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April 26, 2011

The Barneo 2011 season has come to an end: a month and a half without a day off for a large group of people known as “polar explorers.” We were able to get almost everything that we wanted done – despite the rough start due to challenging weather. Some events were canceled for reasons outside our control: the training exercises of the Ministry of Emergency Situations had to be postponed due to the tragedy in Japan; the Itera bike rally was called off because of changes in Itera's plans (for the second season, alas); and two automobile expeditions – headed by Vladimir Chukov and by Vasilii Yelagin – were suspended as a result of technical problems and insurmountable obstacles, such as open water.

The Russian and American scientists, however, did well as always. The annual international North Pole marathon organized by Richard Donovan was a success. Matvei Shparo and Boris Smolin brought their fourth group of young skiers to the North Pole – a trek of 100 kilometers. Inge Solheim's team of British veterans victoriously completed its program. Prince Harry accompanied the team at one stage – and then spent two extra days in the polar region after an ice crevasse cut through the Barneo runway. The world followed the adventures of the Prince on the Arctic ice while the Barneo crew worked on the airstrip, but he came home unharmed in the end. Over the past 10 years we have learned to work well together and to never panic in extreme situations, which are part and parcel of life on a drifting ice floe.

A long stretch of bad weather at the beginning of the expedition was a loyalty test for organizers and for tourists: it's really hard to have nothing to do but wait. However, we were able to overcome this as well. Even though the season could not begin until April 4, by April 9 we were back on schedule. We are very grateful to the crew of the An-74 (UTair), whose hard work and professionalism deserves much respect. This was the first Arctic season for the pilots and they survived their trial by ice.

In particular, we would like to thank our heroic skydivers, who are always first to land on the ice and arrange a fuel supply for the helicopters that commute between Barneo and the North Pole. The skydivers were supported by the crew of an Il-76 from the Military-Transportation Aviation Division #224, with which we have worked for many years.

The helicopter pilots kicked off the expedition. They left Surgut on the early morning of March 17. These were the first Arctic missions for the two Mi-8 (SKOL) helicopters. We congratulate the crews on a successful debut and hope for cooperation in the future.

With teamwork we completed the season. Some things were better than before, others – perhaps not. We will sit down and carefully analyze our performance. We would really like the Barneo 2012 season to be interesting and eventful, and we will try to make it such. We are always open for dialogue and will be happy to receive comments and suggestions at www.barneo.ru or www.polar-expeditions.ru. At these websites you can also learn about our plans for next year. We already have some changes in mind.

For now we bid you farewell until next year – although we do have an expedition to the New Siberian Islands coming up in August 2011. It will be covered on the website of the Polus Expedition Center (www.polus.ru).

Until we meet again!

April 25, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 31' N, 133° 13' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 52 km.
Drift speed: 0.6-0.7 km/hr.
Excellent weather: temperature of -20° C, wind of 5 m/sec, visibility of 10,000 m.

You never know what to expect. Yesterday there was a blizzard and today an anticyclone brought a cold front and bright sunshine.

In the morning the skiers and dog team were picked up from the North Pole and then taken by An-74 to Longyearbyen. Part of the Barneo crew and expedition dog Nanuk were on the same flight. The staff remaining at Barneo will break down the camp and prepare equipment for dispatch by technical flights. The team at Barneo will meet the freight, dry and sort equipment, and get it ready for shipping to Moscow.

The Barneo camp is now closed to tourists. The runway will only accept technical flights by the An74.

April 24, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 35' N, 133° 53' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 49.3 km.
Drift speed: 0.5-0.7 km/hr.
Temperature: -4° C, wind of 18 m/sec with gusts of 20 m/sec, visibility of 300 m, blizzard.

Happy Easter!

In the morning the Barneo crew was catching up on sleep after a busy night, lulled by the howling blizzard outside the tents.

The dogsled and the last skiers of the seasons have reached the North Pole. They set up camp and will wait for weather conditions to improve. These explorers were supposed to return to Longyearbyen on an An-74 today, but the weather did not cooperate.


Happy Easter!


