North Pole 2006 - Diary

4.5.2006 Expedition at home in Finland

Expedition — Tue, 08 May 2007 10:03:00 GMT

The Expedition arrived safe and happy back in Finland today after flying in from Spitzbergen via Oslo. After champagne, cakes and coffee, we held a well attended and successful press conference at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport.

After this, we returned to the welcome embrace of our families, having been away for nearly three long months.

We would like to thank all our readers and followers for your support and questions. In your own very important way, you have helped us achieve our dream.

Daily updates of this diary end with this entry.

All is well with the Expedition.

All is happy with the Expedition.

2.5.2006 Cheerful chores and charcoal grills

Expedition — Sun, 07 May 2006 08:45:00 GMT

Today we spent another relaxing day: we serviced our gear and equipment; agreed upon the delegation of Expedition chores and responsibilities; went shopping; ate and drank … a full day’s work, in fact.

We discovered that Turkey’s second largest daily newspaper had written an article about us. To celebrate this, we decided to have a Kebab for lunch.

For our evening meal we decided not to eat out. Instead, we gathered together all the leftovers from our fridges and planned a grand old slap-up meal. We had acquired a couple of single-use grills, so we decided to have barbequed chicken and steak. To go with the meat, we decided on salad.

[Ed: The Expedition has again had a day full of difficult decisions, so it seems.]

All is well with the Expedition.

Game for grilling

1.5.2006 Psychological testing

Expedition — Wed, 03 May 2006 08:10:00 GMT

Today we took things easy. To be more precise, we continued our post-trek feeding and weight-gaining frenzy. We also went for a stroll and took in the local scenery.

In connection with the medical research side of the Expedition, we underwent psychological tests to measure our current learning and concentration abilities. It appears that our attentiveness, or concentration, abilities are not quite up to scratch at the moment, probably due to our state of post-trek fatigue and over-tiredness. This came as no surprise to our Research Doctors. Still, as medical research guinea pigs, we are a happy bunch of trekkers.

All is well with the Expedition.

30.4.2006 Hunting for elusive desserts

Expedition — Tue, 02 May 2006 15:51:00 GMT

The Expedition is well into its servicing and debriefing process. Although we are born skiers, we are also capable of eating and sleeping with a true sense of purpose. We slept long and late. The feeding frenzy we began yesterday is now continuing in earnest.

At the restaurant yesterday evening we all wanted second helpings of dessert, but the kitchen had already closed for the night. We thus made the only choice available: the Expedition unanimously decided to reserve a table for today as soon as the restaurant reopens. We were queuing up at the door.

As a starter, we ordered the elusive dessert we had missed out on yesterday (an excellent Crème Brulee). Next, we consumed a normal May Day lunch, after which we ordered a second dessert. By this time, though, we had eaten all the Crème Brulee available in Spitzbergen, so we were forced to choose a different dessert. During the course of this week we shall endeavor to cause each of the dessert menus in Spitzbergen to run out.

The Expedition will return to Finland via Oslo on Friday, May 5th, 2006, ETA Helsinki Vantaa International Airport 1050 Finnish Time.

All is well with the Expedition.

There’s plenty of room in these civilian trousers; Perttu and Toni have lost weight.

29.4.2006 To Spitzbergen via Station Barneo

Expedition — Tue, 02 May 2006 15:55:00 GMT

Having arrived at the Geographic North Pole, we pitched camp. Our next chore was to get the snow-melting process underway. We need to drink plenty of liquids to treat the dehydration we are all suffering from, due to our long final push without breaks.

Next, we made an inventory of our remaining food rations and decided what could be eaten now, and what should be “saved for a rainy day”. In a worst-case scenario, if weather conditions prevent aircraft from flying, or if there are equipment failures, we would need to wait several days at the Pole before being picked up.

Another important task was to take blood samples for the medical research being undertaken as part of the Expedition. Then, we crawled into our sleeping bags and fell asleep. After a while, Henkku got on the blower to Station Barneo to see about our pick-up flight. The helicopter flight was soon arranged, but the timing remained somewhat open-ended. The upshot of this was that the Mi-8 chopper arrived unexpectedly, unannounced and out of the blue. Surprised out of our sleep, we had a rush on to get out of our tents and strike camp.

