A few days back the airstrip at the Barneo Ice Station was completed, opening the seasonal base for business in 2009. The station is located on the Russian side of the North Pole, roughly 100km from that spot, and sitting at 89ºN. Barneo will now begin hosting teams of adventure travelers and arctic explorers, many of whom will be making "last degree" journey's to the Pole in the days ahead.
Barneo is a unique story when it comes to arctic exploration. Each year Russian helicopters search the ice along the 89th degree looking for a smooth spot to set up camp. They then drop some initial supplies, and a team of men, onto the ice, who go to work building the runway, which eventually allows larger supply planes to land, bringing in more supplies, including temporary ice huts, as well as quite a few people, who will use Barneo as their base of operations for these short, but still demanding, trips to the top of the world.
The life of the Ice Station is a short one however, as it typically opens around the first of April and closes around the first of May. At that time, everything is packed up, and shipped back off the ice for another season, and next year a new Barneo will be built in a similar place. If you'd like to know more about the the base, and can speak Russian, then check out its official website.
Anyone else think a last degree journey to the North Pole would be a great adventure?
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