Snow-storm


Dogs awate for evacuation

April 23, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 36' N, 128° 53' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 44.4 km.
Drift speed: 0.2-0.3 km/hr.
Temperature: -10° C, bone-chilling “light” breeze, visibility of 800-1,000 m.

In the morning conditions improved and the An-74 took a group of “express tour” guests to Barneo. The skiers who had just returned to the camp from the North Pole caught the return flight to Longyearbyen.

By lunchtime, however, the weather got worse and the second An-74 flight was postponed. The tourists at Barneo did not waste time. The bravest of them experimented with ice diving, taking a swim in water measuring -4° C.

Late in the evening conditions improved enough for another An-74 flight to land at Barneo. While the airplane was still en route, three skydivers jumped over Barneo from a helicopter in honor of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space. Vice president of the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia Alexander Pyzin was the team lead. He jumped together with his friends Sergei Nikulin and Maxim Malanchuk.

The second An-74 flight to Longyearbyen brought back the “express tour” guests and all of the American scientists, who had completed their research.

At 2 am an FSB airplane came to get the members of the Youth Expedition. The young skiers were flown by helicopter from the North Pole to Barneo. From there they traveled on to Nagurskaya and then Moscow along with the Russian scientists. The camp was almost empty. The weather went completely out of hand.


Barneo's weather welcomes express tourists but not warmly
Air temperature is -10С, windy, water temperature is -4C
Andy Heiberg preparing a working tent for dispatch
Landing Antonov-74 on the ice

April 22, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 33' N, 131° 01' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 49 km.
Drift speed: 0.2-0.3 km/hr.
The weather has deteriorated: temperature of -11° C, wind of 3-4 m/sec, fog and visibility down to 500 m.

The Barneo runway is closed due to poor weather conditions. Because of the fog the Federal Security Service airplane that was supposed to pick up the members of the Youth Expedition could not fly in. The airplane is currently in Murmansk, waiting for the weather to clear up. Tomorrow it is scheduled to fly from Murmansk to Nagurskaya (Franz-Josef Land) and then on to Barneo. The kids from the Youth Expedition have set up camp at the North Pole since the fog is also preventing helicopters from leaving Barneo. Actually, the North Pole is getting a bit crowded. Other skiers who completed their programs broke out their tents nearby. If the weather improves tomorrow, the helicopters will bring back the adult skiers as well as the kids.

At Longyearbyen there was a birthday party for Dmitry Korostelyuk – with lots of delectable food and shish-kabobs prepared by the birthday boy himself.

April 21, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 32' N, 133° 06' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 50.9 km.
Drift speed: 0.5 km/hr.
Temperature: -20° C, wind of 5 m/sec, visibility of 8,000 m.

The An-74 made one flight to Barneo today to bring Victor Simonov's group back to Longyearbyen. Some equipment from the camp that was no longer needed was also returned to Longyearbyen, along with research materials from the American scientists, who are close to completing their program.

The Russian scientists are also done with their work. This year Barneo hosted representatives from the Oceanology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN), as well as the Antarctic Institute of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. The main target of research was ice, which was studied both as the product of interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, and as the habitat of microscopic organisms. For the fifth year in a row scientists have come to Barneo to carry out complex studies of the physical characteristics of the top layers of water, the thickness and thermal properties of ice, and the optical parameters of hummocks. In addition, the researches were interested in the concentration, distribution and species composition of living organisms in the ice and the top ocean waters, and they also used the opportunity to study the ozone layer.

Today is the birthday of Sergei Pisarev, a senior fellow of the RAN Oceanology Institute and a distinguished polar explorer. We congratulate Sergei and wish him solid ice and many interesting scientific discoveries!


Sergei Pisarev


Douglas Cairns is the pilot of BEECH BARON B58


BEECH BARON B58 on Barneo

April 20, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 30' N, 134° 20' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 55.8 km.
Drift speed: 0.3-0.4 km/hr.
Temperature: -22° C, wind of 2-3 m/sec, good visibility.

Victor Simonov's group completed its “Two Degrees” program and returned to the base. There are currently five teams out (38 people and a dogsled).

