This map shows the daily progress of the team as they make their way to the pole. A review of each position is written below.
18/4/06 12:00 BST
Just a quick update. The team were picked up as planned and flown back to Camp Barneo by helicopter, where some very good Russian hospitality awaited. They were all given camp beds in a heated accommodation tent and had a wonderful evening involving lots of Vodka and talk. As I write this 12:15 they should be in the air on the Antonov transportplane back to Longyearbyen from where they will be in mobile phone range. Pete was expecting them to arrive around 2pm our time. I will send further updates with hopefully a few pictures in the next day or so.
17/4/06 13:05 BST Success! the team arrived at the North Pole at around 13:05 BST after 5.5 hours of hauling and they are on top of the world! (Not often you get to make that pun)They have planted the Union Jack and all the flags of the charities they are each supporting, and have now settled down to cook and enjoy a bacon sandwich in a place few others ever get to see. The Russians have been contacted and the helicopter will be picking them up in around 2 hours time weather permitting. They will be delivered back to Camp Barneo and from there will catch a flight back to Longyearbyen for a very well deserved beer. The lead that they camped next to last night did not freeze enough to be crossed safely so they started out this morning by walking East to see if they could find a crossing point. Finding none they had to track back to the camp site and continue west but eventually found a way across via to or three ice floes. After that however they got onto good ice and for the last 2 hours the going was excellent. Alan says that they have had to work very hard this year with unusual amounts of heavy snow and high currents and that they have really earned their bacon sandwich. He is very pleased with how well everyone has done and the team are justifiably proud of themselves. I will update again soon and hopefully when they get back to Longyearbyen I will be able to put some pictures up.
16/4/06 23:00 BST The team has had an extremely good day to day and they are all feeling very proud of themselves and also very excited. They have camped at 89 56 47 N and 158 08 E which leaves them only 3.5 miles form the Pole. They have worked hard all day and have hauled their sledges for 11 hours. The huge lead that they camped next to last night was difficult to get around in the morning but once they did manage to cross it progress was fast. There has been almost no wind all day which has helped. At one point a strange thick bank of fog drifted across them and reduced visibility to almost nothing. Within half an hour however it had drifted away again and the rest of day has been good. With it being Easter Sunday they shared out some mini cognac filled eggs, so even at the North Pole the Easter bunny has done his stuff. Just like last night they have camped next to a large lead. It is partially frozen over and Alan tried going out onto it to test it's strength but found it was little more than an inch thick. The team are hoping that it will carry on freezing over and that by the morning the ice will be thick enough for them to cross. They are really looking forward to that last leg tomorrow. Pete is planning to call in as soon as they arrive and I shall post the update as soon as I can.
15/4/06 20:00 BST
Today's update is great. The team have had their best day so far and have managed 9.5 miles in 9 hrs of hauling. They are feeling very pleased with themselves and are now the team that is closest to the North Pole. They are now 13.5 miles from their target. Mind you it has been hard work, they have had temperatures of -20 with freezing fog for most of the day meaning quite bad visibility. There has also been quite a lot of open water to cross, and they have had to build 2 bridges today. They are also starting to get a few repairs to do, 3 bindings failed during the day and there are a couple of minor repairs to do in the morning before they can set off. They have now camped next to a massive lead and are hoping that during the night it may close up enough for them to get across in the morning. A seal gave Michael the surprise of his life today. Apparently he had gone off to dig a small hole near the edge of the ice, and had just dropped his trousers and settled down to business, so to speak, when a large seal suddenly popped it's head out of the water right next to him. The team aren't sure which of them was the most surprised. The team are in great spirits and looking forward to tomorrow. They are camped at 89 47 N and 168 05 E.
