2008 North Pole Ski Expedition Blog

April 27:
Current position: SAS Radisson, Longyearbyen, Norway! Both teams are back in Longyearbyen. They returned by charter air from basecamp Borneo today and thoroughly enjoyed a well deserved shower and rest. As you will hear from the update below, they are also thoroughly enjoying their celebratory dinner! Many thanks to everyone who has helped the teams from a number of different angles- physical training, mental and emotional support- there are so many who have played a part in the success of both of these teams. We thank you one and all! Once again, major congratulations to everyone!

April 26:
The team enjoyed a final beautiful day in camp- blue skies, sunny, unlimited visibility, temperature around -10° C (-14° F). They were then picked up for their helicopter flight to basecamp Borneo. They plan to enjoy a final night of festivities at Borneo before their flight back to Longyearbyen tomorrow. They anticipate arriving in Longyearbyen around 5:00 PM. They will have time to enjoy a shower- what a concept! And then a final celebratory dinner. They will give their final update tomorrow evening. Here are their most recent postings.

April 25:
The team enjoyed a well deserved day of rest and relaxation. Eating lots of food, lounging in their tents, visiting between tents and with the dogsled team at times. They enjoyed being able to sleep in and not break down camp and hit the trail first thing! The weather though beautiful for travel yesterday has been closing in with blowing snow, fairly strong winds and very limited visibility. A good day to stay snuggled in tents! The current plan is for both the ski and dogsled teams to be picked up by helicopter tomorrow around 5:00 PM for the flight to basecamp Borneo. They continue their southerly drift as they’re camped. The good news is they don't have to travel back to 90° to meet the helicopter but rather will be picked up at their camp. They will spend the night Saturday at Borneo, then return by charter air to Longyearbyen on Sunday.

Our best wishes and positive thoughts for a speedy recovery go out to team member John Thompson who flew from Longyearbyen back home to the UK today. We miss you! We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the guides- Keith Heger and Dirk Jensen of Polar Explorers (Wilmette, IL) and Chris Maher of Wintergreen (Ely, MN). They all did a phenomenal job leading the team through very challenging Arctic conditions, keeping everyone’s spirits up and reaching their ultimate goal.  And congratulations again to all of our team members: Adam Cooper ("Coop) (Nottingham, England), Laurie and Richard Goldsmith (Gilroy, CA), Brian Jones (Fredricton, NB, Canada), Mike Strong (Wichita, KS), Rafal Szczepanik (Simianowice, Poland) and Lei Wang (Boston, MA). Job exceedingly well done!

April 24:
Current position is 90° North!!! Congratulations to an incredible team on reaching the North Pole today! They had a long, hard day but achieved their goal. They awoke at 7 AM and reached the North Pole at 7 PM. They covered 10 nautical miles in 9 hours of travel. The ice conditions were quite solid. They ran into a few cracks but again, nothing compared with the conditions they had previously encountered. All were quite excited to reach the Pole and had a well deserved celebration with champagne, photos, and satellite phone calls back to family and friends. They are now comfortably settled into their tents enjoying the fruits of their labors. Major congratulations to all on a hard fought victory! Spending days making no progress and eventually moving backwards is quite discouraging to say the least. But they kept up their spirits, kept plugging away and deserve to feel very proud of themselves! Special congratulations to Laurie and Richard Goldsmith, our Pole-to-Pole team members. They completed a two degree ski expedition to the South Pole last year with Polar Explorers and are now official members of the Bi-Polar Club!

April 23:
Current position is 89° 53’028” North; 039° 01’ 651” West
The team got a helicopter lift today around 11:30 AM and were dropped off around 1:30 PM at 89° 47’ 25” North. Conditions were remarkably improved from where they had been- ice much more solid, much less open water- a great relief to everyone! They covered 6 nautical miles in 5.5 hours which felt like huge progress compared with their recent days of travel.
John Thompson returned safely to Longyearbyen and was seen at the medical clinic. No specific treatment is needed other than keeping his hands warm which he plans to do. His spirits are overall very good and he’s talking about trying again next year. Our thoughts are with you, John! You’re a real trooper and should be very proud of all you accomplished- we certainly are!
Here the live update below:

April 22:
Current position is 89° 19’ 840’ North, 004° 58’ 102 West. The team took a layover day today to rest up from their intense efforts at “going nowhere fast”! The Arctic treadmill is working against them combined with massive amounts of open water. They are finding more open water than they have seen in the 15 years they have been leading North Pole expeditions. Each night, they drift further south and spend the day trying to recapture lost ground, ending up basically right back where they started. One team member, John Thompson, is having some significant frostnip issues on his hands and for his own health and health of the team overall, he will be transferred back to Longyearbyen tomorrow. The team will be getting a shuttle by helicopter over this huge area of open water to a position with firmer ice conditions closer to the North Pole. They will then continue their trek to the north. Meanwhile their spirits are high as they enjoyed their day flying kites, resting, reading, soaking in the beauty of the Arctic (and drifting south 7 nautical miles!). Hear the live update from lead guide Keith Heger below.