There were no An-74 airplanes today, but instead a Beech Baron B58 airplane piloted by Douglas Cairns arrived from Alaska. The Englishman's visit to Barneo is part of his Diabetes Polar Flight program, which seeks to bring awareness to the problem of diabetes and show that this ailment does not have to prevent people from achieving their ambitions. Douglas was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 25. As a result of diabetes he lost his job as a jet pilot in the British Royal Air Force. In 2000 Douglas moved to the U.S. where he became a licensed private pilot. In 2003 he completed "Diabetes World Flight", the first round-the-world flight by a pilot with type 1 diabetes. Based on this experience Douglas wrote the book "Dare to Dream: Flying Solo With Diabetes."

The Beech Baron B58 circled around the geographic North Pole and landed at Barneo. Following a warm welcome and a hot meal (despite the late hour, Douglas was happy to try some Russian borscht), he headed back. Douglas spent a total of almost 15 hours in the air.

The middle-of-the-night visit threw off the schedule for the Barneo crew, who ended up having their breakfast at lunchtime.

April 19, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 29' N, 133° 51' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 56.8 km.
Drift speed: 0.1-0.2 km/hr.
Temperature: -22° C, wind of 6-7 m/sec, excellent visibility.

It's a quiet day at the base. There are no An-74 flights and the helicopters are also resting. Only the Twin Otter was active, taking off from the Barneo airstrip for some research in remote points. The Twin Otter will make three more flights and then return to Canada. There are 6 groups out (42 people and a dogsled). According to reports from the field, the fastest of the groups still have a couple of days to go to get to the North Pole, so tomorrow the An-74 crew will have another free day.

The Barneo team is also taking a break. Their plan for the day is to watch some films, clean up a little, and get a chance to use the sauna. Since the peak of the tourist visits is over, two living modules have been dismantled and packed up to be sent back to Longyearbyen. The remaining tents will be sufficient for the skiers who are still out on their routes.


It's a quiet day...


Expedition head Alexander Orlov


On Barneo

April 18, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 29' N, 133° 17' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 56.4 km.
Drift speed: 0.2 km/hr.
Excellent weather: temperature at -23° C, light winds, sunny.

During the night the youth expedition headed by Matvei Shparo and Boris Smolin reached the camp. The group's route to the North Pole passes through Barneo. The kids set up camp one kilometer away from the base and continued on in the morning. They have 56.4 kilometers to go to their destination.

The Russian and American scientists continued their work. The Americans are using the Twin Otter airplane to conduct research in various locations in the Arctic region.

The An-74 came to Barneo once today to pick up some skiers who finished their trek and take them back to Longyearbyen. Tomorrow the An-74 crew will have a day off and won't fly to the ice runway.


"Shparoites" approaching Barneo camp





Matvey Shparo


Boris Smolin


American scientists' Twin-Otter


Mil-8T collect skiers in Arctic

April 17, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 28' N, 133° 21' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 58.5 km.
Drift speed: 0.2-0.3 km/hr.
Temperature: -24° C, wind of 2-3 m/sec, good visibility.

Two An-74 flights arrived today: one carried “express tour” guests who were taken to the North Pole, while the second delivered fuel for the Twin Otter and the Mi-8s. Virtually all the ski program participants have made it to Barneo and started off on their treks. No more athletes will arrive. Now our task is to take them back after they complete their programs. Today, for example, Inge Solheim and his team of British veterans arrived at the North Pole. Once they had returned to the camp and were ready to fly back to Longyearbyen, the Barneo crew presented these persevering men with souvenirs: watches with the Barneo-2011 logo. On April 21 the veterans will hold a press conference in London to describe their trip to the North Pole.

Over the next few days the helicopters will have a lot of work: everyone who has reached the North Pole needs to get back to the camp. There are currently 8 groups out (54 people). Every day there will be those who complete their programs and take the helicopter to the camp.

April 16, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 26' N, 135° 00' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 60.5 km.
Drift speed: 0.3-0.5 km/hr.
Temperature: -23° C, wind of 1-2 m/sec, good visibility.

At 5 am a Twin Otter airplane arrived at Barneo from Canada for use by the American scientists.

