The most northerly ? in the world…

The most northerly ? in the world…

I arrived at an extraordinarily large aircraft hangar at Spitsbergen airport this morning along with other skiers heading out later this week. It was a hive of activity, teams had formed and relationships were beginning to be built. Sledges were being packed and rations allocated. Quite what KAWKA MUHYMKA, BEKOH, or PYKOHT is I don’t know, there are some blueberries on the packaging of one portion and another looks like a pack of bacon but I just don’t know. I will have to remember that old adage, if you a hungry, you will eat it….My guide, Victor, is Russian (notice the theme emerging here) and does not speak much English – although to be fair, my Russian is not that good either! However, I am relived to be spending the time on the ice with Luke and Ivan who are both Belgians but speak perfect English. Ivan was trained in Siberia and Greenland whilst Luke has just come back from a South Pole Expedition. I think I’m in good company. Most of the day was spent preparing sledges, checking food and making sure clothing was packed for the North Pole expedition although we did get a chance in that time honoured fashion to do some male bonding over a few beers in Svalbar, the coolest place in Spitsbergen. I still haven’t seen Prince Harry yet in what must be the smallest town in the world but I did see Ben Fogle in a coffee shop this afternoon. He was passing the time of day with a couple of people I met last night at the briefing in the SAS Polar Hotel and seems to be a great chap. He is someone who understands the pressures and rewards that only a north or south pole can offer. His ‘Pole to Pole’ BBC documentary shows in vivid colour, how tough the polar environment can be. If it can break someone as determined as James Cracknell (Ben’s skiing companion), it must be respected. Its good to see him out here. It is a small group of us, less than 30 people, who will get to the pole in 2011 (including guides who go time and time again) and to put it into context, over 300 people ascent Mount Everest each year so it is still a real achievement. Last night, I met Victor Byorsky who is a legend in the polar fraternity as well as someone else who is well respected in his own right, Doug Stoop. I ended the day with a shopping spree; energy drinks, another flask and a brush – who said it’s not exciting this far north – and am now heading out for a welcome meal at Huset, the most northerly ‘restaurant’ in the world. Just as well I got some money out of the most northerly ATM in the world (do you think they are over playing the geography a bit?). As they say in Russian….Nyet rest for the wicked…

We wait…we prepare…we hope!

Today was one of those wonderful days you will recall from your from childhood where time slowed and every minute felt like an hour. I slept in as it was a luxurious day of self enforced rest, not through injury thankfully but through necessity as the extreme weather has slightly delayed the Russians who are building the temporary landing strip that will accommodate the aircraft taking me and the lucky few who will realise their polar dreams in 2011. Given that the aircraft I will be flying in on will be separated from the icy depths of the Arctic Ocean, by just a few inches of ice, I’m happy for them to take their time and get it right! It is not as though I have nothing to do, I’m surrounded by exciting opportunities such as polar bear tracking, dog sledding, ice fishing and skidoo tours of the island but I have come here with the single purpose of bagging the geographic north pole and as interesting as all these other things are, they are just distractions. I know from my previous experience on the ice just how tough this will be and I’m not underestimating this in any way which is probably a good thing. This will be longer than I’ve ever been on the ice for in one stint, pushing more miles per day than I’ve done before with people I don’t know, who speak a language I don’t understand. But the challenge is precisely why I am here. If it was easy, I wouldn’t be doing it….

Observations from ‘up north’ – no sign of Prince Harry (yet).

Observations from ‘up north’ – no sign of Prince Harry (yet).

As someone who lives near the south coast of Devon, I probably couldn’t get much further north from the UK than Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Devon has wonderful sandy beaches, palm trees gently swaying in the breeze and hoards of people in the summer. Spitsbergen has none of these and is so far above the tree line that green is only really seen covering the brightly painted houses that characterise the small former coal mining town. I say Spitsbergen has very few people here….usually there are only researchers, students, some polar travellers and a handful of residents. However, it all seems very different today as I seem to have landed with the worlds paparazzi all trying to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry who also arrived today from Oslo. The photographers have done their research though….they are covering up their cameras so that the lens doesn’t get covered in rime – or it may be they are trying to look inconspicuous so that they can get the shot they dream of. Either way, they still stand out like a sore thumb. If it brings Prince Harry publicity for the Walking with Wounded Charity, great, but it must be a strain living under such an intense spotlight all the time. I hope my Fire Fighters Charity logo on my jacket gets into a shot somewhere as they do such amazing work too without the recognition they deserve. Soldiers and Fire fighters risk their lives protecting the public and our freedom in different ways and both have my utmost respect and admiration. I would love to ski with them for a while as I truly respect what they stand for having come from a military family but I also have an appreciation of how hard it is on expedition without having lost limbs and it is tough believe me. Doing the same thing with prosthetics is really quite remarkable….. Both expeditions (mine and theirs) are leaving from the temporary ice station created by the Russians so let’s see. I should be used to the cold after spending a month up here last year and two weeks on Baffin Island in northern Canada, pulling sledges, skiing and camping in arguably the most inhospitable environment in the world. We also had quite a spell of it in the UK in the winter which helped. Despite this experience, it never ceases to amaze me just how quickly you get cold at minus 21. Nature has this way of luring you into a false sense of security then punches you in the face with a fist of cold. In all honesty though, there is nowhere in the world I would rather be right now than here in the high Arctic. This environment is so brutal, so stark and so fierce that you have to respect it. At the same time the light is so pure and colours so vivid that it surrounds you in a blanket of warmth, beauty and wonder. I arrived here today to acclimatise ahead of the North Pole expedition Im embarking on to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity who do so much for injured Fire Fighters. I thought I would head down into town and write this note with a steaming coffee and warm chocolate brownie in tow. The walk down allowed me to try out the thermal properties of a new pair of gloves which I had hoped would provide some warmth as well as the sense of feeling needed to pitch tents and make general repairs to kit and clothing around camp. It is always a trade off between these two qualities and these gloves provide plenty of grip and feeling but my fingers were really cold in less than 10 minutes and it’s only minus 21 at the moment. Not a good sign. I think they will be consigned to the bin. Just as well I have five other pairs of gloves – you can’t have too many you know. I still need to get my snack bags ready (the chocolate, salami, cheese and nuts) that keep me going in between meals each day so I had better get on with it. Who knows, I might bump into someone famous doing the same at the local ‘supermarket’. Now that would be a story….

