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Introduction
Tuesday
13 June / 10am :
At this
moment in time, the two Frenchmen have not yet reached Resolute Bay,
but we know that the Canadian chopper that had accepted the mission
had put down at their base camp without any difficulty and that they
finally received assistance yesterday evening. On the other hand, we have some information about last Saturday's Twin flight; it was, by all accounts something of an epic! Because when executing the first TOUCH AND GO, the plane's windows smashed into smithereens because of some large pieces of ice that crashed violently into the propellers. And, what's more, when the machine got back to Eureka, there was a powerful storm blowing over the region and the pilot was flying practically blind at the moment of touchdown. It was a miracle that the landing ended up OK. One has to say that the Canadian pilots that carry out these operations are past masters of this type of manoeuvre. Our following of this expedition comes to an end with this latest communiqué.. Sunday
11 June / 6 pm :
Yesterday, Saturday 10 June, the Twin of First Air made a renewed
attempt to go and look for the two Frenchmen who were still on the
ice cap - there was a favourable weather window.
They should by now be back at Resolute. 09 June / 8 pm : Yesterday evening, Thursday, everything was ready for the Twin Otter that was going to look for Arnaud and Rodolphe to take off from Resolute Bay. There was a 12-hour good weather window and despite some extremely intense solar activity of the kind to prevent all radio communication between the planes, the Twin took off all the same. After the traditional refuelling stop at Eureka, the Twin set off for the rendezvous area marked out by the two Frenchmen - or rather marked out by Rodolphe because Arnaud, for his part, was still unable to walk.
The trickiest thing about this rescue operation - which is far from over - is that for the time being the reigning temperatures over the ice cap are too positive - between + 2° and + 5°C. Which mean that the ice is melting more and more.
There is no great problem landing with a Twin on this type of surface
- soft ice and wet snow. But taking off is a different story. The
plane's skis get embedded and stick to the snow, preventing the plane
from taking off over a short distance. So? When will they be back on dry land? Nobody knows. For the next weather window that could allow for contemplation of the operation is expected only in 4 or 5 days time. And in the meantime, the ice will be melting, melting and melting… 07
June : Yesterday afternoon at approximately 85°08'N and 71°00'W.
When the two men continued on their way notwithstanding, Arnaud Tortel,
who was advancing a fair distance ahead of his companion Rodolphe,
had a serious fall while crossing a hummock, because of exhaustion,
no doubt. Pulled by its weight, his sledge hit his head causing cerebral
concussion. When, a few minutes later, Rodolphe reached him, Arnaud
was still in a semi-unconscious state. He was rambling and had blood
on his face. Once he had finally regained his senses, Arnaud was obliged to report that the situation, without being too calamitous, was however serious; he had a wicked sprain in the knee and a bent rib. Rodolphe immediately switched on the Argos beacon. And started to seek out a favourable landing area for the rescuers. Things were however not quite as bad as they seemed because that same evening, Arnaud was able to reassure his loved-ones at Dieulefit by telling them that, even if he couldn't walk any longer, he was still able to look after himself: acupuncture and knee bandages. He had also been able to join up with Christian de Marliave (Cercles polaires Expéditions) who was looking after the expedition's logistics. "It hurts him when he talks", Christian told us this afternoon, "but Arnaud knows how to deal with such situations…." This incident unfortunately brought the French expedition to an end.; it only remains to hope that the weather quickly improves. Because, for the time being, even if Rodolphe discovers a suitable strip of ice to enable a Twin Otter coming from Resolute Bay to land, no plane could come to their rescue because of the whiteout that has been reigning over the Arctic ice for several days. And the two men cannot wait for too long as they are getting short on rations…
Proof:
each day, the two men fall at least twice into the water. That is
of course more serious when the ambient temperature is around - 40°C.
But even so, having to walk in wet clothes when it is freezing facilitates
neither somersaults nor movement in general. However, they must do so more and more each day. As there are still more than 150 km to cover in conditions that will only get worse, it is almost certain that Arnaud and Rodolphe will shortly be asking Resolute to send the Twin. In this case, the expedition would therefore, in terms of bare results, be a failure. If however one talks in terms of a mental-physical bonding between the pair, on the other hand - and on this subject we won't have to wait for confirmation before talking about it - this trek will in the eyes of all remain a very fine feat. All of this should of course soon be confirmed. But we fear that the website will no longer be supplied… A host of lessons of all kinds can naturally be learnt from the polar experiences of this spring 2000. We have asked Hubert to write a few lines on this. While waiting for what he has to say, what we can already say is that the Hubert-Dansercoer pair, which is going to attempt, in 2002, a still more difficult adventure (a journey of more than 1,000 km) - should be setting off for the ice far earlier in the year than was the case with the Norwegians who, it must be said, went to the limits. That should situate the beginning of the Belgian expedition towards the middle of January 2002. 02 June : Since 31 May, no further contact with the French expedition.
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Week
of 03 to 10 June