The first flight from Longyearbyen brought “express tour” guests, as well as First Vice President of the Russian Geographic Society Artur Chilingarov. From Barneo the famous polar explorer, along with expedition head Alexander Orlov and ski program expedition director Victor Boyarsky, rode in an Mi-8 helicopter to visit the "Ski to the North Pole!" Youth Expedition and wish its participants luck on their difficult trek to the North Pole.

The team of scuba divers from Moscow State University, headed by Mikhail Safonov, completed its program and returned to Longyearbyen. The scuba divers shared with us some excellent underwater footage.

A second An-74 flight brought skiers who immediately set off on their route. The helicopter pilots were very busy today, making a total of 6 flights. They ferried skiers from their route to the airplane, flew out the recent arrivals, brought “express tour” guests to the North Pole, and visited the youth expedition headed by Matvei Shparo and Boris Smolin.

An-74 commander Victor Fyodorovich Gula celebrated his 55th birthday today. Artur Chilingarov, the crew of the An-74, the helicopter pilots, the Russian scientists and the entire Barneo staff congratulated Victor Fyodorovich from the bottom of their hearts and wished him clear skies and soft landings!



Congratulation


Arthur Chilingarov and Victor Gula (Andrey Volkov on the background)


"Shparoites"


Polar beauty Arina Lyogkaya


"Shparoites" in Arctic

This photos provided by Michael Safonov:

April 15, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 26' 538" N, 135° 00' 060" E.
Distance from the North Pole: 61.7 km.
Drift speed: 0.2-0.3 km/hr.
Temperature: -22° C, wind of 4 m/sec, visibility of 5 km.

Today an An-72 airplane from the fleet of the Federal Security Service (FSB) arrived at Barneo. It brought the members and leaders of the 4th "Ski to the North Pole!" Youth Expedition. In December 2010 the Adventure Club held a contest to select participants. The seven lucky winners, aged 15 to 18, came to the Arctic to receive their prize: an opportunity to make a 100-km ski trek to the North Pole, accompanied by famous adventurers Matvei Shparo and Boris Smolin.

The youth expedition members are:

Their guides are Roman Ponomarev and Ivan Dubov.

After a training session near the camp, the expedition participants boarded a helicopter to travel to the starting point of their ski trek.

Meanwhile, Vera Serebrovskaya, a correspondent from the Vesti 24 television channel, and her video operator took a walk along nearby ice hummocks with Barneo expedition leader Alexander Talanov and the camp's “science city” representative Sergei Pisarev.

After lunch the guests and crew of Barneo had an opportunity to ride a dogsled that arrived the previous day. By evening the weather on the ice floe improved: the temperature decreased, but the wind quieted down to 0-0.1 m/sec and the drift slowed to 0.1-0.2 km/hr.

Seven groups (55 people) are en route to the North Pole. At the base camp there are eleven tourists, four Russian scientists and six American scientists.

Viktor Boyarsky and Nanuk


Mirek and Petrovich

April 14, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 25' N, 139° 29' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 65.5 km.
Drift speed: 0.2-0.3 km/hr.
Temperature: -25° C, wind of 2-3 m/sec, good visibility.

One An-74 flight carrying skiers, “express tour” guests and a dog team arrived today. Helicopters made three trips to the North Pole. First, in the morning, they picked up skiers who had completed their program. Then the American scientists were brought out to set up some equipment. Finally, a new ski team was delivered to its starting point, while “express tour” guests were ferried directly to the North Pole.

The North Pole also hosted two engagement parties. One couple from China (Xin Dong and Yichen Li) had planned to get engaged at the top of the world. For the other couple, the event was even more romantic. Talmon Marco (Israel) had invited his sweetheart Ching Ka Chung (China) to visit some friends in Oslo. Once there, he suggested taking a trip to Tromso, and from there enticed her to Longyearbyen. Ching Ka Chung was willing to follow her friend to the end of the world – and that's how they ended up at Barneo. When a champagne toast was offered at the North Pole, Talmon Marco slipped a ring into his girlfriend's glass, finding an original way to ask her to marry him. Who could reject such a romantic move? Naturally, Ching Ka Chung said “Yes!”