The helicopter had already picked up another expedition, whom we met on board. On the same flight the chopper also swooped down to resupply Bettina Aller’s expedition. Bettina’s Argos transmitter had broken down, so we gave them ours. On the return journey the helicopter also picked up a dog-sleigh expedition, including twelve dogs. The more the merrier!

Finally, we arrived safely at Station Barneo. Once there, we consumed our first substantial hot meal of “proper” food since the trek began. We ate ourselves sick. After a short wait we flew out of Barneo on the service flight to Spitzbergen. The incoming jet flight had been delayed by bad weather for twelve hours. The flight was conducted with Russian precision. None of us can remember when last it was possible, in this era of aviation terrorism, to board a scheduled flight armed to the teeth with sheath-knives for sharpening pencils, and stash our Bear shotgun in the overhead locker.

On arrival in Spitzbergen, we were greeted by Support Team members Pasi Nissilä and Heikki Karinen, and the reporter and photographer from Apu-lehti magazine. Because our arrival was delayed by half a day, the guys had had plenty of extra time on their hands, and they used it well: they had polished our servicing and debriefing routines to perfection!

For the rest of the day, they led us like tethered goats from one task to the next … “Put your gear to dry here.” “Bag your clothes in this sack.” “Jump on the weighing scales. Take a shower. Give us a blood sample. Now it’s time for your medical check-up. Put on your civilian clothes …” And so on.

As the evening approached, we opened welcome-home presents and parcels from family and friends. Some of the parcels contained May Day party noses and other such novelties. The high point of the evening was an evening meal at the best restaurant in town. This went some way to satisfying those food fantasies that have been bothering us for the last two months. After dinner the party continued for a while, but at last it was time to attend to our most important debriefing task: Sleep.

All is well with the Expedition.

Happy May Day!

Helicopter lifts Expedition off North Pole

28.4.2006 Mission accomplished

Expedition — Mon, 01 May 2006 19:35:00 GMT

The Unsupported Expedition of the Airborne Rangers Club of Finland planted its Finnish Flag at the Geographic North Pole today, 4/29/2006 at 1931 Finnish time (1631 GMT).

All is very, very excellent with Our Expedition.

27.4.2006 Final agonizing kilometers

Expedition — Tue, 02 May 2006 15:45:00 GMT

Our four-hour rest break from the agonizing final march was very welcome, but we only got two hour’s sleep. The rest of the time was spent on the essential tasks of melting water from snow for drinking and cooking. And, of course, eating took time too.

The ice is moving at a frightful rate of knots. This has forced us to recalculate the active skiing time necessary to reach our goal. In order to ensure success, we have taken a very difficult decision: we have abandoned six of our seven sledges. One sledge we have retained for lead-crossings, and for rescue purposes. Together with the six sledges, we also left behind all equipment which is not absolutely essential for safety and survival. For example, we abandoned one tent, one set of kitchen equipment, and all of our spare clothes.

Our progress has been severely hampered by zero visibility, soft drifting snow, and strong headwinds. To make things still worse, we were faced with a new challenge: during the final stint, two skis snapped on us. We quickly transformed them into one-meter-long mini skis and got underway again. The repair job didn’t take long, but we could not afford to lose a minute. One team member got a ski-boot wet while crossing a lead.

Almost total whiteout conditions strained the already tired eyes of our lead skiers.

In spite of all these agonizing challenges, our spirits were lifted by the appearance of the first living creature we have seen for a very long time. A storm bird, probably an Arctic fulmar, circled curiously overhead wondering what on earth we were up to. The feeling was mutual. We stopped skiing to ask each other was this real, or are we just hallucinating in our fatigue. It was real.

This grueling final stint, together with almost no sleep at all, has some team members nodding off on their skis. We are no longer even dreaming of a nice soft bed: sometimes the mere though of leaning on your Exel ski poles and dozing for a second sounds heavenly enough.

All is well with the Expedition.

26.4.2006 Mother nature testing us

Expedition — Tue, 02 May 2006 15:58:00 GMT

No sooner had we begun our final sprint to the Pole, than Mother Nature again decided to test us. The snow-white “moving walkway” beneath our feet is speeding South at a rate of 700 m per hour. In other words, on every one-hour leg we must ski an extra 0.7 km.

A 10 m/s bitter-cold wind blew straight into our faces. Severe ice pack rubble is everywhere around us.

At the moment we are taking a four hour rest break, after which we shall march non-stop to the Pole.

