“The two men got up, got dressed and stepped out of the tent - and, there it was, a total surprise: A female bear with her two cubs of about three or four years old standing a hundred meters away from the campsite — and approaching.” File image of a polar bear courtesy of Antarctica.org (click to enlarge).
"These are going to be long and hard days, up at 5:30 every morning and on the ice at 8:30 for 9-10 hours of marching... with heavy sleds," reported Adrian. Image of team leader Richard Weber hauling the sled in snow-shoes courtesy of Adrian Hayes (click to enlarge).
Jim McNeill is launching an expedition across Spitsbergen this month, aiming to gather data on the population of polar bears in the vicinity and the effects of global warming. Expedition's planned route courtesy of Jim McNeill (click to enlarge).
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Arctic wrap-up: Counting polar bears — add three more to Alain & Dixie’s list
Posted: Apr 03, 2007 10:05 am EDT
(ThePoles.com) "Let me tell you we really had the jitters," admitted Alain Hubert after he spent his Saturday night with some unexpected guests in camp: A family of bears. Jim McNeill is - precisely - counting polar bears as part of his upcoming Spitsbergen expedition. As for North Pole teams, Rosie is progressing slowly, while Richard Weber and his team are well into the 85th degree.
Arctic crossings (partial)
Alain & Dixie’s Arctic Arc: Bear-dreams come true
“Dixie and Alain will remember the night of Saturday, March 31, for a long time,” their team reported. “The two men had just lied down and fallen asleep when, suddenly, Dixie started dreaming. He saw bears approaching the tent. Awakening with a start, he gave the alert to Alain and wondered whether it was a dream or a ... premonition.”
“The two men got up, got dressed and stepped out of the tent (it was -35°C!). And, there it was, a total surprise: A female bear with her two cubs of about three or four years old standing a hundred meters away from the campsite — and approaching.”
“When they were about five meters away, Alain decided to shoot a gunshot in their direction, without harming them,” the team wrote. “He had to try it a couple of times because the first gunshots didn't seem to have an effect on the intruders. The attempts to scare the bears off ended up lasting most of the night. And, when they awoke on Sunday morning, the bears were still there, but at a reasonable distance from camp.”
As for the team’s progress, Alain and Dixie have expanded their daily travel up to nine hours of skiing, in order to take advantage of the presently good conditions. On Sunday they covered 25.2km. The two skiers expect to get their first resupply by April 10.
North Pole supported expeditions
Rosie Stancer: A bad weekend
“After a fairly nightmarish weekend, Rosie’s luck improved somewhat as the ice flattened out into some beautiful pans on Monday,” her team reported. Rosie’s position yesterday was 84.22.51N69.32.50W.
Adrian Hayes (Richard Weber’s team): One more degree less to go
”Three down, four to go,” reported Adrian, already on the 85th degree North. “The last four days have seen a mixture of conditions, some very wide pans of ice, in which we were able to use our skis for the first time. Ice conditions are more difficult though. With temperatures around -40ºC, we haven't encountered any open water so far. These are going to be long and hard days, up at 5:30 every morning and on the ice at 8:30 for 9-10 hours of marching... with heavy sleds.”
The team’s last reported position was 85.59N 69.0W.
Svalbard expeditions
Jim McNeill: Ice Warrior Svalbard expedition
Jim McNeill is launching an expedition across Spitsbergen this month, aiming to gather data on the population of polar bears in the vicinity and the effects of global warming. Senior trainer Matt O’Brien will lead polar novices Cara Jones, Mark Kelly, Ant Metcalfe, Martyn Stott, and Jenny Mansell-Moullin, while Jim oversees the operations. The 200 mile-long itinerary will venture into Spitsbergen’s hinterlands and then continue northwards along the coast.
Arctic races
Polar Race: Racers land in Canada
On Monday, racers taking part in the Polar Race departed London for Ottawa. Next they’ll move to the starting point at Resolute Bay.
Alain & Dixie's Arctic Arc crossing
Rosie Stancer's website
Weber's Canadian Arctic Holidays
Adrian Hayes' North Pole Quest dispatches
Hampels' Siberia Expedition
Dickisons' Lake Baikal expedition
Steger's Global Warming 101 expedition
Wide Arctic - blog
Frozen Five expedition
Arctos III expedition (Czech)
Ice Warrior's website
Polar Race
Trans-Greenland expedition
Dutch Pole Spirit Greenland expedition
Pittarak expedition
Extreme Snowkite Greenland
Tara expedition
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