Xin Dong and Yichen Li

Talmon Marco and Ching Ka Chung

When the two couples returned to Barneo, the team congratulated them on this important step. As presents they received toy versions of Barneo's totem animal – the polar bear – and bottles of champagne signed by the entire crew. We wish them much happiness and a return to Barneo, the place where they made such a fateful decision!

April 13, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 21' N, 141° 11' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 71.8 km.
Drift speed: 0.2-0.3 km/hr.
Temperature: -25° C, wind of 1-2 m/sec, excellent visibility.

Today one An-74 flight arrived, bringing skiers and “express tour” guests. The group that had completed its program returned to Longyearbyen. Mi-8T commander Yevgeny Poleschuk flew to the North Pole twice: in the morning to pick up skiers who had reached the North Pole, and in the afternoon to bring “express tour” guests to the site, as well as to drop a new group at their starting point. There are 13 groups out today, totaling 60 people.

In the evening a sauna was set up and tested at Barneo. It was a success.

Today is the birthday of tractor driver Vasily Vedyanin. The Barneo team congratulates him and wishes him health and success in all ventures!


Vasiliy Vedjanin with present


Eugeniy Polechuk


Mil-8T on Barneo

April 12, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 17' N, 142° 22' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 79 km.
Drift speed: 0.4 km/hr.
Temperature: -28° C, southeastern wind with a speed of 2-3 m/sec, good visibility.

Early in the morning, helicopters picked up the skiers that had reached the North Pole. They went back to Longyearbyen on an An-74 flight that had brought some “express tour” guests to Barneo.

A photography exhibit opened at Barneo. Valerii Vasilevsky presented 23 photographs from a series titled “Summer on Franz-Josef Land”. The exhibit was attended by tourists, Russian and American scientists and the Barneo crew.

Barneo's guests also celebrated Space Day. In Russia, April 12 culminated in fireworks. At Barneo a model rocket was launched to commemorate Yuri Gagarin's historic flight. Our rocket did not reach space, but it did make all of our guests very happy.

The “express tour” guests achieved a lot during the day they spent at Barneo: they visited the North Pole, saw Valerii Vasilievsky's exhibit, participated in a rocket launch and wrapped up their day with a celebratory meal.

The evening flight delivered fuel to the base for the American scientists.

There are 15 groups out today: 82 people and a dog team.


Author - Valery Vasilevsky (second right) with visitors of an exhibitions.


Photo-exhibition


Visitors of an exhibitions


The opening of exhibition


The cook Ivan Simonov


Denis Bogdanov


Sergey Orlov


The doctor - Stas Boyarsky


Day of astronautics on Barneo

Celebratory start of the rocket from the cosmodrome "Barneo"

April 11, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 13' N, 140° 28' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 87 km.
Drift speed: 0.3-0.4 km/hr.
Temperature: -24.5° C, wind speed of 3-4 m/sec, sunny, excellent visibility.

As a result of a blizzard in Longyearbyen, the An-74 couldn't make the morning flight to Barneo. After dinner, when the wind quieted down, American scientists and their equipment were brought to the base camp. They joined a group of Russian scientists who have been at Barneo for almost a week. Scientists of the two countries have worked side by side for many years.

There are 18 groups out on their treks today: 87 people and one dog team. Only two tourists are at the camp itself, so the Barneo crew took advantage of this opportunity to do some cleaning.


The grew of Antonov-74 on ice airdrome Barneo

April 10, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 10' N, 137° 21'E.
Distance from the North Pole: 92 km.
Temperature of -25.5 °C, wind speed of 4-5 m/sec, great visibility.

Life at the camp is going as planned – flights land, expeditions take off. There are currently 15 groups of skiers who are on their way to the North Pole. In addition, divers have arrived with plans to venture under the polar ice. Work on the airstrip continues – it requires constant monitoring. The crevasse has half healed, but the top layer broke, creating small hummocks. Today the ice formations were removed and the indentations were filled with water.