25.4.2006 Salute to the Norwegians

Expedition — Mon, 01 May 2006 19:17:00 GMT

Word has reached us this evening that the three-member Norwegian expedition has arrived at the North Pole today, April 24th. Cecilia and her trusty companions did a magnificent job! They now belong to that rare breed of human being to have reached the North Pole Unsupported, i.e. with no material re-supply.

We, The North Pole Expedition of the Airborne Rangers Club of Finland, salute you. It is our sincere intention to add seven Finnish names to that select list in two days from today.

Our own day was good. The weather was kind to us, and the terrain was fairly negotiable. The only obstacles to slow us were a couple of challenging leads that needed crossing. The distance traveled today was somewhat less than on previous days.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 55 km
Skiing days remaining: 2

All is well with the Expedition.

These icecubes would keep a very large coctail cool.

24.4.2006 Human spoor

Expedition — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 06:50:00 GMT

The going was much the same today as it was yesterday: same active trekking time; similar distance traveled.

The high point of the day: Human Tracks! We sniffed and scouted. Weber was one track. The other track was unmistakably Norwegian. This was a pleasant surprise: we have seen no signs of other expeditions for seven weeks. The spoor was less than one day old. We are closer to the competition than we thought.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 85.6 km
Skiing days remaining: 3

All is all well, with our Expedition.

23.4.2006 Sprint finish

Expedition — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:18:00 GMT

Today is the Beginning of the End: a fine start to our final push to the Pole. No surprise obstacles before us; we could ski all day in good conditions. Result: a new day-record of 34.9 km.

These days we are skiing 13 legs a day. This means 13 hours of active trekking, plus hourly breaks and lunch break. That makes 15 hours from camp to camp. We are sleeping about 4 hours a night. But never mind; we can sleep in Spitzbergen.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 118 km
Skiing days remaining: 4

All is very well with our Expedition.

22.4.2006 Two steps forward, one step back

Expedition — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:27:00 GMT

The weather was just as interesting as on many other days: clear sunshine in the morning; completely overcast for the rest of the day.

Visibility was bad, but that is nothing new to us. Even a smidgen of sunshine would help keep our brains active and our spirits high. On the other hand, this skiing business is mostly routine trudging: sometimes it seems that brawn, not brains, are all that’s required. So you just grit your teeth and force your arms, legs and skis to keep trekking.

In terms of making headway towards the Pole, the last two day’s progress has been “two steps forward, one step back.” It’s like running against the flow on a moving walkway. During the last 48 hours, the ice beneath our feet has moved a total of 5 km in a Southerly direction. In other words, for every one-hour leg that we ski in a Northerly direction, the ice takes us 200 meters back where we just came from. Thus, it would be misleading to calculate the actual distance skied on any given day. The only important thing is, how much distance, as-the-crow-flies, remains between us and the Geographic North Pole.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 151 km.
Skiing days remaining: 5.

All is well with the Expedition.

Jermi straining at the leash against a snowbound headwind.

21.4.2006 Nasty-looking holes in the ice

Expedition — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:28:00 GMT

Today was characterized by leads, cracks and holes in the ice. We came across several tens of such obstacles during the day. The good thing was that at no time was it necessary to put on our dry-suits and swim. Each of the leads could be either circumnavigated or skied over.

Having said this, there was no stopping our young Jermi (Tertsunen) from taking a dip. Jermi was scouting a route through an area of weak, slushy ice. The ice gave way. He was armpit-deep in seawater without his dry-suit on. We have practiced for such events before departure; we went into our recovery routine, and everything went like clockwork.

Part of the team helped Jermi out of the water; other team members erected a tent; and one man lit a stove for hot water. One hour and twenty minutes later, we were on our way once more. Jermi was warm and relatively dry; none the worse for his refreshing experience.

Weather-wise, a surprisingly bitter, cold wind was brewing. As evening drew on, the temperature dropped significantly.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 179 km
Skiing days remaining: 6

All is well with the Expedition.

20.4.2006 North Pole here we come

Expedition — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 09:38:00 GMT

Our series of good skiing days continues. Despite a brisk headwind, and regardless of the fact that our active skiing time today was half an hour shorter than normal, we skied almost 30 km closer to the Pole. We will need to ski seven more days without break, and cover almost 30 km every day. Having completed this simple task, we shall then be standing on the Geographic North Pole. There will be nobody above us in the World.

