A beautiful day at the North Pole and also in Longyearbyen

Today was a wonderful day all around. We have a team sleeping at the North Pole after skiing a short distance (special congratulations to 5 year old Gwendal Hauser for skiing almost 3 kilometers!). They report beautiful weather with sunny skies, -25 C temperatures and no wind. When they called in they were just wrapping up a fondue dinner with both cheese and chocolate fondue.

At the Barneo Basecamp our team was busy exploring the vicinity of Barneo as well as hanging out in the mess tent talking with other expeditioners. Among the people at Barneo are scientists from the University of Washington and a group of Taiwanese who performed a special Buddhist ceremony at the camp.  Our team will be returning to Longyearbyen tomorrow and we look forward to having them back on terra firma.

Meanwhile, in Longyearbyen, our Chinese last degree ski expedition team arrived and had a wonderful first night.  Our dogsled and last degree ski expedition team members also had their official start of the expedition.  Tomorrow will be a busy day of preparing for their expeditions including packing all gear, weighing the kit and delivering it to the airport for loading.  Enjoy the photos of our teams as well as the audio dispatches.  Check back again tomorrow for another update.
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Helicopter transport between Barneo Basecamp and the North Pole


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Dogsled and ski expedition team members welcome reception and dinner

 

Chinese last degree ski expedition team members welcome reception and dinner