They made it! For the fifth time!
Yesterday, April 25, 2012, the Russian teen team led by Arctic adventurers Dmitry and Matvey Shparo (Adventure Club) reached the North Pole by skiing from the Barneo drifting ice base.
I am happy about this event, as one of the North Pole skiing expedition participant is from Yakutia, precisely from the Bulunsky region located in the Polar Circle in North Yakutia, Siberia, Russia.
The 2011 Marine Live-Ice Auto Expedition (MLAE 2011) has completed the first stage of the long Arctic journey by two amphibian vehicles, “Yemelya 3″ and “Yemelya 4,” from Russia’s Taimyr to Canada’s Resolute Bay through the North Pole.
In March-April, 2011, the team led by Vasiliy Elagin made it from Urengoy to the meteo station located on Golomyannyy Island west off Oktyabrskoy Revolutsii. More than 2800 km. Mostly through hard-passing ices of the Kara Sea.
After reaching the two poles in 1909 and 1911, Mt Everest in 1953 and the Seven Summits in 1986, Johan Ernst Nilson embarked another “Last great adventure.”
Antony Jinman on the way to the North Pole. Photo by Darcy St-Laurent, Antony's team mate.
Recently, Antony Jinman (www.antonyjinman.com), a UK Polar explorer, announced that he was looking forward to planning another North Pole project for 2012. Immediately, he’s got replies and the first question, that appeared to be great, indeed.
The question came from his friend, Regina Brinker, who said, “A student yesterday asked how a compass works at the north pole. Any noticeable change, or aren’t compasses used anymore?”
Antony replied:
Hannes Rada and his frozen eyelashes in Oymyakon, Eastern Siberia, Russia
Hannes Rada, an Austrian friend of mine, has a hobby. A few times a year he travels, as he says, to off-beaten places. He visits so-called authentic areas that are not yet spoiled by tourists and where not so many travelers dare or are able to go. His list of such visited places are pretty long. It would be easy to say that he has been to all continents.
He is also a great photographer. All his travel pictures might be seen on his personal website OffTheBeatenTrack.at.
Moreover, he is a clever cameraman. This time I would like to present videos from his last destinations, the North Pole and the world’s coldest inhabited village of Oymyakon located in Russia’s Eastern Siberia. Enjoy the North!
Borge Ousland and his team are celebrating the finish of the Northern Passage 2010 expedition
Cold United is saying “Congratulations!” to Norwegian explorers, Børge Ousland and Thorleif Thorleifsson! They are, indeed, great! They completed the Northern Passage 2010 expedition and returned home to Norway!
What did they do? What did they achieve?
On Midsummer’s Eve, they sailed from Oslo in a daring attempt to sail through both the Northwest and Northeast passages during one and the same season. In other words, they sailed around the world, but above the Arctic Circle and under the North Pole.
See the map and read more info (more…)
Two Arctic/North Pole scientific expeditions. Take your time and enjoy the Arctic! This beauty is fragile. Climate changes and global warming, you know, do gain ground.
Video #1: Jean-Louis Etienne’s Generali Arctic Observer
A famous French Arctic explorer Jean-Louis Etienne’s The North Pole balloon crossing from Spitsbergen to Siberia’s Yakutia in April of 2010. Check out the Generali Arctic Observer expedition website. More info on his landing and rescue operation in Siberia’s Yakutia, north from the village of Batagai, Verkhoyansky region, at eYakutia.com.
Video #2: North Pole + Nuclear Icebreaker Yamal + Magic of Arctic Ice
From Russia’s Chukotka via the North Pole to Scandinavia by the Russian nuclear powered ice-breaker “Yamal”. You may also want to go to the North Pole. Hurry up! The Arctic is melting fast. It sounds like a joke, but, unfortunately, it is not.
If you can recommend more videos with the awesome Arctic views, please, share. Leave your links in comments.
Russia’s new space monitoring system, “Arktika” will help to reveal secrets of the Arctic. Four satellites will study the hard-to-reach regions around the North Pole. The first satellite of this system will be launched in three years.
The development of such a system will guarantee the implementation of Russia’s key tasks in the Arctic, said the head of the Russian Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov.
“Satellites should first and foremost explore oil and gas deposits in the seas of the Arctic Ocean,” said Anatoly Perminov. “To guarantee safety, the development of these fields and the delivery of hydrocarbon to consumers should be accompanied by space monitoring. The next task is to escort ships sailing between the Far East, Kamchatka and the Barents Sea. Establishing control over all kinds of economic activity that will be shifted to the far north of Russia will be another task of the space monitoring system,” Anatoly Perminov said.
The “Arktika” space monitoring system paves the way for making more precise weather forecasts for a long time period not only in Russia but in the Northern Hemisphere as a whole. Moreover, it could be used for assessing emergency situations. For one, the existing space systems have failed to monitor the spread of volcanic ash from a volcano in Iceland in the past weeks.
The Arktika space system consists of two satellites with radar systems and another two with equipment for hydro-meteorological monitoring.
Although Russia itself can implement the project, it is ready to establish cooperation with others, Anatoly Perminov said.
“Several foreign space agencies have already expressed their desire to be involved in the development of this system. This will make it possible to attract investment from state-run companies and private enterprises across the world,” Anatoly Perminov said.
The head of Russia’s space agency said that the country is planning to launch two satellites to guarantee reliable communication and television links to the northern regions. The project has aroused great interest among leading experts.
Only Russia, the US and Canada can independently develop such a system. At present, the Canadian experts are discussing the idea, while the Russian space corporations are ready to start implementing the project.
Via Eye on the Arctic.
Sir David is filming for a BBC 1 series, Frozen Planet
Sir David Attenborough has realised a life-long ambition and reached the North Pole, the BBC has said.
The broadcaster, 84, is filming in the Arctic Circle for Frozen Planet, a BBC One series due to air in late 2011.
Sir David, who has also visited the South Pole for the series, said it was a “huge privilege” to reach both Poles.
The BBC said the seven-part series is the “ultimate polar expedition to the last great wilderness on the planet – before the regions change forever”.
Speaking from the Svalbard archipelago, 700 miles from the North Pole, Sir David said: “The Poles – North and South – look superficially very similar.
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