Sunday 07 avril (day 42) : no contact with the expedition today

Saturday 06 avril (day 41) : A day without drama

The question of quality of terrain hardly seems to be important any more, so often does it crop up during the satellite exchanges with the team. The refrain is indefatigably repeated: good ice one day, the next not, until it melts seamlessly into the backdrop to the expedition.
Today would seem to be a good day, because the duo has managed to deploy the smaller power kites (the wind is coming from the East at a speed of 10 to 15 km/h). But it could also be a bad day, as the two of them have taken several nasty falls when their skis got lodged in holes in the ice, hidden by a recent snow fall. Things could have turned dire at this point, but fortunately, they were not too badly injured, and can continue. At the end of the afternoon, the ice conditions deteriorated into the familiar chaos again.
Fine weather today: -32°C at the start of the day, and -22°C towards evening. The sun almost never sets now. Good progress today: 11.2 km advanced, and the team crossed latitude 79°.

Friday 05 avril (day 40) : " We don't know which way to turn … "

Alain and Dixie are right. Yesterday, and especially the day before yesterday, it was almost a total blackout with that infernal ice floe which closed in again (see 3 April); the men's spirits hit a new low.
Today, another sudden change in the landscape; first of all, it is the first time since the start of the expedition that they have not come across any open water (they didn't encounter any yesterday, either) and did not waste any time crossing leads of open water. Then the horizon cleared again, revealing a less hummocked ice floe and flatter expanses of ice. Finally, Alain and Dixie had the opportunity to get out the big kite and glide using wind power. It is true that this session did not last long, barely an hour, but it was enough to fill them with new strength, and let them enjoy the magic of the grandiose scenery that they are crossing. "You cannot take in the beauty of this ice, Hubert slipped in at the end of the satellite conversation (Iridium), but fortunately, we are filming a lot, and can share these delightful moments. Unforgettable …."

It is more towards the end of the day, when the team is considering the daily log that they notice, like every evening, that they are still 1240 km from the Pole, and then a hint of despair enters their minds. For the moment, even if they know that they will have to give up on the idea of a complete crossing of the Arctic Ocean, they are not going to be lured into the forecasting game. "We will have to wait another fortnight, explained Dixie, when we will able to analyse the different scenarios possible. Already, reaching the North Pole with the conditions that we have experienced since the start seems to be a very tough challenge".

The men of Globetag Icetrek who had lost contact with their HQ were located yesterday by an Antonov aircraft : all is well, they are continuing to make progress towards the North Pole. (see our section 'Other Expeditions' updated April 1sr)

7½ hours' walk, temperature -30°C, they can feel nevertheless that spring is in the air, with a slight south-east wind during the day, and no more wind this evening. Dixie hurt himself slightly in a fall yesterday, while Alain's feet are constantly wet, their skin is peeling and their muscles and joints are aching.

Thursday 04 avril (day 39) : No contact with the expedition today. You have instead a quite interesting story to read about seasonal Barneo base

Each year at the beginning of April, a seasonal base opens approximately 100 km from the North Pole (see our map of Arctic exhibitions) intended mainly for tourists who want to travel to the North Pole, walking the final 100 km that separate the base from this mythical point on our globe. This is the story of this base and its operation, a text written by Christian de Marliave of Cerpolex.

An Antonov 76 aircraft is attempting to locate the Australian Globetag Icetrek expedition, which lost all satellite contact with its HQ more than 4 days ago. (see our section 'Other Expeditions' updated April 1sr)

You can also read a text published a year ago on our site, describing the experience of a not-so-young Belgian tourist who went to Barneo and was able to make the trip Barneo -> North Pole in complete safety, accompanied by other tourists. However, he did not return entirely unscathed ... (To read his story, click here)

Wednesday 03 April (day 38) : a dark day, very dark indeed

Sat Phone april 3rd (In English)

Our men are in a bad mood on the ice floe. The precursors that heralded an improvement in the conditions for making progress unfortunately did not live up to their promise. Or at least, not so far.
The hummocking of the ice floe is worse than ever (see one of the two photos), the leads of open water continue to slow the walkers, and heavy snow is covering the ice. The wind has turned back to the North, and the clear horizon that we saw on the photo published yesterday (see below, yesterday Tuesday 2 April) has suddenly closed in again, only offering the two walkers an infinite succession of giant blocks of ice piled up into the distance.
North wind, progress 5.3 km, another 1255 km to go to reach the Pole, morale is lower, whatever they may say.

See our comparative map of the other Arctic expeditions this Spring 2002.

Tomorrow, we will publish the story of the Barneo tourist base, opened every year by Cerpolex in early April and closed a month later; a base that enables tourists seeking a Polar experience to test themselves on the Barneo -> North Pole route, nearly 200 km which are usually travelled on skis.

Tuesday 02 April (day 37) : "We have to toil hard every day".

You can see it on the photo published opposite (and sent today via Iridium and Compaq iPaq), the surface is becoming clearer and the ice is more practicable with every passing day. Today, for example, the two adventurers were able to wear their skis for nearly half an hour. Their progress is not really spectacular, but in a difficult adventure like the one the two men are undertaking, every detail that can be interpreted in a positive way counts. The terrain is still not favourable to faster progress, but the ice was better today (about 1.2 m thick) than the ice we were travelling on yesterday. "That is good for morale".

There are still leads of open water, like those they have just crossed (see photo), which block their route about every kilometre. So it is not worth getting out the powerkites yet, because the obstacles that would force the men to pack away their equipment and fold up the kites are still too plentiful. It would waste too much time.
Thanks to today's photo, we can easily gain a more accurate impression of the pace of progress. To cross the lead in the photo, a lead in the young ice that is only a few days old, and is about 10 cm thick or more, it takes them about an hour.

Australian Expedition Globetag (Eric Philips and Jon Muir) out of contact since ten days. Cerpolex plane is going to try to locate them (See our "Other Expeditions" pages updated April 1st)

That was the case today when crossing the lead in the photo. Just to attach and detach the sleds and convert them into a catamaran takes about twenty minutes. When the lead is really open and free of ice, and Dixie and Alain don't have to break the ice, it takes barely half an hour.

7 hours' walk today, -22°C on the thermometer, 8.13 km of progress, and the SSE wind is helping them by causing the ice to drift northwards.

Summary of the last three days : the nightmare continues …

A tremendous fright: on Saturday, another encounter with a bear. Alain and Dixie were preparing to cross a lead of open water about 15 metres across, but once the "boats" were in the water, a headwind blowing at 60 km/h and stirring up wavelets 40 cm high forced them to turn back to the side that they had just left. There, they faced an amazing and frightening sight: a bear was suddenly waiting for them at the water's edge. What could they do? Try to make progress against the wind, or take an enormous risk. Finally, after an immense effort, spurred on by the presence of the animal on the other side, they managed to reach the far side. The fear was still perceptible in Alain's voice when he was telling us about this adventure over the phone.

A lot of water breaking up the ice over the last three days. And tremendous movements and upheavals in the ice floe. During Sunday night, they found themselves cut off (in the tent) on an ice sheet about 12 m² surrounded by water. Another moment of panic, and an unpleasant feeling of loneliness. Dixie had a surprise in store to brighten up Easter Sunday: some seaweed that he had picked up in his sledge, after which the men played a few games of cards.

update April 1st

From Saturday 30 March to yesterday, they made 28 km of real progress northward, milder temperatures, -20°C, a thick layer of snow is covering the cracks in the ice, which are more difficult to identify, making them particularly dangerous. The wind has turned southward. In other words, the nightmare continues.

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