| T&T left the ice on Thursday May 30, 10.00 PM. | |
| They mailed pictures of the current weather and landing strip to the flight communications in Resolute, back tracking their own trail to a flat pan 5 km from the pole, where the First Air Twin Otter pilots eventually performed an extraordinary landing and pick up. | |
| May 30. The end and new beginnings | |
 | The final morning in our brief camp we knew it was the last day. We didn`t speak. We didn`t think of the pole. We were thinking back on the journey. The hardships, the overcomes. The swims, the seals. Perhaps that`s what it will be like in the final day of them all in life. Remembering the battle and the joys, not the achievements. Not if we won or lost but how we played the game. We headed out in an area of leads, 20 biggies in 2 hours. We rushed as the First Air pilots were on standby with us through the night. We called Mike each 3d hour giving weather reports. But the weather deteriorated and soon we faced a hard northerly wind, fog and snowfall again. We paddled our last lead; face down on top of wobbly sleds getting caught in the wind and the current. We had raced 34 hours out of the past 50 and were blurry eyed, heads spinning from exhaustion. 20km, 15, 10... Then a monstrous ridge; towering 7m/21ft high, blue ice packed in a perfect wall guarding the pole itself. But we had learned our lessons now, and tricked our way navigating through any tinniest passage we could find. The sun broke through for 10 seconds just as we had climbed one top to find a route. It was is if God himself wanted our success. The ridge took only 40 minutes. The last part were pans, wonderful flat pans. Then a small, lead, a final ridge, the GPS on; 89.99,95...we skied beside eachother eyes glued to the digits..96..97...we didn`t breath...90.00.000! We marked the spot with a ski pole, Ericssons banner attached. We kissed and cheered. Made a small North Pole station out of nation flags and Everest summit prayer flags attached to skipoles. Shot pics and video and made camp. We arrived with one last bottle of fuel, two dinners, two porridges and 5 servings of chocolate pudding. Only now did we let ourselves realize how skinny we are. The sat phone went hot. Media, First Air guys, the ExWeb team positioned in Stockholm, Eureka and NY organizing pickups and phone appointments. We slept for 17 hours, waking every 3 hours to call Mike with weather updates. A possible weather window could have us out tonight. We`ll pack up shortly and go to find a landing strip to camp on. Out of the NP expeditions this year, we were the only first timers here. It has been great to take you along as such, you being newbies like us. The awes and the terrors aren`t the same to a veteran. Everybody gave us a zero chance, by right and experience. Not unassisted, not on our first attempt, not straight after the ordeals of the South Pole. Deep inside we too knew our lousy odds all too well. But we had to try at least. And what do you know... 131 days in 6 months on ice and skis. The falling leaves, the Christmas, the bursting spring, the beginning summer - through all that we have skied. Every single day, with 8 rest days. And now the last step, the end of our Polar years. We did it without aid but not without help. Ericsson believed in us when nobody else did. They gave us the funds. Polar veterans have provided skill and experience, they in turn aquired from polar explorers before them. You gave us strength and encouragement in our dark hours. And so this success, like all victories belongs to all of us. The human race in a relay, continouing to strive, to seek and never yield! The impossible proved possible once again. We can do ANYTHING, guys. So let`s do it. Lets` go to Space! (Note: We made it Rob, and so will you. Never give up.) |
| May 29. Latitude 90 00 degrees North, The North Pole | |
 | At 3.17 p.m. today, 30 minutes ago, we reached the pole. Imagine that. (Full update later today) N 90 00,0 S D 27,5 km TT 17,5 h TD 753,2/68days, DNP 0km. Sleds w 80 kg. -2C/12ktsN, Sc 8/8. Contrast: poor, Ice crystals: light, Visibility: 4 km. GPS: 1018 mbar (v), drift 5 km SE. |
| May 29, 13.10 EST | |
| Latest news from T&T. They have gone for 14 hours straight and it's only 5 km left which they expect to cover in approx. 2 hours. They're extremely tired and the weather is bad with high winds.
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| May 29, 09.20 EST | |
| T&T just phoned in again after having skiid 6,5 km in the last four hours leaving 11,6 km to go. The winds have been very strong with a heavy snowfall but it looks like the weather might clear up soon.They feel alright and are in good spirits.
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| May 29, 05.30 EST | |
| T&T just called in and reports bad weather with heavy fog and whiteouts. First air is on stand-by all night. They have 18.1 km to the Pole and expect to reach the Pole in approx. 10 hours. Stay tuned.....
