North Pole 2009: Caitlin Team is Off the Ice

The Catlin Arctic Survey Team was retrieved from the ice yesterday after spending more than 75 days dragging their sleds through the arctic. They never quite reached the North Pole, and were picked up at 85ºN, but their mission will likely be deemed a successful one none the less.

The team set out in March with the intention of using sophisticated equipment to measure the health of the ice and determine the effects of global climate change on the polar ice caps. They have been continually taking samples throughout the journey, and have already sent back some of the results, but we're likely to get more sophisticated data upon their return.

It hasn't exactly been an easy journey for team, which consists of polar explorer Pen Hadow, Anne Daniels, and Martin Hartley. Twice they had to endure look waits between supply drops thanks to poor weather, and the conditions on the ice varied greatly across their two and a half months out. Now, with summer fast approaching, it's time to beat a hasty retreat and head home for warm weather, a comfortable bed, and plenty of good things to eat and drink.

Well done team!

Meanwhile, the Baffin Babes are still enjoying their little romp around Baffin Island. Their latest dispatch came in a few days ago, in which they report that after 60 days of skiing without much snow, the skies have opened and started dumping on them. In fact, they received 40cm (15 inches) of snow in one day, and it has greatly slowed down their progress. They report that sled feels as heavy as ever, despite having less weight, thanks to the deep, wet snow.

But, they also note that the weather is warming ever so slowly, and they days are much more pleasant now. They spot seals sunning themselves on a daily basis, and bird have returned to the arctic, bringing their songs with them. They've been working hard over the past two months, but it sounds like they are having a great time, and are in much better spirits then they were awhile back, when they were sick, and the weather was far colder.

Enjoy it while you can girls. At some point you have to come home. ;)

North Pole 2009: Two Teams At 90ºN!

It was a big weekend at the top of the world, with two teams accomplishing their goal of reaching the North Pole, while the Barneo Ice Station closes for another season.

We'll start with the Victorinox North Pole 09 Team, consisting of John Huston and Tyler Fish. The two Americans found themselves in a race against time this weekend in order to reach the North Pole and still catch the last plane out to Barneo Station, and then home. The deteriorating ice conditions at Barneo forced the closure of the Russian Base, which meant John and Tyler had to arrive at the Pole by yesterday morning. They worked overtime to get there, and made it, becoming the first American team to go unsupported to the Pole. Congrats guys!

The Peary Centennial Expedition also lists their current position as 90ºN, with team members Lonnie Dupre, Max Chaya, and Stuart Smith all arriving safely after 53 days on the ice, covering 650 miles in the process. The trio arrived on Saturday morning, giving themselves plenty of time to enjoy the view and reflect on their achievement before they too caught the plane to Barneo on Sunday. Congrats to the team for a job well done as well, and a second round of congratulations to Max, who has now reached the "Three Poles", having been to both the North and South Pole and the summit of Everest. Well done Max!

The latest updates on Christina Franco's page indicate that she is heading home as well. There aren't a lot of details to be gathered from her posts just yet , but Christina was making a Last Degree journey to the Pole as a training exercise for next year's attempt at a solo journey from the Canadian side of the ice. I'm sure we'll hear more once she's back in civilization, but it seems she accomplished her goal as well.

Meanwhile, the Catlin Arctic Survey Team seem unconcerned with how they plan to get off the ice. They've now been out for 57 days, and covered more than 230 miles, with another 340 to go before the get to the Pole. But they're carrying sensitive scientific equipment along with them, including ground penetrating radar, and their goal has always been to gauge the healthy of the Polar ice, and determine the effects of global climate change on the region. From all accounts, that mission is going well, but they will be out there for awhile yet.

Finally, the Baffin Babes continue to struggle with illness on their journey across Baffin Island. After a brief respite on Saturday, in which they stayed in a "luxury camp", they thought that they had recovered, but upon hitting the trail yesterday, two of the girls began to feel ill again. Their latest dispatch says that each of them has taken turns with this bout of illness, which includes vomiting and diarrhea, none of which sounds like very much fun when you're also trekking across inhospitable terrain, dragging a heavy load, and it's -30º outside. Good luck girls. Hope you're feeling better soon.

North Pole 2009: Navigating By The Seat of Your Pants

It's been a few days since I posted an update on the arctic teams, but they continue to make progress and receive attention from a variety of outlets, especially the Catlin Arctic Survey Team, which made headlines when they announced they use a pair of lacy underwear to help navigate. Apparently, when the compass doesn't work, thanks to the close proximity to the magnetic North Pole, they'll navigate by the sun, and when that fails, due to clouds or darkness, they'll break out a tiny thong and use it to catch the wind. Thank goodness someone thought ahead enough to bring sexy underwear on the trip! This unconventional navigation system seems to working though, as the team passed a milestone today, reaching 83º N.