14/4/06 23:30 BST Here is the second update for today. The helicopter arrived and David has flown back to Camp Barneo where he will be well looked after. The rest of the team got to ride a little nearer to the Pole but had to be dropped off about 10 miles further from the Pole than they had planned due to the weather. They then set off and have done 8 hours of hauling in heavy snow and poor visibility. They have had a lot of leads to contend with including 5 really big ones and have had to build 2 bridges. Building a bridge would appear to consist of throwing enough of a pile of snow and ice into the gap you are trying to cross. Pete says imagine a 3 ft gap of water, it is just too far to jump or bridge with your ski so you throw loads of ice in and nip across. (Makes it sound easy!) They have also had 3 breakages with their gear, 2 bindings and 1 skin coming off. These were easy enough to repair but cost some time. They have managed to get 4 miles nearer to the Pole form where the helicopter dropped them but they are still fighting the current. They have 21 miles still to cover and only 3 full days left so it is going to be a real challenge. They are working really hard though and it could still be done. The weather has improved now that they have made camp, the clouds have cleared away and sun has come out. The camp is now at 89 39 37 N and 170 31 35 E. The next update is not likely to be until tomorrow evening. 13:30 BST
There has been a disappointing development for the team. You may have noticed a mention a couple of days ago of Dave Farley having gone down with a cold or flu. Unfortunately this has continued to worsen despite his heroic attempt to beat it and keep going. It has developed into a chest infection, which normally would not be the cause of too much concern, easily cleared up with a course of antibiotics. In the harsh conditions of the arctic however it needs to be treated with more care and the decision has been taken to airlift David back to Camp Barneo by helicopter. The helicopter is due anytime now as I write this (13:30 BST) and once back at Camp Barneo there is a doctor who can give David a check up and antibiotics. This is cruel disappointment for David, and I am sure we all feel for him. He is happy that it is the correct decision however and is planning to try and get back to Spitzbergen and wait there for the rest of the team to come off the ice.
The team have not broken camp this morning as they are in a good area for the helicopter to land and are only too aware after yesterday's adventures that if they start walking they could easily get into an area where it would be dangerous for the helicopter to land. Currently they are at 89 25 N and 166 39 E. This leads on to the other problem that they have been battling with. The currents are unusually strong this year and they have been drifting back each time they have stopped to make camp. They have worked out that they are now 2 miles further back from the Pole than they were 2 days ago and it has become obvious that they are not going to make it to the Pole under these conditions. Everybody has gone up there to go to the North Pole and so following a team talk they have decided to make use of the helicopter by getting a lift nearer to their goal. The plan is to all get in the helicopter with David and then get dropped off at 89 48N. This will still leave them with something of a challenge but should allow them to make it on foot to the North Pole in time for the pick up. I hope I have not made it sound too gloomy, as despite these set backs everyone is still in very good spirits. We should hopefully get another update this evening.
13/4/06 20:30 BST Today's news. They are at 89 29 n and 167 10 E and have had a long hard day at it, nine and a half hours to be exact. They started at 89 24 21 N and 170 02 E which meant that as predicted yesterday, most of yesterday's gain was lost over night. The morning was very hard work as they got into an area with lots of leads and mushy ice and had to work very hard getting round the leads and making their way from ice floe to ice flow. By lunch time however they had managed to get out of this bad area and onto some better ice and progress improved. In the afternoon for the last 2 or 3 hours they found excellent conditions and were able to make really good time getting in around 4 miles. They made camp 31 miles from the Pole but again the current is playing with them and they have lost around half a mile since making camp. Everyone is an good spirits however, and prepared to really fight hard over the next few days to achieve that goal.