We could have hoped for smoother ice today. We did make fast and level going across smooth ice sheets on several occasions but, all too frequently, we were slowed by pack ice or wind-driven drifts of soft snow. If we were still to be pulling sledges as heavy as they were even two weeks ago, we would be hard pressed to cover even twenty kilometers a day in this terrain.

It goes without saying that the biggest drama of the day revolved around the durability of our skis and other equipment. That repaired ski of Tero’s, which kept us so busy last night, has stood up well to the strain of today’s field test. A small sigh of relief is thus appropriate.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 205 km
Skiing days remaining: 7

All is well with the Expedition.

19.4.2006 Fit men, broken skiis

Expedition — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 06:59:00 GMT

An eventful day: good things and bad. On the second leg of the day, one of Tero’s skis snapped in half. This was not a problem: he merely put on a spare ski and the journey continued.

Half an hour later, the ski on Tero’s other foot snapped in half. The break on both skis was in the same place: just behind the binding. It was as though the pair of skis was jinxed, or that one ski had sympathy for the other.

Now we did have a problem. Due weight restrictions on our sledges, the Expedition set out with only two spare skis per man. Tero’s first spare ski went to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean while we were crossing a lead last month. His last spare ski got deployed half an hour ago. The second ski break was thankfully only partial, so Tero was able to ski on it until lunchtime.

By lunch we had already covered more kilometers than ever before on a morning stint. We retained the least damaged ski so that a proper repair job could be attempted in the evening. However, so that the afternoon stint could be completed we had to spent over an hour after lunch swapping bindings.

Because of these difficulties, and also due to rougher terrain, we covered fewer kilometers in the afternoon. There were several leads to cross, but all of them could be skied over. No swimming was necessary. The final legs of the evening were swifter, which made for a good day’s skiing all round.

This evening the camp has become a major ski repair shop. We cut a piece of sheet metal from one of our cooking-stove boxes. The metal was first bent to form a splint, and then screwed securely in place over the break. Tomorrow we shall put our craftsmanship to a field test.

Distance remaining to the Pole: 232 km
Skiing days remaining:8

All is well with the Expedition.

Ski repair shop. Poppis is screwing the metal splice into place. We crafted the splice form metal sheet butchered from our cooking-stove shield box.

18.4.2006 Regular day

Expedition — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 06:04:00 GMT

Neither uphills nor downhills today: the going was slick and smooth; visibility was partial whiteout. We set a good pace throughout the day, and traveled a respectable 28.3 km. Rest day proved restorative: the men were fighting fit, and biting at the bit. At about four o’clock local time (GMT -6 hrs) we heard an aircraft overhead. Probably, it was a Kenn Borek De Havilland Twin Otter. What its mission was we do not know. Distance remaining to the Pole: 260 km Skiing days remaining: 9 All is well with the Expedition.

17.4.2006 A scalding and a day off work

Expedition — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:31:00 GMT

We decided yesterday that today we would sleep in, rest up during the morning, then ski a half-day in the afternoon. Certainly we need the extra sleeping time, and we need to charge our own batteries both physically and mentally. In front of us there still remain ten grueling days of trekking.

Unexpectedly, the planned half day’s rest turned into a full rest day. Henkku, our Expedition leader, had a mishap while boiling water in his tent. He scalded himself, but the burn is not serious. Just in case, we administered first aid according to instructions from the Expedition’s Support Team Doctor, speaking live from Finland on the satellite phone.

Henrik’s injuries are minor but, once again, we decided to play on the safe side and give the skin an extra half day’s healing time. We shall continue as normal tomorrow, with a full days skiing.

Now begins the countdown:
Skiing days remaining: 10
Distance remaining to the Geographic North Pole: 288 km

All is well with the Expedition.

Our free day was mostly spent indoors.

16.4.2006 Grilled chicken

Expedition — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 16:42:00 GMT

The day broke in clear sunshine and with temperatures similar to those of yesterday. This gave rise to the misguided belief that the going today would be as fine too. We were wrong. A nasty cutting wind blew. Our hoods were securely fastened all day long.

