careful at all times.

Mike's fingers are far better today. They're not complaining at all since I gave him my Norwegian woollen mittens from Mandalen Husflidlag. I'm perfectly fine with my reserve pair.

Our march northwards is going fine. At night, however, we're trembling in our sleeping bags and not getting much shut-eye. We are both hoping that temperatures will soon creep above –30°C; that's much more pleasant.

A couple of days ago we abandoned the smaller pulks. They do weigh a bit, but we do miss them at times. Skiing with one pulk is easier on nice flat plains, but manoeuvring through block ice is actually easier with two pulks.

February 9, 2006 / Avoiding frostbite
The GPS reading for our camp is N82°17'36”, E106°06'. It's been just as cold as yesterday. We had to set up camp and retreat into the warmth of our tent after Mike started having problems with his fingers. I have lent him my Norwegian woollen mittens, and hopefully that will help. Mike has frozen his thumbs once before and it's a struggle for him to keep his fingers and hands warm enough when it's this cold. The thermometer is showing –36°C.

The coldness is a challenge, of course, but all in all we're managing well. Everything functioned perfectly for me today. After suffering cold feet yesterday morning, I warmed up my boots with small hot water bottles. When I get out of the sleeping bag, I put my boots and skis on immediately. We actually take down our tent and rig down our camp while wearing our skis. I notice that gives my feet good circulation and makes them warm from the very start. Today I haven't had any problems at all.

It's really important to keep our clothing and equipment free of ice and snow, and frost from condensing sweat. Each evening in our tent, we take more than an hour to brush it off of our mittens, our anoraks and face protection. That is vital, really. Especially the mittens, because otherwise they would quickly become icy cold and very dangerous to use.

We walked through heavy block ice most of today as well, after crossing a fairly open stretch early this morning. The ice drift is helping us for a change, pushing us northwards – and that is fantastic! According to the weather report, we can expect at least a few days more of this. We need every extra kilometre we can get. Today we walked 12 km, and adding 4 km drift, Mike and I are now 861 km from the North Pole.
All is well, except for my friend's hands. We're hoping for slightly milder weather, because our bodies really notice temperatures below –30°C.

February 8, 2006 / N82°– at last!
Yesterday we walked 11 km, today only 7 km. The pack ice was really difficult, almost hopeless to pull the pulks through. Our Achilles heels are really aching now, after leaning forward and fighting the ice all day.

The good news is that we're now drifting northwest. Today has been our coldest day yet, –36°C, and our fingers and toes really notice the chill. Days like this are an extra strain, because your body's margins are so small. If you need something and have to take off a mitten, the coldness grips you straight away. And it takes a long time to warm up our feet in the morning.

When we were taking the tent down this morning, one of the poles snapped as though it were made of glass. Obviously the tempered metal didn't tolerate the cold, and suddenly we had four pieces in our hands. That's really very serious. We spent more than an hour making repairs, but now the tent is pitched as before.

We're getting some light from the moon and stars, but still need our headlights to distinguish the features in the uneven ice. Now that the cloud cover is gone, the temperature drops like a rock. This has been our coldest day since the expedition started.

Today a loud, unexpected sound stopped us in our tracks. It took us a few seconds to realize it was a jet plane. To suddenly hear a sound like that out here felt very strange.

It's very chilly, but not much wind. We expect to be drifting northwesterly for the next few days. Depending on the temperature, we might have to cut our days short. It is hard to sleep at night when it's so cold; the icy air you breathe in chills down your body, even though you're nice and warm inside the sleeping bag.

Our position this evening is N82°09'25”, E106°25'56”. We're 876 km from our goal.

Satellite image of the expedition

NOTE: We have published a satellite photo that shows the extreme ice conditions that have challenged Børge and Mike. It makes it very clear why the first few days beyond Cape Arkticheski were particularly harrowing, and it shows the extreme eastward drift of the ice. The satellite image is published under the date January 30.