12/4/06 19:40 BST
We now have the update for day 3. They have had quite an adventurous and difficult day, but are all in good spirits and safely in camp 3. The day started with glorious sunshine and good conditions and they made 1.5 miles in the first hour. Unfortunately they then ran into an area of rubble. This is best described as a surface of ice cubes which is very hard to pull sledges through and progress dropped. The next two hours saw only 0.7 of a mile progress.The weather then deteriorated with a strong wind and semi-whiteout conditions and has stayed like that for the rest of the day. They have negotiated several open leads during their 8 hours of toil, and they even had to build a bridge in order to cross one of them. At the camp, due to the strong wind they have built wind walls around the tent. Having settled in for the night they have noticed on their GPS system that they have a 0.4 knot drift away from the Pole, and have worked out that in 10 hours at this rate they will have lost all of the total 4.5 miles they have managed today. However despite this encouraging thought, they are all in good spirits and feel they are doing very well. Let's hope the wind changes for them. Pete says he will try to ring again in the morning so hopefully you will not have to wait the full day for the next update
11/4/06 20:00 BST
I have just received this evenings update from Peteand you will be pleased to know that everything is going very well. They have had quite a hard day's walking as there has been a fairly strong easterly wind blowing all day. This has meant semi whiteout conditions making visibility quite poor. On top of that it has been snowing all day which makes the going under foot hard work. Instead of walking over hard crisp snow which supports your weight quite well, they have been wading through soft fresh snow. They have also encountered quite a few open leads which means detours to get round them. The team are now at 89 23 17N and 167 14 27E and have made camp for the night. You will notice that they have drifted even further East due to the wind. They have swung their course 10 degrees or so to the West to try and compensate for the drift, however they don't want to correct the course to much as they think that the wind will change. They would rather make sure that they are getting a good distance to the North in during a day.
Everyone is in good spirits, and enjoying the adventure despite the harsh conditions. They are all feeling very pleased with the amount they have accomplished today, and Pete says that the team are already very efficient at making camp and getting the cooking stoves working. He is very pleased with the way everyone is coping and says it seems as if they have been on the ice for much longer than just over a day. Dave Farley is still suffering from the flu like bug, but has coped fantastically. That Ibuprofen stuff seems to be working wonders and the team are making sure that he keeps as warm as possible during the camp. Other than that there are no injuries or misfortunes, so all in all a very successful day.
10:00 BST Pete has just phoned in and everything is going well.
They are currently at 89 18 30 N and 163 29 25 E which means that they have drifted East quite a way during their night. I say "night" although in fact there isn't any up there at htis time of year, so really I guess night refers to when they are having a rest in their tents. They have quite a strong easterly wind which has meant a semi whiteout during the night but it is now beggining to improve. They have had a good rest and have just finished breakfast and getting ready to move out. Everybody is in good spirits although David Farley has gone down with a cold. He has taken Ibuprofen and is feeling better after his nights sleep.
They walked for 2.5 hours yesterday and crossed an old clear water lead. The ice however seems to be good this year and Pete is very pleased so far. It is very cold and very white he says.
He will try and phone again at the end of todays walk.
08:00 BST The aircraft arrived safely at camp Barneo around 17:00 local time. Collected extra gas for cooking, set up the gear and set off at about 20:00hrs. Walked for around 3 hrs before setting up the first camp, as planned. The weather is deteriorating slightly.
10/4/06 12:15 local timeWe are off to the airport and due to fly at 1340hrs - Further update when we arrive or if we have to stand down again. 09:30 local time Had a long night sleeping on the floor thanks to last nights delay. Our 09:30hrs flight has now been delayed due to bad weather at the Pole so we are on half hour standby in the Raddison. Cups of tea and patience are all that we have to worry about. The plane is loaded and waiting so when the call comes things are going to happen very quickly. We saw half the North Pole marathon runners come in last night and they were a lift as they told stories of their achievement.
9/4/06
23:15 local time The flight has been postponed due to weather till 09:00am tomorrow so we are back at the hotel for the night. Frustrating but that is how it goes.
18:00 local time We have been told that the plane has left Camp Barneo and is on it's way back. We should report to the airport for 22:30 and they are hoping to make a quick turn around. This means we should be in the air by around 23:30 for the 3 hour flight to Camp Barneo. It is -27 degrees at the camp!
12:30 local time We have checked out of our accommodation and are sitting around the Raddison Hotel drinking tea and coffee. Everything is ready to go and we are hanging on the phone for a time to fly North. We were scheduled to go at 17.00hrs but this has already slipped back by at least six hours.