I’m Off!

I’m off! I write this in Stockholm preparing to travel to Oslo, Tromso then to Longyearbyen tomorrow morning. Flight up later in the week after a few day acclimatising, followed by a helicopter drop off at about 88 degrees north before finally getting on the ice again. I’m in good company, Prince Harry is arriving at Longyearbyen tomorrow, supporting ‘walking with wounded’, a number of military amputees who are doing a similar expedition also from the Russian side. They are amazing and I would be honoured to meet up with them (on the ice hopefully or in a bar perhaps?!). I will try and keep everyone updated on www.leadingfromthetop.co.uk but thanks again for your support. It means so much to me and the Fire fighters Charity. A bientot…..

My Hero – Sir Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton was a British explorer of the Antarctic in the early 1900′s. He is best remembered for his expedition from 1914-1916 in the HMS Endurance. During this journey, his ship got stuck in the ice near the Antarctic continent. He and his 27 men then survived 19 months before they were rescued. Shackleton organized the rescue personally after he made an 800 mile open-ocean journey in a life-boat to the inhabitated island of South Georgia. He then returned on the rescue mission to the desolate Elephant Island where he had left the majority of his crew under the care of his Executive Officer.

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901-04, from which he was sent home early on health grounds. Determined to make amends for this perceived personal failure, he returned to Antarctica in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909 he and three companions made a southern march which established a record Farthest South latitude at 88°23′S, 97 geographical miles (114 statute miles, 190 km) from the South Pole, by far the closest convergence in exploration history up to that time. For this achievement, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home.

After the race to the South Pole ended in 1912 with Roald Amundsen’s conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to what he said was the one remaining great object of Antarctic journeying?the crossing of the continent from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914?17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, was trapped in pack ice and slowly crushed, before the shore parties could be landed. There followed a sequence of exploits, and an ultimate escape with no lives lost, that would eventually assure Shackleton’s heroic status, although this was not immediately evident. In 1921 he went back to the Antarctic with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, intending to carry out a programme of scientific and survey activities. Before the expedition could begin this work Shackleton died of a heart attack while his ship, Quest, was moored in South Georgia. At his wife’s request he was buried there.

Away from his expeditions, Shackleton’s life was generally restless and unfulfilled. In his search for rapid pathways to wealth and security he launched many business ventures and other money-making schemes, none of which prospered. His financial affairs were generally muddled; when he died he was heavily in debt. On his death he was lauded in the press, but was thereafter largely forgotten, while the heroic reputation of his rival Scott was sustained for many decades. At the end of the 20th century Shackleton was “rediscovered”, and rapidly became a cult figure, a role model for leadership as one who, in extreme circumstances, kept his team together to accomplish a survival story which polar historian Stephanie Barczewski describes as “incredible”.

Timeline
December 5, 1914 – Ernest Shackleton and 27 crewmen depart the South Atlantic island of South Georgia on the HMS Endurance. They planned to make the first overland trek of Antarctic continent.
January 18, 1915 – The ice floe traps the Endurance within view of their intended landing site.
October 27, 1915 – The Endurance is crushed by ice movement and the ship sinks. All crewmembers survive. They move to the ice to live in tents and under overturned life boats.
April 9, 1916 – 3 lifeboats, carrying all 28 men, depart the ice floe for Elephant Island – an uninhabited South Atlantic island.
April 24, 1916 – The James Caird, a 23′ lifeboat, sets sail from Elephant Island to South Georgia with Shackleton and 5 crew members aboard to seek rescue. This will be an 800 mile, open-ocean journey.
May 10, 1916 – The James Caird lands on South Georgia Island at an uninhabited spot directly opposite the whaling station where they had intended to land.
May 20, 1916 – Shackleton and 2 crew members complete a 36-hour trek over mountains and ice from their landing point to the whaling station.
August 30, 1916 – Shackleton returns to Elephant Island with the help of the Chilean government to rescue all men left behind.

EVERYONE survived this ordeal.
(Credit to Squidoo and Wikipedia)