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

24 pictures posted on the 14.05.2010

Gently, quietly progressing across the pack-ice : we’re in another world...

Gently, quietly progressing across the pack-ice : we’re in another world...

© Alain Hubert

  • From this moment on, everyone will be feeling good and save safe inside the tent within 20 minutes. No more.
  • A little training soon gets you used to repeating the same actions every day.
  • We usually prepare the meals in the highest part ofof the tent: for safety reasons, obviously.
  • The last two times I completed the last degree to North Pole, we only carried small tents with us. Lighter and easier.
  • We set up camp so that no one can come and bother us, except maybe a polar bear.
  • Every night and every morning, the same jobs and body movements have to be repeated before leaving the site, for an 8 to 9-hours trek across the ice.
  • At this time of the year (March and April), the sun is never very high above the horizon.
  • One thing is certain up there : you never know in advance how -– and if -– you will find a way through the hummocks.
  • Taking one problem at a time, we always find a solution to get past an obstacle.
  • The sledges are built with very high sides, so that the members of the expedition can use them as a catamaran for crossing wide leads.
  • Crossing open water (lead) is without any doubt the most dangerous thing you can do on a trip like this.
  • In fact, you never know whether the ice in front of you is thick enough to support the weight of your body and the sledge.
  • Of course, when you are travelling with other people, having everyone there to help makes it safer.
  • 8 or 9 hours on the move, then it’s time to set up camp. Quite a relief for all of us.
  • As a polar explorer, I have always been incredibly fascinated by the tracks you leave behind you in the snow when travelling over the pack-ice.
  • This is the moment that most of us always wait for: after a long day on the ice, when the visibility is very poor and the colours become glorious.
  • After a pressure ridge in the ice, you can always be sure that an other one is waiting for you. Endless Arctic ice pack-ice...
  • Sometimes, instead of trying desperately to cross open waters, it’s preferable to travel along the edge of the water to try and find an ice-bridge.
  • Gently, quietly progressing across the pack-ice : we’re in another world...
  • After completing the last degree, even though this trek is not particularly dangerous or difficult, everyone feels the same way and can say,
  • Sweet memories for all of us. An unique experience in of a lifetime...
  • We are here at Barneo and this is its famous bulldozer. A few years ago, it nearly fell into the ocean...
  • After six or seven days out on the ice, the MI-8 helicopter of the Russian logistics team in Barneo arrives to pick us up at the Pole.
  • The trip is over. Everyone’s head is full of great memories...