The Victorinox North Pole Team continues to move ahead, crossing 85º N a few days back, and averaging more than 8 nautical miles per day this past week. For the most part, the ice continues to be smooth and easily navigable for them, but in their last dispatch they reported large blocks of rubble once again, with some pieces the size of cars. This impeded their progress dramatically and has been a source of frustration at times, but hasn't seemed to impacted John or Tyler's demeanor at this point.

The Peary Centennial Expedition is also past 85º N and is making even better time than Victorinox, notching closer to 10 nautical miles per day in their recent activity. The team feels that they are about half done, in terms of time, although they still have a long way to go. They do expect their speed to continue to increase in speed as they get closer to the Pole. In the latest audio dispatch, Lonnie Dupre talks about the hardships of crawling out of a warm sleeping bag in the morning when it is -30º outside. He also notes that the bags have doubled in weight since they set off thanks to the fact that they have frozen. They do their best to try to thaw them, but such is the life of an arctic explorer.

Finally, the Baffin Babes haven't put out a lot of dispatches on their journey, but they continue to press ahead on their exploration of Baffin Island. They did mention awhile back that they had met an Austrian hunter who had come to Canada to hunt polar bears, and the girls found that to be very odd, since the bears are protected pretty much everywhere else, except in Canada. The threesome will become a foursome soon as well, as Ingebjoerg Tollefsen reports that she'll be off to Clyde River to join her friends in ten days. You may recall that Ingebjoerg was forced to stay behind due to illness, but she is now healthy and ready to go, and will be soon out on the ice too.

That's all for now. Remember, if you ever get lost, you've always got your underwear to help you navigate! ;)

North Pole 2009: Optimism and Frustration

It has been another busy couple of days for the arctic teams, who continue moving forward, with reportedly warmer weather and overall better ice conditions.

The Victorinox North Pole Team consisting of American's John Huston and Tyler Fish, posted another one of their weekly recaps a few days back with insights into the highs and lows of making an expedition to the North Pole. They talk about how excited they were to cross the 84º point last week, having made it in 18 days, right on their pre-expedition schedule. But since then, they feel like they are making slower time and covering less distance than they had hoped. The team felt like once they got passed 84º north they'd see an increase in speed, but that hasn't materialized just yet. They also report that they came across tracks in the snow of a large polar bear and her cubs, but they were moving in the opposite direction, which made them feel a bit better about having the predators in the area.

The Catlin Arctic Survey Team welcomed spring in the Arctic, and are happy to have -24ºC days as opposed to those -40º days (-70º windchills) they had not so long ago. Expedition member Pen Hadow notes that while everyone trains very hard for their journey to the Pole, none of that training can prepare you for the real experience out on the ice, where it is colder, windier, and darker than you expect. Early on in these expeditions it's dark for nearly 24 hours of the day. The team has now been out on the ice for nearly 24 days, and they estimate that they could be out for as much as 70 more, a reality that is just now sinking in, and making them realize how demanding their journey could be.

The Peary Centennial Team is also reportedly making progress and claim that they passed a few pleasant milestones in the past few days as well. For one, they actually say that the sleds are beginning to feel lighter, and not just because their supplies are dwindling. Improved ice conditions have made it easier to pull their gear, and the -10ºF that they first had over the weekend was a 40 degree swing in their favor, making it a more pleasant experience all around out on the ice.

Meanwhile, on Baffin Island, the Baffin Babes have finally dropped another dispatch, reporting a close encounter of their own with a young male polar bear. The bear was heading directly for them at one point, and they readied their flare guns and rifles just in case, but before he strayed too close, the big guy moved off in a different direction looking for something else to eat. The Babes moved forward after that, but were quite cautious for some time. They are more likely to encounter bears on Baffin than teams actually headed north, so they're on alert at all times.

Finally, ExWeb sister site ThePoles.com is reporting that the Russians are now saying that Barneo Station is on track to open in early April, launching "last degree" expeditions from that side of the ice. Supplies have already begun to drop into the area, and a landing strip will be blown out of the ice shortly. Mi-8 "Hind" helicopters have already been sent to the region to look for stable ice on which to begin construction of the base that rises and falls with each Arctic season.

North Pole 2009: Christina Off The Ice!

Disappointing news from the ice this morning, as Christina Franco's website has been updated with the news that she has been retrieved from the ice following what is being described as equipment failure just two days into her attempt at a solo journey to the North Pole. Apparently, Christina's stove suffered a "double failure" and the time and parts needed to repair it would require her to fall far behind the schedule she needed. Unable to heat the tent or cook food, she has made the choice to return home. For now.