Inside our hoods, however, we were again pondering Life’s Big Questions. Or we would have been, were it not for that single overwhelming subject, on everyone’s mind, blocking out all other cognitive activity: FOOD. Our regime of continuous high energy consumption and strictly-rationed calorie intake causes chronic pangs of hunger. Various delicacies spin before our eyes like icons in a One-Armed-Bandit. On breaks the subject, invariably, is food. How much of this or that dish is each team member going to gorge. Who would like to eat what, right now. Regular favorites on this menu are:

Grilled chicken
Sausage and potato casserole
Finnish meat pie with two sausages
Kalakukko
New potatoes
Charcoal-grilled Entrecote steak (or just anything charcoal grilled)
Frozen berries topped with hot caramel sauce
Confectionaries to finish

When we finally get off this lump of ice called the North Pole, we shall gorge ourselves to death like hungry hound dogs. By that time, however, our trusty Support Team will be watching our every move and saying: “You can’t eat that, it’s bad for your health.”

All is well with the Expedition.

Narrow leads can be jumped over. You’ve just got to get your take-off right.

15.4.2006 Spring has arrived

Expedition — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 12:36:00 GMT

Weatherwise, today was the best day of the Expedition thus far. The sun shone all night long, and continued shining throughout the day, in cloudless skies. Already during the first leg of the day, we shed our outer ski suits and put them on the sledges. For the remainder of the day we skied in lighter clothing, also made by Sasta.

Our luck soon changed though. We hit another open lead. Nothing for it but swimming: one man swam across with the “ferry-rope”. Then, for the umpteenth time, the ferry service shuttled back and forth until all men and gear were over, safe and dry.

There were more leads to cross later on but, fortunately, they could be crossed on skis. Otherwise, the day’s skiing was on “easy ground”. As a result, we crossed the 87th parallel, and traveled a distance equaling our previous daily record for the trip. As an added bonus we got a good face tan.

Questions frequently asked by our readers are: “Why is our pick-up deadline at the Pole so fixed?” “Why are we in such a hurry?” “Why did we make such a tight schedule?”

The answer is twofold: Spring and supplies:

1. The Canadian airline Kenn Borek, operating out of Resolute Bay, has guaranteed our evacuation airlift, but the contracted guarantee expires at the end of April. Furthermore, the Russian-operated airstrip at the Pole, serving Research Station Barneo, closes down for the summer on April 29th. So our deadline is “written in stone”: the last scheduled flight out departs for Spitzbergen on 4/29/2006.
2. In full knowledge of the above, we have with us only enough food and stove fuel to last until April 29th. Daily rations were calculated precisely before our departure, in order to minimize sledge weight.

For the above reasons, at least according to the information available to us at present, our pick-up date at the Geographic North Pole is fixed as April 29th.

So by that deadline, this Bunch of Finnish Nomads will get itself, and all its gear, to the Pole! Understood?

All with our Expedition is very well.

14.4.2006 Fine day’s skiing

Expedition — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 07:08:00 GMT

The Expedition is yet again unanimous. We ceremoniously declare: “Today was a brilliant day”.

All day long the going was good. Visibility could have been better, but the icescape was fairly smooth. A big plus was that the recent full moon is actually working to our advantage.

It is a known fact that the full moon causes strong currents in the Arctic Ocean beneath our feet. These currents tear and torture the ice, opening fresh leads and raising obstacles to our progress. In our area of the Arctic ice-sheet, the moon has given birth to many new leads, many of them going generally North, and most of them covered already with rubbery ice. This ice was strong enough to ski on, but only just so. On one occasion the lead skier went through the ice and took a dip, but all that was needed was a change of clothes.

To round off the day, the sun came out during the final leg of the evening. We pitched camp in wonderful weather. The men were all smiles: we have again posted a record day’s progress: 28.4 km.

Many of our readers have wondered how we can measure our distance traveled with such accuracy, when the terrain is so difficult. The answer is simple: Global Positioning System, or GPS. This satellite-based system gives us a precise position fix (latitude, longitude) whenever we need it. Having pitched camp for the evening we check our geographic position, and compare it to yesterday evening’s camp location. From these two locations, it is easy to calculate the distance between the two camps “as the crow flies”, so to speak. So the distance we post each day in this diary is absolute; it does not take account of, for example, movements of the ice, or detours around obstacles. The actual distance skied on any given day is 15 to 20% greater than the distance posted.

In summary, the distance traveled on the day is an exact measurement of how much closer we are to the Geographic North Pole.

All is well with the Expedition.