Twin Otters heading back to south. We are on ice on our own.Toni wrestles with pack ice, assisted by team members. Ward Hunt Island can be seen in the background.The road to the North Pole is not always straight and level. Sometimes, we just wish it was.Moonshine campIn spite of the freezing conditions, it is warm enough inside the tents. Tero is dealing with his e-mails with his gloves off.Pack-ice in sunset.Living proof of the temperature.Striking camp.Perttu adjusting his Pulkha. The sledges must be packed and unpacked many times each day, due to our Double-Carry tactics.Office work in a warm tent. Henkku is calculation our distance traveled, with the aid of a GPS positioning device.Striking camp.Setting up the Bear Alarm tripwires.Camp in the grip of a storm.Today's picture transmission from the ice did not succeed. This picture is from the first day of the Expedition, when we were airlifted into Ward Hunt.Pole trekking is not always a level playing field. A 100-meter dash on this track would not break any records.Open water.The sun is behind us, in the South. The North Pole is in front of us.A day of rest. The only figures to be seen outside: seven sinister Marmot sleeping bags taking the air.Crossing a lead is precision work.Arctic lunchbreak.A quick snack of Parrot's pine kernels during one of our hourly breaks.Henkku on a break.The maze was negotiated at the head-spinning velocity of 30 meters in 60 minutes.Swimming Northwards. Dry-suits are designed by us, and custom made to our specs. They really work well, and keep us dry and warm.Men at lunch. Preparing lunch is quick and easy: just open the pre-packed lunch-bag, pour in hot water from the thermos flask, add a generous helping of fat, and get stuck in.Pulling together, we can get the sledges over large obstacles.Finnish flag on it's way to the North Pole.When blinded by whiteout, there is no choice but to blaze on in a straight line. Often, this tactic wastes energy. You find yourself going over obstacles, instead of around them.Mikko on the pull.We found the footprints of an Arctic fox. Speaking strictly form a foxy viewpoint, it must be difficult to find a partner in these climbs.Today's picture download from the ice did not succeed. This photo is from earlier on in the Expedition.Skiing in a white mist, we bumped into a pressure ridge.Our magic GPS gives us a precise position fix. This moment is always motivationally important; it tells us, reliably, how far we have traveled.Narrow leads can be jumped over. You've just got to get your take-off right.Our free day was mostly spent indoors.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.Jermi straining at the leash against a snowbound headwind.These icecubes would keep a very large coctail cool.Happy May Day!Helicopter lifts Expedition off North PoleThere's plenty of room in these civilian trousers; Perttu and Toni have lost weight.Game for grillingAll is happy with the Expedition.
