Tyler: “We are racing a deadline, the 25th of April. We need to make it to the North Pole by then or we won't make it. So, John and I, as we approached 89 degrees, have been discussing, making plans, and doing everything we have to do so we are ready for the final push, which we are now doing.” Live image of Tyler navigating courtesy of forwardexpeditions.com (click to enlarge)
John:”So instead of working on a 24-hour clock, we're now working on a 27-hour clock. So we're traveling around 16 1/2 hours each day and then we spend the remainder of that 27 hours sleeping and having breakfast and dinner in camp. It's a long travel day. We're tired. We feel really good with our progress.” Live image of John navigating courtesy of forwardexpeditions.com (click to enlarge)
Lonnie’s team reported a steady wind straight out of the north. “First, it blows in your face all day long making it feel a bit "raw" on the nose and cheeks […] Second, and perhaps worse, it pushes you south as you ski” Live image over Contact 4.0 courtesy of PolarExplorers/ humanedgetech.com/expedition/pe (click to enlarge)
“Though they [Lonnie, Max and Stuart] are worn out, almost always hungry and still worried about the drift which carries them south.” Live image over Contact 4.0 courtesy of Max Chaya/ thethreepoles.com (click to enlarge)
“(On April 21) the team reported strong winds out of the North at 20-30 MPH and they decided to stay put until the wind dies.” Live image over Contact 4.0 courtesy of PolarExplorers/ humanedgetech.com/expedition/pe (click to enlarge)
Sebastian’s comment about their “full blown whiteout blizzard” day: “Hungry and blindfolded is how I will remember this day which without much doubt will go down as our toughest.” Live image over Contact 4.0 courtesy of PolarExplorers/ humanedgetech.com/expedition/pe2 (click to enlarge)
Sebastian said they feel “like nomads of the white desert, either chasing our shadow, chased by it, or by either side depending on the time of day--a whimsical companion for the many hours of this solitary journey--there is a lot of time to contemplate.” Live image over Contact 4.0 courtesy of PolarExplorers/ humanedgetech.com/expedition/pe2 (click to enlarge)
“Since the weather has been cold and windy Rick Schweitzer’s dogs [Northwest Passage team] started to freeze badly. Barneo organizers decided to build a special shelter with the help of the tractor. The dogs have thanked them with loud barking.” Live image courtesy of barneo.ru (click to enlarge)
LINKS
|
Arctic wrap-up: A race against time and drift
Posted: Apr 23, 2009 07:15 am EDT
(ThePoles.com) The full-trip North Pole teams crossed 89°. They have to be at 90°N by 25 April for a pick up by the helicopter from Barneo and are racing against the clock and the negative drift. In order to travel more miles, John and Tyler decided to extend their days to 27 hours. Lonnie’s team reported strong head winds and a southern drift. Keith and Sebastian experienced a “full blown whiteout blizzard”.
Unsupported, Unassisted (90°N)
John Huston and Tyler Fish (USA); Ward Hunt Start
John explained about their time schedule: “After some discussion due to the high speed of our drift to the east and south, and also the fact that we want to have some margin in our schedule to reach the North Pole on time before the 26th of April, Tyler and I decided to bump up to a 27-hour day schedule.”
“So we're traveling around 16 1/2 hours each day and then we spend the remainder of that 27 hours sleeping and having breakfast and dinner in camp.”
Tyler said he realized he was tense about the time situation. Then he thought, “there's two things going on from here to the end of this expedition: there's skiing and there's drifting. Skiing you can control, drifting you can't. So, I decided I needed to let go of the drifting. Whatever drift happens will happen. All I can do is ski and everything that supports skiing: the sleeping, the eating, the being smart. So, that's all I can do. So, that's what I'm going to do for the next, hopefully, four days: ski as much as possible in the right direction, north.”
The guys experienced overcast skies, low visibility, and almost whiteout conditions, “which means we can barely make out what we were skiing into as far as things to look at on the horizon to navigate by and what is right in front of our skis. So we're always running into snowdrifts and that sort of thing,” said John.
They also swam one short lead and crossed several others.
Date: April 20, 2009
Location: N89 00.325' W059 30.651'
Time Traveled: 15 hours
Distance Traveled: 15 nautical miles
AM Temperature (4/20): -6° F
PM Temperature (4/21): -10° F
AM: clear, slight NW breeze 10 knots
PM: overcast, W wind 20 knots, visibility poor, blowing snow
60 nautical miles to the pole
Unsupported, Assisted (90°N)
Lonnie Dupre, guide, (USA), Max Chaya (Lebanon) and Stuart Smith (USA); Cape Discovery Start
The home team reported on Day 48, 21 April: “Today the team reports a steady wind straight out of the north. This does two things; first, it blows in your face all day long making it feel a bit "raw" on the nose and cheeks.”
“Second, and perhaps worse, it pushes you south as you ski north. Though the team clocked 12 nautical miles north today, they probably skied closer to 17 miles. The "polar treadmill" likely stole 5 miles of hard earned travel from them over the course of the day. When they sleep they are also drifting to the south.”
“So what they really want and need is for the wind to stop blowing and the drift to calm down.
“They crossed 3 leads today, all of them in a state of motion, either closing before their very eyes, or opening and becoming wider. It is very exciting and awe inspiring to see the ice in motion. It is a tremendous amount of force!”