But, Christina does say she isn't quite done with the North Pole just yet. She will regroup and head to the Russian station at Borneo where, she'll ski from 88º to the Pole. She sees this as good practice for next year, when she fully intends to go after that solo expedition once again.

The Catlin Arctic Survey Team, has already fallen into a routine out on the ice, with long days of pulling their heavy sleds, just to set up camp in time to drill for core samples. The team is also finding newly formed ice as they go, and Ann Daniels reports in yesterday's blog post that she gets the unenviable task of having to "go first" out on this ice to test it's stability. A nerve racking task to be sure. The team's twitter feed this morning reports that they are navigating an ice field with 2-3 meter blocks of ice, and temperatures hovering around -40ºC. Sounds like a lovely day!

The Peary Centennial Expedition got underway on Wednesday, but departed from Cape Discovery, rather than Ward Hunt Island, due to the better weather conditions. The starting location is actually a bit further south, but with improved conditions they hoped to make up the difference in no time. The plan seems to be working, as they managed 3.5 nautical miles yesterday, which is a solid pace for this early into the expedition. Weather and spirits are reportedly good, although the temps are about -45ºF as well.

Finally, The Baffin Babes are off! The team left Norway on the 1st of March, and there has been no update from them since, so we can only assume that they are on Baffin Island at this point, and preparing to set out on their journey. In typical Babe fashion, they arrived at the airport with too much luggage and had to pare down a few things before they could board their plane. Hopefully we'll be getting updates from the team soon.

That's all for now!

North Pole 2009: At The Starting Line

The 2009 Arctic Season is just about to get underway, and there are a few updates today from teams that are getting ready to hit the ice.

We'll start with the Calin Arctic Survey Team, who were apparently planning on setting out today, but ran into a few minor snags, and elected to delay a day in order to take care of the issues. Apparently there is an issue with the team's technology and their survival gear, and while the problems are specifically mentioned, they are described as minor, but they felt it was best to address them while still in Resolute Bay rather than dealing with them on the trail. Considering the conditions they are about to set off into, I'd say that was a wise choice. The plan now is to get underway tomorrow, and begin their survey of the arctic ice using a special ground penetrating radar.

Christina Franco is also in Resolute Bay and continues the process of inspecting her gear and packing for her expedition as well. She'll be making a solo expedition to the North Polo, and in order to begin the acclimatization process for the temperatures she'll experience, Christina has been strolling around the rather small town. She reports that while the walks have been short, it doesn't take long for the cold to sting her face. Bad news Christina, you have two months of that ahead!

Finally, some news from the Baffin Babes as well as it seems they are now down a babe. When the girls set out from Qikiqtarjuaq, on Baffin Island, there will be only three of them, as Ingebjoerg Tollefsen has been suffering with a stomach ailment for some time, and will not make the initial trip. Instead, she'll concentrate on getting better, and join her pals in April, hopefully in Clyde River, to finish up the expedition. Get well Ingebjoerg!

Also, if there are any companies out there that want to sponsor the Babes, they note that they still have room on their hats for a sponsor patch. Obviously this would be a highly visible spot for any sponsor, so drop the girls a note if you're interested. Their expedition should receive a good amount of attention.

By next week we should start to get some reports back from the ice. Good luck to all the teams, and remember, don't feed the polar bears.

Baffin Babes Prepare for Arctic Adventure!

The Baffin Babes are a team of four women who will be setting out on an 80 day ski expedition through Baffin Island beginning in March. The plan is to ski over 1400km (870 miles) as they survey the impact of climate change on the fragile environments on the island, while visiting three remote Inuit villages along the way.

The team consists of Vera and Emma Simonsson of Sweden and Ingebjoerg Tollefsen, and Kristin Folsland Olsen of Norway. The ladies are all experienced outdoor athletes with a lot of drive and ambition, and they've each been preparing for this journey for months. You can check out their complete profiles by clicking here.

The girls have also set up a blog to post dispatches on their big adventure. There are plenty of posts already regarding their training, gear, preparation, and so on, and hopefully we'll get regular updates from the once the expedition is underway. They've also created an expedition page with more information on their plans as well, as they intend to break the journey down into several stages as they make their way across Baffin Island.

The Baffin Babes are also still looking for supporters, and if you would like to help their cause you'll receive a personally autographed Baffin Babes card like the one pictured with this post. To contribute simply send an e-mail to baffinbabes@baffinbabes.com.

Thanks to Belgian Adventurer Louis-Philippe Loncke for sending this story my way. Louis-Philippe is planning his own adventure for this spring in the Himalaya with his Project: Chocolate Sherpa expedition. You can read about it here.