N82° at last! They have reached 82 degrees latitude. More soon…

February 7, 2006 / A better day
Today has been better. The ice was excellent and we only drifted one kilometre southwards. We've put 11 km behind us. It was 27 degrees below when we started this morning, but the temperature is actually a little warmer now. There is a slight northerly wind, but nothing to … (broken connection)

February 6, 2006 / Frustration in ice-cold headwind
Mike and I have had an unusually cold and hard day, with an ice-cold headwind coming out of the north, chilling us down far more than the –27°C temperature would by itself. My feet never got warm, and we started getting dangerously chilled. After five hours we had to give up and seek shelter in our tent. Going against the wind, we weren't even able to go fast enough to compensate for the southerly drift. We are now further south than when we started out this morning. And that is extremely depressing.

If this trend doesn't change, providing drift in the right direction, I don't see how we have any hope of reaching the North Pole. Last night we drifted 3 km. When we're drifting at a rate of seven or eight kilometres in 24 hours, it eats up half the distance we manage to walk. The weather conditions are most unusual – that's for sure.

With a northerly wind – right now it's blowing from the west – the air current are ice-cold and the air much harsher. We walked as far as we could today; it would have been irresponsible to continue. Both of us were severely chilled and we have to avoid frostbite. Mike has had problems with his hands, and I had difficulty keeping my toes warm. So we have to be very careful.
In addition to the hard weather, ice conditions have been very difficult. We swam across one lead today, too. We're hoping tomorrow is better. Hans Ambühl will soon give us the weather report.

February 5, 2006 / Not your ordinary Sunday walk
Well, we've been out walking again. It's icy cold out there, –25°C and a constant northeasterly breeze. Cold and miserable, really. Block ice, strewn every which way, slowed our progress considerably. With the wind in our faces, we've been drifting south again; now the drift is carrying us mostly west.

It took us 10 hours to cover 8 km. We've now camped at N81°59'35”, E 107°03'19” – and we still have 894 km left before reaching our goal.

I must admit that this is the toughest “degree of latitude” that I've walked. We're now just a few hundred metres from N82°. Never struggled with conditions such as these before. Well, I hope somebody up there appreciates our toil and perseverance, and that things will turn. That is our hope.

February 4, 2006 / And on the 14th day they rested…
Not much happened today. We woke up to a cold northerly wind, just as expected from the weather forecast. Our bodies were tired after pressing hard for two straight weeks – so we took a day of rest. That's sensible, really, and we will be amply rewarded for a whole week to come.

We lay in the tent all day, relaxed, and passed out like a light. In fact we just woke up again, so clearly we needed this. We may not have reached N82° today, but we have rested and built up important reserves for the journey onward.

Last night we drifted 5 km southwards after the wind turned. Now the wind has calmed and it's colder – minus 25 degrees Centigrade, but that's on the right side of 30. We'll do fine, as long as the headwind isn't too strong.

Today we have been out here for 14 days. I usually tell people: If you've managed all right the first two weeks, then much of the job is done. We've settled into a good rhythm, fine-tuned our routines and know they work well. So let's hope for northerly drift and good ice conditions in the days ahead.

February 3, 2006 / On the threshold of N82°
Mike and I had a good day today, with excellent ice conditions. The ice floes are now at least 85 cm thick, more compact and larger. We encountered five or six leads, but quickly found crossing points, not having to swim at all. The large flat ice floes make for good skiing, although we did see screw ice indicating that they had recently been forcibly pressed together. All day we made steady progress, 17 km since this morning.

Last night the ice drift carried us 4 km in the wrong direction. In the course of the day, it appears that the southern drift has stopped. So now we're only drifting eastward. Our current position is N81°57'08”, E106°36'40”. With 899 km to go, we're optimistic about reaching 82 degrees latitude tomorrow.