April 21:
Current position is 89° 19’ 840” N, 004° 58’ 102” W. The team woke up to discover they had drifted south 3 nautical miles overnight. They skied for 8 hours and had good ice conditions for the first 3 hours in the morning. They then encountered fractured open water with lead after lead, basically stopping any forward progress. These conditions are very challenging physically, mentally and emotionally for the team. But they’re persevering, doing their best to stay positive and recognizing that what they’re experiencing is in the footsteps of the great Arctic explorers throughout history. Though they stated in the phone call to the office that they had phoned in their live update, it hasn't come through.

April 20:
Current position is 89° 20’183” North, 0° longitude (they are exactly at the Prime Meridian also known as the Greenwich Meridian). They had an overall amazing travel day with unlimited blue skies and slight north winds. They are currently drifting to the southwest.
They encountered several patches of open water and rubble zones in their first 4 hours of travel. Then in the last 6 hours of their 10 hour travel day, they covered 8 nautical miles, finding beautiful pans of ice. They thank everyone for all of the support from friends and family. Listen to the live update from lead guide Keith Heger below.

April 19:
Current position is 89° 13’ 664” North. Another rather challenging day of travel as the team again encountered quite a few open leads and many "team building experiences". They were able to navigate around the leads but they definitely impacted the team's progress to the north. They had flat light- cloudy conditions with minimal sunshine, making it difficult to see the contrasts in the snow and ice. They progressed 5 nautical miles as the crow flies, over 7 nautical miles including negotiating around the leads. All are in good spirits- tired but satisfied with their day of travel. Listen to the live report from guide Chris Maher.

April 18:
Current position is 89° 08' 719" North, 004° 21' 676" East. The team had excellent traveling conditions today- sunny skies, unlimited visibility, no wind. The ice conditions were initially excellent- incredibly flat terrain for the first two thirds of the day, then they ran into a number of pressure ridges. They did encounter several sizeable leads that led them on some significant detours to find spots to cross. They traveled 7.8 nautical miles including their sideways motion. Their progress “as the crow flies” was 5.8 nautical miles. Everyone did very well- healthy, warm and now comfortably settled in camp. They enjoyed a wonderful dinner of fish sticks courtesy of team member Adam Cooper. Listen to his live update below.

April 17:
Current position is 89° 04' 116" North, 005° 25' East. The team had an excellent first day of travel on the ice. As they had a late night last night, they slept in a bit and were on the trail by noon. They covered approximately 6 nautical miles in 6 hours which is a very strong showing for the first day. The ice conditions were overall very good- they encountered a number of pressure ridges, some challenging enough that they had to take off their skis and climb through. The weather was very pleasant- quite sunny, temperature around -20° C (-4° F), light and variable winds. Hear the full report from team member Lei Wang.

April 16:
Current position 88° 59' 965" North, 006° 01' 985" East.
The team was scheduled to fly from Longyearbyen to Borneo this morning at 10:00. They were delayed about 8 hours due to weather. They arrived at Borneo at 9:30 PM and left by charter helicopter at 11:00 PM. They met the two degree dogsled team at 11:30 PM, set up camp and are ready for a good night’s rest. They are looking forward to their first full day on the ice tomorrow. Click below for the live update from team member Brian Jones.

April 15:
The team spent the day in Longyearbyen conducting final tweaks of their gear- skis, bindings, sleds and food. They are getting a good night’s rest to be ready for the start of their expedition tomorrow. They will fly in the morning from Longyearbyen to Borneo, then take off by ski pulling their sleds to the North Pole. It was quite windy in Longyearbyen today with much blowing snow and the weather deteriorated over the course of the day.
Polar fact of the day:
From 1829-1833 John Ross pursued his second expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. The expedition was privately sponsored by gin merchant Felix Booth. Ross and his team of Eskimos survived 4 Arctic winters.
Listen to the live update from guide Chris Maher.

April 14:
The North Pole Ski Expedition is gearing up and ready to go. Keith Heger, Director of The Northwest Passage and guide for this expedition, called in the first update to introduce the adventurers and offer a little polar history. Team members are: Adam Cooper ("Coop) (Nottingham, England), Laurie and Richard Goldsmith (Gilroy, CA), Brian Jones (Fredricton, NB, Canada), Mike Strong (Wichita, KS), Rafal Szczepanik (Simianowice, Poland), John Thompson (London, England) and Lei Wang (Boston, MA). Have a listen:

March:
We are in final preparations for our upcoming expedition to the North Pole. As we speak, over 1000 lbs of food and gear are being packed and shipped to Norway. Make sure to check back starting April 14 for the latest on the expedition!