Hurry up and wait seems to be the watchword today and everyone is happy to run with the complexities of Polar logistics. Spirits are high and a sense of anticipation is in the air.
Should things slip into tomorrow we have accommodation booked as a back up. Our sense is that we will be flying out in the early hours and will hit the ice first thing in the morning.
Our plan is to check in with Camp Barneo to establish a communications schedule and top up our fuel. From there we would like to hit the road until we are clear of everything and able to settle into our own little world.
We find it best not to walk too far before bedding down as it will a first and being tired doesn't help.
8/4/06 Everything is falling into place now. We have just come back from a walk up the valley to stretch our legs and take in the views, which we shared with a few reindeer. Good preparation for some carbo-loading in the bar tonight. Everyone is here and it has been good to catch up the news and hear of the epic journey to Longyearbyden, which culminated with a private jet landing at 21.30hrs last night.
We have spent the morning going through gear, adjusting the bindings to size and generally settling in. Tomorrow we will be heading off North at about 1700hrs if the weather permits. Oddly enough it is really quite warm here at the moment with temperatures hovering around zero degrees.
Spirits are good and we can’t wait to get going on the ice, we have done all the preparation, its now time to do it.
7/4/06 The North Pole has always been inaccessible and our logistics are anchored to the top of the world by a long line of links some, thanks to its the remote and hostile location, tenuous.
Funnily enough the anchor is literally dropped, not from the prow of a ship but the back of an Antanov. A semi military aircraft robust and adaptable enough to tackle the many challenges that the Pole can throw up. It has its limitations though and whilst it is able to land and take off in an amazingly short distance it does need an excuse for an airfield, not least an area of ice strong enough to support it.
Camp Barneo, the Russian base camp, starts with an airdrop made up of everything man needs to exist to an airstrip-levelling bulldozer. This year the dozer parachute failed on the first drop and it punched through the ice to be lost at sea forever. Time was lost and the Pole had made its point. It’s never easy.
The problem with a chain is that it is as strong as the weakest link and with the variables of life between home and the Pole the weak link is ever changing and often unexpected. Flexibility is the name of the game backed up by a willingness and determination to keep moving towards the goal. It will never be for the faint hearted and yesterday our first challenge came from the place we least expected. SAS Airlines went on strike and late last night group one found themselves stranded in Oslo with very little chance of a connecting flight.
David Farley, never one to be beaten went straight to the heart of the problem and spent the night chasing down a charter flight of his own. We, at the other end of the problem have started to work with the Russians on the possibility of moving our North Pole flight forward a day to avoid the glut of frustrated people that are trapped in Oslo.
If we can get out before they arrive it will have us on our way and help reduce the burden of numbers that the Russians are sure to face in the near future. We would rather face what we came to take on than be caught up in the complexities of modern day life. We all travel a lot, been there done that, lets aim for the peace and open space that nature is so good at laying on.
The day ahead will bring many things as it unfolds, none quite what we have anticipated and all calling for flexibility. In the meantime Alan and I will be packing bags, checking gear, all the things that will count when the chips are down.
Start 6/4/06 If our emotions and thoughts were a compass they would be pointing towards the North Pole and the pivot would be Longyearbyen.
Outback chic. A town of contrast with a five star hotel at one end of the town, a supermarket in the middle and our accommodation at the other end. We can step out the door, turn left and head straight out into the wilderness. In the supermarket you can find Mum topping up the shopping trolley with a rifle on her back in case a Polar Bear gets inquisitive.
At 78 degree’s it is half way between Cornwall and the Pole and don’t we know it. Spring couldn’t be further from home, granted we have midnight sun but its watery light brings little warmth as a chilling wind scourers warmth away on its abrasive blast down the valley.
This place is a stark reminder of what lies ahead and the importance of planning and preparation. Sleep is haunted by equipment lists and details that need checking and rechecking. Yesterday I called Richard, my brother, who runs our UK communications base to check the Satellites phone and I have charged all four batteries a couple of times now.