There has been a 10–12 meter per second wind today as well, and around –15°C. Actually the temperature is very comfortable, although it is difficult to regulate our body temp with so much wind. We both keep an extra wind jacket handy in our pulks, and put it on if we feel cold. When we start out, or after a pause, we put on our down vests, and after just 10–15 minutes we've warm enough to take it off again. So that's how we regulate our temperature, making sure we're always comfortable – and it works well.

It looks like the zone of chaotic ice that we passed through yesterday, was absorbing most of the ice movement in this area. Conditions are very calm where we are now.

Today we saw bear tracks, probably a two or three year old polar bear – a reminder that we're not alone out here. Even though these tracks were not fresh, we remain vigilant.

______________

NOTE: The timestamps on Børge's expedition diary have been changed to show the expedition's local time.

February 2, 2006 / Børge and Mike ride ice floes!
We're now at N81°49'46”, E105°49'22”, after drifting strongly in a southeasterly direction last night. This morning we woke up 921 km from the North Pole, effectively losing two days. But we pressed on and progressed 10 km today – and that's very good considering that we drifted 5 km or so in the opposite direction.

You might wonder if there is any point in walking when we're drifting so much. The thing is, we have to put every kilometre behind us, and each kilometre is equally important. But the conditions here are hardly normal, and sooner or later the ice has to drift towards the north again. The first two hours this morning were really tough, but gradually the areas of impossible block ice gave way to really excellent skiing. The temperature was comfortable, only 15 degrees below. We measured the thickness of the ice to be 80 cm. It's a great advantage that it's solid, because that means less movements and less screw ice or block ice. We're hoping that we have put most of the thin ice behind us.

Today we witnessed quite a phenomenon, a zone with powerful movement of the ice. A large ice floe had split, and the one on the opposite side of the lead was moving at a tempo that I had never seen before! I timed it – it in just two seconds it moved a whole metre. It was like watching a train go by! We put our suits on and got ready to swim. Then a new ice floe drifted past a little bit slower – and we jumped onto it. In situations like this, we each have 12 m or so of rope so we can move more freely, and then we pulled the pulks after us.

We've used the waterproof suits four or five times today, mostly for narrow leads where we swam to be on the safe side. At the end of the day we came to a huge lead – but our luck was even bigger! Suddenly an ice floe came drifting like a bridge into the lead and we got on. Instead of swimming 300 metres we only had to do 15 metres.

Mike and I hope we've put the worst areas of moving ice behind us, and that conditions will improve as we move on. Our problem now is the drift, and we have no idea when it'll turn. But everything else is functioning perfectly, our equipment, techniques and routines are working out exactly as we planned. The only thing we can do is to persevere.
We walked 10 hours today to make up for the short day yesterday.

February 1, 2006 / Repairing shoes in 40 degrees below
The going is extremely tough, blocks of ice everywhere, walls of them every 50 metres or so. It looks like Stalingrad out there, and it is extremely difficult to push our way through. We have no idea how much further it's like this, nor can we see far enough ahead to be sure we're choosing the best route. Our visibility is limited by the darkness, and almost-horizontal snowfall reduces it further. There is a strong breeze from the west, and with temperatures of 25–30 degrees below even without the wind factor, this is becoming quite an ordeal.

We had to set up camp in a hurry when the heel of my right shoe came loose. Totally idiotic that something like this could happen! But it did. I successfully repaired it, sewing as well as gluing the heel securely in place. To be on the safe side, I did the other shoe as well, because a gap was already forming.

While we were tucked in our sleeping bags, some extremely cold air hit us – like a bomb. We shivered with every inhalation, our noses freezing immediately. That pocket of cold air must have been –40°C. Other than that it is –30°C, and that's fine. But we have no chance of making any further progress in this wind. We risk frostbite almost immediately and can lose fingers as well as toes. This seems to be taking longer than planned, and the weather forecast is uncertain.

Our plan is to continue – but safety has to come first. Our present position is N81°48'00”, E105°10'47”. Today we managed just one kilometre, but have already drifted at least three or four back. At the moment, we're 916 km from the North Pole, but that is going to increase during the night.