Hi Arnold and Sima:
It is good to read the adventure and I feel so happy that I am not anywhere near North Pole. Eventhough my friends south of 49 think I'm pretty close to it.
I was so pleased to be able to read the translation. The adventure sounds very exciting, but dangerous. I can only imagine how much each will have to rely on all the others in the group throught the trek. All my best wishes to all of you adventurers, and especially to my friend Arnold.
Renee (from Canada)
I can almost already smell the North Pole. This has nothing to do with my thick efficient nose, but it has all to do with my neighbor’s tent Eugene who has just ventilated his feet. Well our feet do not smell better either. After all, during the day they are stuck in plastic bags which function as steam barriers.
However, the North Pole would emit a more pleasant scent as we could already notice it here, because we are only twelve kilometers away from the magic point, the whole reason of our trip through the ice.
Polar express train rolls
We put behind us 20 kilometers today, more than any other day before.
The sleds looked like the polar express train with Thomas as the engine and four other cars rolled behind him. The conditions for an express train journey were also, at first, ideal: flat ice surface, barely any obstacles, no water channels, below 34 degrees centigrade and - very importantly - no wind. However, by the end of the day it became cooler and we once again, just like yesterday, found ourselves standing before a water channel, this time approx. 30 meters wide, impassable. Thomas looked for a possibility to cross the channel safely.
The first help
In the meanwhile we tried to keep ourselves warm by moving our arms in circles and other gymnastic exercises. However, we didn’t seem to be able to succeed. The wind broke through. When Thomas returned and we followed him to a narrow spot of the channel, I suddenly noticed that ice built up on my chin and I could not feel anything in there. The neoprene mask had slipped. I asked Frank to take a look at it. He looked at me horrified. "Your chin is snow-white, this freezes you to death!" Quickly, he took off a glove and pressed his warm hand on my chin. Frank began to rub the affected place to warm it up. I held my woolen gloves on his fingers too, so that the same did not happen to them. The colour returned to my chin and it was properly supplied with blood again: The first help in North Pole closeness. Thanks, Frank!
The next night on the pole?
After we passed the channel accident-free, in the shivering cold we erected our tents. We are absolutely determined to spend the next night on Easter Sunday on the 90 degrees north. If nothing unpredictable stops us, that is.
P.S. Perhaps someone or the other has asked itself who is hidden behind the neoprene masks in the photo from two days ago. Here is the solution to the riddle: [v.r]. Eugene, Arnold, Frank, Stefan
P.P.S. To follow our precise position, simply click on the map to the top right.
It is good to read the adventure and I feel so happy that I am not anywhere near North Pole. Eventhough my friends south of 49 think I'm pretty close to it.
Renee (from Canada)
89° 53' 27''N/ 156° 58' 19''
11 April 2009
North Pole we are coming!
I can almost already smell the North Pole. This has nothing to do with my thick efficient nose, but it has all to do with my neighbor’s tent Eugene who has just ventilated his feet. Well our feet do not smell better either. After all, during the day they are stuck in plastic bags which function as steam barriers.
However, the North Pole would emit a more pleasant scent as we could already notice it here, because we are only twelve kilometers away from the magic point, the whole reason of our trip through the ice.
Polar express train rolls
We put behind us 20 kilometers today, more than any other day before.
The sleds looked like the polar express train with Thomas as the engine and four other cars rolled behind him. The conditions for an express train journey were also, at first, ideal: flat ice surface, barely any obstacles, no water channels, below 34 degrees centigrade and - very importantly - no wind. However, by the end of the day it became cooler and we once again, just like yesterday, found ourselves standing before a water channel, this time approx. 30 meters wide, impassable. Thomas looked for a possibility to cross the channel safely.
The first help
In the meanwhile we tried to keep ourselves warm by moving our arms in circles and other gymnastic exercises. However, we didn’t seem to be able to succeed. The wind broke through. When Thomas returned and we followed him to a narrow spot of the channel, I suddenly noticed that ice built up on my chin and I could not feel anything in there. The neoprene mask had slipped. I asked Frank to take a look at it. He looked at me horrified. "Your chin is snow-white, this freezes you to death!" Quickly, he took off a glove and pressed his warm hand on my chin. Frank began to rub the affected place to warm it up. I held my woolen gloves on his fingers too, so that the same did not happen to them. The colour returned to my chin and it was properly supplied with blood again: The first help in North Pole closeness. Thanks, Frank!
The next night on the pole?
After we passed the channel accident-free, in the shivering cold we erected our tents. We are absolutely determined to spend the next night on Easter Sunday on the 90 degrees north. If nothing unpredictable stops us, that is.
P.S. Perhaps someone or the other has asked itself who is hidden behind the neoprene masks in the photo from two days ago. Here is the solution to the riddle: [v.r]. Eugene, Arnold, Frank, Stefan
P.P.S. To follow our precise position, simply click on the map to the top right.
Alles Gute für den Rest!