Members of the Finnish team during a training session in a forest near home. "We will train pack ice and crossing leads (when the ice is strong enough) this winter. Meanwhile, we train by dragging car tires every week," reports the team. Image courtesy of the expedition (click to enlarge).
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From Everest to the North Pole: Airborne Ranger Club of Finland unsuppported attempt in 2006
Posted: Nov 23, 2005 10:52 am EST
(ThePoles.com) A seven-member team from the Airborne Ranger club of Finland will attempt to reach the North Pole unsupported next year. The team will depart from Ward-Hunt Island (Canada) by the beginning of March, and hope to get to the Pole early May.
The latest Finnish quest for the Arctic Pole was Dominic Arduin's solo attempt in 2004. The lady explorer accepted no other option than a full, unsupported expedition. Whilst others opted for an airlift over the section, Dominic paddled across a huge open water lead which had opened up out of Cape Arktichevsky, Siberia. Dominic vanished in the Arctic Ocean.
A race with time
Last year, logistic issues kicked all the Arctic teams going from the Russian side off the ice. Logistics remain a problem also for the 2006 explorers. Canadian operators stress April 30th as the latest pick-up date from the North Pole - a considerable disadvantage compared to the end of May pick-ups in previous years, when First Air was operating in the area.
The Finnish Airborne club team leader Henrik Reims told ExplorersWeb that the team-members hope to complete the trip in less than sixty days. They will pull 130 kg sleds, hoping their supplies will last. No Finnish have completed an unsupported NP trip - the Airbornes however don't rule out taking airdrops, should the main expedition goal to reach the pole get jeopardized due to slow progress.
Getting in shape - since 1995
The men all have a natural-born experience of Arctic regions. They have skied and camped in winter conditions since childhood and they served the mandatory military service in the Finnish Army Paratroops. The Airbornes have also done Arctic expeditions before, including 1996 Svalbard (17 days), 1999 Trans Greenland (32 days), 2003 The North Magnetic Pole (47 days) - each trip a preparation for the next.
In fact, the idea for the North Pole was born already back in 1995, and the team members have been preparing for it since. More specific training, both physical and mental, started by the end of 2003.
This past spring, the Airbornes also attempted Mount Everest via the North Col route, aborting the push due to lack of fixed ropes around May 20.
The North Pole trip from Canada begins from Resolute Bay, where the skiers and their equipment are transported by regular flight. From Resolute Bay a ski plane will take the expedition to Ward Hunt, Ellesmere Island lat 82º N, where the journey will start. The starting point is 775km away from the Geographic North Pole.
A climbing team from the Airborne Ranger Club of Finland attempted Everest via the north side in spring, 2005.
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