The Last Degree / Years 2004, 2005 & 2008 (part 1/2)

24 pictures posted on the 14.05.2010

Pulling the sledge : everywhere and in all conditions...

Pulling the sledge : everywhere and in all conditions...

© Alain Hubert

  • The Antonov 74 is a Russian cargo plane designed based on the Antonov 72. It is sturdy enough to fly in all weather conditions and is equipped to assist the Arctic logistics teams.
  • Manpower is the rule out there.
  • It's nbot just tourists who fly to the Barneo base. Scientists also take the opportunity provided by this temporary drifting platform to conduct scientific experiments up there once every year.
  • Once we landed on the ice, all we had to do was unload the sledges from the aircraft (helicopter).
  • Because the sledges had been packed before leaving, we were able to start our trek immediately.
  • Just one final thing to do before departing : collect the fuel for the stoves. It's always the strongest in the group who gets trapped for this job.
  • Almost every year, the Russian Barneo base has to be moved a few meters away because of the many dangerous cracks that appear in the pack-ice at the site.
  • Would YOU be prepared to do all this ? If you would, then we'd like to hear from you...
  • You spend all your time looking carefully for the best path through the hummocks.
  • Fighting the ice all day long; even if we only spend five days out on the Arctic pack-ice.
  • The ice pressures are moving all the time, gradually forming these strange landscapes...
  • White and white again: nothing else but a white circle all around us.
  • If the ridges are not too high, you can keep your skis on to cross them.
  • And sometimes, you get stuck...
  • We would stop every 90 minutes, for a short break. Then we'd drink hot tea and usually eat something (energy bars or chocolate) to replace the energy lost.
  • We recommend good discipline in the group.
  • One of the moves you have to learn in these conditions is how to handle the sleds you are hauling behind you.
  • When then ice is thin, it can ofet be broken. But you soon get used to the familiar process of going round the small leads.
  • Pulling the sledge : everywhere and in all conditions...
  • A long walk that gives you the time to think about all sort of things...
  • At the end of the day, around 5pm, we would usually stops and prepare to set up the camp for the night.
  • A typical view of the camp site, we set up every night in the middle of nowhere. The pyramid-shaped tent is the mess tent.
  • Everything goes faster when you help each other. You also prepare yourself for doing it right when the weather is bad and windy.
  • Our tents after a small storm.