The other expeditions : Greenland has taken over…
Published on 13.05.2009 - General Info
On 26 and 27 April, Viktor Boyarski and his men dismantled the Russian Barneo station, thus putting a full stop to the expeditions that have measured themselves against the North Pole. Greenland has taken over.
Even though the Russians have closed the Barneo station (see the Russian station's website), two teams are at this time still trapped by the Arctic ice. One of them, Pen Hadow's team (see our tracking), which had given up getting to the pole as envisaged quite a long time ago and which will soon have to be recovered by the pilots of Ken Borek Airlines (from Resolute Bay). The other, the two Frenchmen, Arnaud Tortel and Charles Hedrich, the man with big ideas who wants to be the first to reach both poles within the same year. Last year, Hedrich had also had some big ideas in the Antarctic, but he had had to give up very quickly (see our tracking page). As far as this latest expedition is concerned, it's not at all certain that they will be able to hold out for such a long time because all the distance that they gain during the day, or thereabouts, they usually lose during the night, ... At present, they are still with more than 400 km from the shores of Greenland.
Exit the pole; it's now Greenland that is taking over. Several teams are still in the area. The two Danes, who are making a great South-North crossing of the territory and advancing by means of traction sales (see our tracking), are now moving towards the Navy Cliff fjord; and the team of the four English teachers who are travelling under the auspices of the Fuchs Foundation and who were just three days ago deposited on the ice cap (see our tracking). The quartet has left the East coast and has to get to the West coast, that is to say an odyssey of 650 km, making scientific experiments and observations along the entire way. In a few days, another English adventurer but a resident of Dubai, is setting out on a great North-South crossing of the island, he too, together with a couple of friends. He wants his adventure to raise as much awareness as possible of sustainable development ideas and their installation. Hayes is currently somewhere between England and Island where he will be arrive in the next few hours - our tracking started (see our page) - but the trio is not yet on site.