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| May 27. Camp on the run | |
 | The ice was terrible; not leads, instead the worst rubble and pressure ridges in weeks. Lakes of open water in the midst. Did everything to get by, even using big floating ice pans for transportation. Got on them sleds and all, pushed away from one shore with a ski pole and got off when it drifted to the other shore. Made only 27,5 km in 16 hours. Are resting for some hours before we continue. Are very tired. A north wind picked up and we are back in south drift; the whiteout and cloudy conditions continues. In Resolute, the First Air pilots are on standby to fly out at any chance of a weather window. The flight from Eureka takes 8 hours. They can fly as we ski and we'll be checking for air strips on the way. Airdrops with food and other survival gear are prepared for a worst case scenario, should the plane not be able to land and get us. The trouble is to get the drop close enough to us through the cloud cover. N 89 45,1 S 73 24,3 D 27,5 km TT 16,0 h TD 745,6/67days, DNP 27,6. Sleds w 82 kg. -2C/10ktsN, Sc 8/8. Contrast: poor, Ice crystals: light, Visibility: 4 km. GPS: 1020 mbar (-), drift 5 km SE. |
| May 26. Marathon | |
 | "It's 10 minutes to midnight. It's full moon and you're just about to swim a lead 50 km from the North pole. A birthday to remember", Tom said. We taped our feet to prevent blisters and go round the clock now. Currently it's 4.00 am our time and we just made camp after 15 hours of skiing. We'll rest 10 hours and then go again. The Arctic ocean treated us to the best birthday gift we could have asked for: The initial 10 hours were without big leads. Made 30 km in that time although navigating on compass in soggy snow. We haven't seen the sun for 4 days now and soon there should be a short window of good weather. We need it for a fast air pickup, considering our only few days of food and gas left. There is no drift and no wind. We can`t afford any chances with this ice. It`s +4C. The edges of the leads are now so soft we must lay flat when getting off the sleds after paddle. Bands of rubble and pressure ridges are everywhere and smoky dark waterclouds tower on the horizon. We'll try to run for it in the next 34 hours, resting only 5-6 hours tomorrow, depending on the ice conditions. We are so tired we see flashes. Our head spin, our pulse is racing and our legs has edema. But time has come for our North Pole summit push. (Happy b-day Denise & Harriette). N 89 31,2 S 70 26,6 D 35,0 km TT 15,0 h TD 718,1/66days, DNP 53,6. Sleds w 85 kg. +4C/5ktsN, Sc 8/8. Contrast: poor, Ice crystals: light, Visibility: 4 km. GPS: 1022 mbar (-), Pos am 8912,3/7136,8 drift 2,4 km ESE |
| May 25. 89 00 North. The last degree. | |
 | Squalls of snowrain hit the tent canvas, melted and dripped on Tina's wet clothes on the dryline. They in turn dripped on our sleeping bags, which dripped on the mattresses where all the water finally collected in pools. Our tent was a dark, clammy grotto. But the day though overcast, was perfectly calm. The drift seized, the fog gone and leads were fewer, with only 6 swim/paddles needed through the day. In the first lead, suddenly a black head popped up at the waters surface, and it wasn't one of ours. A seal! We were swimming with a seal, just the three of us on top of the world amidst this vast, silent ice. At another lead, a lakesize pond, there was another one. Each lead seemed to have it's own in-house seal. They checked us out curiously as we watched them and it was magic. We have carried our native flags (Sweden and Czech rep) through the past two degrees. Today for the finals, the torn 9/11 WTC flag from our hometown NYC came up with pride. It`s going with us all the way to the pole. N 89 12.6 S 73 08,1 D 24,0 km TT 13,0 h TD 683,1/65days, DNP 88. Sleds w 91 kg. +2C(!)/2ktsS, Sc 8/8. Contrast: poor, Ice crystals: light, Visibility: 4 km. GPS: 1014 mbar (^), Pos am 8858,7/7241,3 drift 2 km SE |
| May 24. Water, water everywhere | |
 | A horrible day. Open water leads every 10 minutes now, whiteout, strong northerly wind, snowfall/rain (!), southerly drift 4 km during the day. We fought for 8 hours in the conditions. We couldn't see a thing, the wind blowing snow right at our faces in addition to the fog. There is salt water everywhere, inside our sleds, gear, everything is wet. The gun is rusting! The snow is a wet blanket, the ice is rotten. The leads are terrible, wide and soft. Had another mega lead today, took it skiing rotten, bouncing ice. Each crossing is risky. Thick snow holds for checks with skipoles, then suddenly collapse. We had crossed about 30 leads, when at the last one, Tina stepped on the high edge and it broke off. She fell in the ocean again. Tom pulled her out this time and we made early camp. She'll travel in wet clothing for the next days and her tech is out. Are using our spare setup for this dispatch. But the worst part is that no matter how hard we push, these conditions make gaining reasonable distance impossible. The open leads are too big and too many right now. We don't even have visibility to navigate by. No sun to dry our gear. Our supplies are very limited. We are not sure what to do. Except to get out there tomorrow again. And try even harder. N 88 59.6 S 72 58,0. D 10,0 km. TT 8,0 h. TD 669,1/64days. DNP 113. Sleds w 94 kg. -2C/15ktsN, Ns 8/8, w/o, sf. Contrast: poor, Ice crystals: light, Visibility: 2 km. GPS: 1004 mbar (-), Pos am 8854,0/7231,3 drift 4 km ESE |
| May 23. Stormy weather | |
 | A hard wind of 40 knots picked up during the night and the temperature dropped. A pool of water had collected on Toms mattress below his sleeping bag in the morning, as the soaked bag had thawed. His sleep had been cold and sticky wet. The wind still howled at 20 knots and there was a gray damp fog as we made new waterproofers for Toms sled from the foam mattress and headed out. A few hours later we hit a mega lead. 300m/900 ft wide, the black water rushing in waves in the strong wind. Our hearts sank. No way could we swim or paddle such a big chunk of the Arctic ocean in this kind of foul weather. Towards west a smoky black vertical water sky above the lead indicated that we should head east. 40 minutes later a sheer miracle took place: The lead narrowed breathly into a tiny bridge, 1m/3ft wide - and we could escape to the other side! The leads are countless now, about 50 a day. The bad weather, the near full moon and the roller coaster drift doesn't help. The frequent detours and swims really steals our distance. At least we don't drift south for now. And we were granted another full day of travel to the pole. N 88 54,3 W 70 42,4 D 20,5 km TT 10,5 h TD 659,1/63days DNP 122 km, sleds w 89 kg, T(UTC-5) 10.00 p.m. -10C/20ktsE, Sc 8/8. Contrast: poor, Sky: gray, visibility: 2km. Ice crystals: light. GPS: 1012 mbar(v), pos am 8844,0/6831,8 drift WNW 5,1 km |