In the latest report (22 April) the team stayed put in their tent because the wind was too strong.
Position 21 April
89°3558N, 52°2261W
Non-land start: Unsupported, Assisted (90°N)
Keith Heger (USA) and Sebastian Copeland (France/USA); last 400 miles
Sebastian reported on 20 April they experienced a “full blown whiteout blizzard. Up to forty miles per hour headwinds, snow flying sideways, cloud cover and and fog with visibility from twenty feet to nothing. Even by Arctic standards, I think that qualifies as the full enchilada.”
“And there is no question that to travel in these conditions is simply miserable. No skin can be exposed for risk of cold injury.”
“Goggles are therefore imperative. But goggles need to be managed carefully; or they will fog up. Once they do, they are done for the day, since the fog will turn to frost and cannot be cleared in a cold environment. A slight misalignment of your head layers or face gear will send steam from your breath. Up into the goggles and the jig is up. Or if you look down and breathe at the same time... Which I did. Twice.”
The next day Sebastian wrote, “Another day of strong winds and poor visibility. After our tent was shaken and stirred all night long, it was our turn to get battered again by the 25-40 mph west-southwest lashes. Though the 100-foot visibility made today feel like gravy compared to yesterday's pea soup in a blender. I guess everything is relative. It's hard not to feel defeated as we woke up behind our latitude position of the previous morning.”
Position 21 April:
N88°43.911 and W44°14.201.
Temperatures around minus 15F without windchill.
North Pole (90°N) to Greenland
Arnaud Tortel (guide) and Charles Hedrich (France)
The home team reported to ExWeb that on 20 April they stayed in their tents because the winds were too strong and the windchill were between – 50 and – 60°C. The ice drift took them towards the southwest.
Barneo Ice Station
Tuesday April 21, 2009
Coordinates: 88°44.37' N, 3°10.49' E
Distance from the Pole – 140 km, ice-drift has slowed down.
t -24°Ñ, norther/north-wester, 9-12 m/sec.
Snowstorm, blizzard with ground wind.
The Barneo organisers told ExWeb that Barneo seems to go without problems this year. The website is updated with many reports about adventurers arriving and departing, flights that were grounded because of bad weather, Easter celebrations, medical care, dog care and much more. Read the detail on their website in the link below.
They reported that the Russians, Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin, who skied to the North Pole during the winter of 2007-08, arrived with a group 14 people to guide them the Last Degree to the North Pole. Among then there were 7 teenagers aged from 16 to 18 (four boys and three girls).
Borge Ousland from Norway gave a lecture at Barneo before he and his Chinese team were dropped on the ice. “Borge wanted them to be left near open water,” reported the Barneo staff, “to make the expedition even more difficult (and his companions were not frightened at all). But when approaching the district of landing there appeared no open water anywhere near it.”
South Pole skiers and Everest summiteers from Ireland, Pat Falvey and Clare O’Leary, were also at Barneo. They did some preparations for their planned ski from land to the North Pole next season.
Some science news: “The latest results of the Russian scientists’ investigations at Barneo demonstrate that while the floe has moved to the South the upper 20-meters layer of the ocean water has become sweet. But why? The temperature is still rather low, about minus 20°C, which means that the ice cannot melt yet. The scientists decided to double their efforts when taking measures (probing).”
Interview with Dixie Dansercoer
CheapTents.com notified ExplorersWeb about an interview they had with Belgium polar explorer and adventurer, Dixie Dansercoer. Among other expeditions, in 1997-8 Dixie and Alan Hubert traversed Antarctica from Dronning Maud Land (Roi Baudouin) to Scott Base with parasails and resupplies, a distance of 3924 km.
Dixie talks about his adventures and scientific measurements, and revealed his future plans, “I do have another ambitious polar expedition planned for the 2011-2012 Antarctic season when I will try to execute a 6 to 7000 km expedition in east Antarctica.”
Read the interview in the link below the photos.
Links to Arctic 2009 expeditions
Unsupported, Unassisted Geographic North Pole
John Huston and Tyler Fish (USA) - Victorinox North Pole '09 Expedition
Unsupported, Assisted Geographic North Pole
Lonnie Dupre (USA), Max Chaya (Lebanon) and Stuart Smith (USA) – Peary-Henson Centennial North Pole Expedition 2009
Max Chaya’s blog
Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley (UK) – Catlin Arctic Survey Expedition
Unsupported/Unassisted Magnetic North Pole (1996 position)
Michele Pontrandolfo (Italy)
Non-land start, Unsupported, Assisted Geographic North Pole
Keith Heger (USA) and Sebastian Copeland (France/USA) – Peary-Henson Centennial North Pole Expedition 2009; last 400 miles
North Pole (90°N) to Greenland
Charles Hedrich’s website
Arnaud Tortel (guide) and Charles Hedrich (France); Blog in French
Barneo Ice Station
Last Degree North Pole
Stefan Nestler (Germany) with guide Thomas Ulrich (Switserland) and team
Eric Philips (Australia, guide) and Michael Archer (New Zealand)
Kevin Dempsey (Ireland) with guide, Jason De Carteret (UK) and team
Lance Ranger with guide, Jason De Carteret (UK) and team
Northwest Passage / Polar Explorers
Northwest Passage / Polar Explorers dogsled expedition
Borge Ousland and team
Doug Stoup and team
Christina Franco (Italy/UK)
Meagan McGrath (Canada)
|
