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North Pole situation, "We can't fly today, tomorrow, tomorrow..."
13:37 p.m. EST Mar 3, 2004
North Pole expeditions need 60 days, at least. It’s already March 3rd, and the teams are still 2 days or more away from the ice – if there is even any there! Granted some NP expeditions have taken less than 60 and some have taken more, the point is that things are looking bad right now. With the last pickup being on May 1st from the Pole, time is getting tight.
There was only one update today from the North Pole skiers – Dominick, “Sleds are ready in the helicopters, but the leading actors are missing. We've been told it's too late. We can't fly today. Tomorrow, tomorrow...” This sounds all too familiar and is all too frustrating.
By now these guys probably don’t know whether to feel pissed off, sad, frustrated, worried, or even scared. Dominick didn’t seem too concerned, “I'm not going to get upset because of all this. In my mind, if you are looking for an adventure, you'll have to be flexible and take everything that comes with it in a positive way. This delay doesn't yet affect my expedition.”
And therein lies the crux, for Dominck, the delay might not be all that devastating – she’s going supported and can move quickly. For Wave Vidmar, this could be catastrophic – he’s going unsupported, has a much heavier load to carry, and as a result will be slower.
As for Ben, he’s not so concerned about the pick-up, but rather the open leads he’ll face once he gets past the Pole and on his way to Canada. He plans to hit land on the other side of his journey so the pick-up doesn’t matter so much. If the season gets too late, however, the ice will open up and he’ll be swimming an awful lot.
Everyday they hear the words tomorrow, and every morning they wake up and the engines are cold. Delays are to be expected sometimes, but it becomes a bit much when the delays are being caused by something other than natural or unavoidable causes as US North Pole hopeful Wave writes in a previous dispatch, “..we all know it is simply game playing and leverage for control and money disputes that keeps us grounded.”
Too bad none of the skiers knows how to fly a helictoper!
All the North Pole expeditions this year are from the Russian side. Ben Saunders plans to ski unsupported and solo across the Arctic Ocean. Wave Vidmar will ski unsupported and solo to the North Pole.
Frédéric Chamard-Boudet will try to become the first French solo to the North Pole without resupplies. Dominick Arduin will embark for a solo expedition to the North Pole with one re-supply. Couple Jean-Gabriel and Bettina Aller are going for the Pole on a supported expedition.
Image of Ben and Wave up in Khatanga courtesy of NorthPoleSolo.com.
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