Today is the day of food; Alan will conduct an enormous pile of packets into an orchestra of order. Each meal, 600 in all, will be broken down with meticulous detail and made up into individual daily bags. Colour coded to avoid confusion, one of our team can’t eat nuts, and another hates chocolate.
Yesterday we fitted all the bindings in our borrowed storeroom, it’s not a lonely place as we have a mouse that keeps popping out to nibble at the nuts we leave him and can’t he eat. Its unbelievable how much a mouse can tuck away.
At breakfast we bumped into the Russian logistics system embodied by Victor Boyarski, a well-known explorer and bear of a man, all piercing eyes and beard. Everything seems in order and we should be on the afternoon of the ninth flight. In fact he will be flying up with us so if ever a flight will be on time it is this one, that is, provided the weather is acceptable. He will provide our fuel in Camp Barneo and no we don’t need rifles, we picked them up yesterday.
It was good to see him and get it from the horse’s mouth, for this is a strange place of rumour built upon rumour fed by nervous anticipation. The Pole is a big step, even for those that have been there before. Nature will never allow it to become a package holiday and you can virtually smell that heady blend of nervous anticipation that many find so intoxicating.
‘What kind of socks are you going to wear’ suddenly starts to take on quite serious undertones for when it comes down it we are all quite fond of our toes. It is now that preparation really starts to show its hand. Knowledge dispels fear and our policy of taking only the best equipment, no matter the cost, gives comfort.
Our concern is not toes; it is making sure that our teams have a fun, challenging journey to the Pole, which they will remember for the rest of their lives.
8/4/06 Everything is falling into place now. We have just come back from a walk up the valley to stretch our legs and take in the views, which we shared with a few reindeer. Good preparation for some carbo-loading in the bar tonight. Everyone is here and it has been good to catch up the news and hear of the epic journey to Longyearbyden, which culminated with a private jet landing at 21.30hrs last night.
We have spent the morning going through gear, adjusting the bindings to size and generally settling in. Tomorrow we will be heading off North at about 1700hrs if the weather permits. Oddly enough it is really quite warm here at the moment with temperatures hovering around zero degrees.
Funnily enough the anchor is literally dropped, not from the prow of a ship but the back of an Antanov. A semi military aircraft robust and adaptable enough to tackle the many challenges that the Pole can throw up. It has its limitations though and whilst it is able to land and take off in an amazingly short distance it does need an excuse for an airfield, not least an area of ice strong enough to support it.
The problem with a chain is that it is as strong as the weakest link and with the variables of life between home and the Pole the weak link is ever changing and often unexpected. Flexibility is the name of the game backed up by a willingness and determination to keep moving towards the goal. It will never be for the faint hearted and yesterday our first challenge came from the place we least expected. SAS Airlines went on strike and late last night group one found themselves stranded in Oslo with very little chance of a connecting flight.
If we can get out before they arrive it will have us on our way and help reduce the burden of numbers that the Russians are sure to face in the near future. We would rather face what we came to take on than be caught up in the complexities of modern day life. We all travel a lot, been there done that, lets aim for the peace and open space that nature is so good at laying on.
Outback chic. A town of contrast with a five star hotel at one end of the town, a supermarket in the middle and our accommodation at the other end. We can step out the door, turn left and head straight out into the wilderness. In the supermarket you can find Mum topping up the shopping trolley with a rifle on her back in case a Polar Bear gets inquisitive.
Today is the day of food; Alan will conduct an enormous pile of packets into an orchestra of order. Each meal, 600 in all, will be broken down with meticulous detail and made up into individual daily bags. Colour coded to avoid confusion, one of our team can’t eat nuts, and another hates chocolate. 
It was good to see him and get it from the horse’s mouth, for this is a strange place of rumour built upon rumour fed by nervous anticipation. The Pole is a big step, even for those that have been there before. Nature will never allow it to become a package holiday and you can virtually smell that heady blend of nervous anticipation that many find so intoxicating. 