Working on the ice runway


In the cockpit of the An-74


Cook Denis Romanov


Expedition dog Nanuk and his friend Prince Harry

April 9, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 08' N, 136° 21' E.
Distance from the North Pole: 95.5 km.
Excellent weather: temperature of -26 °C, wind speed of 3-4 m/sec, bright sun and brilliantly blue sky.

The international marathon began early this beautiful morning. This was the 8th polar event organized by the famous marathoner Richard Donovan. There were 27 participants, including Barneo team member Dmitry Mamadaliev. This was the second marathon for Dima – last year he did not make the podium, but this year... well, we won't skip ahead.

Last year the runners faced blistering winds and a blizzard. But this year the weather was kind – sunshine and a “light” frost of -26 degrees. The 26.2-mile route was marked in the vicinity of Barneo across snowbanks and ice hummocks.

Istvan Toth (Hungary) was first at the finish line with a time of 4:54:03. Our congratulations to the marathon winner! John Braun (Luxembourg) was second at 5:09:50. And third was... none other than Dmitry Mamadaliev (Barneo team, North Pole), who covered the distance in 5:09:53. Hurray for all participants of the 2011 International Polar Marathon!

After a hot meal and a brief rest all the marathoners took a helicopter tour to the geographic North Pole.

Meanwhile, the first flight of the day delivered a light DT-70 tractor to Barneo for building the spare runway. The second flight brought a group of skiers.


Richard Donovan, the organizer of the annual North Pole Marathon


On the race track


Barneo's National Hero: Dmitry Mamadaliev, 3rd place


Marathon participants

April 8, 2011 (evening)
The airplane carrying some of the marathon runners landed on the rebuilt airstrip. Prince Harry took the return flight back to Longyearbyen, where he transferred to an SAS airplane that was waiting for him to make the connection.

The remaining marathoners will head to Barneo on the second flight, at approximately 8pm Longyearbyen time. The marathon will begin tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately, some skiers have gotten worked up about the problems with the runway and the resulting flight delays. They were upset that they had to wait for a later flight, while some of the marathon participants were fast-tracked through on the first departure to the reconstructed runway. We therefore find it necessary to explain the situation. The Barneo management retains the right to make decisions on selecting passengers for the first flight BASED STRICTLY ON SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS. Unlike skiers, the marathoners have very little cargo – only special cleats and some personal items. The mass of the airplane MUST be taken into account during the FIRST landing onto a newly built (or reconstructed) runway. Therefore we did not choose to take the skiers, who are carrying skis and sleds with several days worth of clothing and food. THE SAFETY OF OUR GUESTS IS A PRIORITY FOR US! For this reason, despite the protests of some of the skiers, one of the next flights will not carry tourists, but instead will deliver a tractor for the construction of a spare runway. Going forward we will continue to make all decisions based only on the safety of the people already on the base and those wishing to get there.

Unloading of technical flight on Barneo
To read discussion on barneo-polus.livejournal.com about features of polar travels translated by Google.

April 8, 2011
Coordinates: 89°07' N, 135°40' E.
Air temperature: -23 °C. Wind speed of 4-5 m/sec, good visibility.
Distance from North Pole: 98 km. The drift has stopped.
The reconstruction of the runway was completed this morning. At 9am Longyearbyen time, the first An-74 flight left for Barneo with marathon runners aboard. Prince Harry is waiting for the airplane at the camp. He came back from his group's route yesterday, having completed his part of the program.

Unfortunately, the state of the ice floe makes it impossible to say with any certainty that it will survive until the end of the season. It was therefore decided to look for a new place for a runway. In order to build a new airstrip it will be necessary to move the tractors. However, the equipment that is currently in use at Barneo is too heavy to be transported by helicopter: each of the tractors weighs 7.5 tons. Instead, a small D-70 tractor will be brought from Longyearbyen, where it is stored just for such emergencies. The D-70 will be loaded onto the airplane in Longyearbyen and flown to Barneo. From there it will be carried to the new ice floe, suspended from a helicopter. While the reserve runway is being prepared, flights will arrive at the reconstructed airstrip at Barneo.

Ten groups are currently out on their treks. One team is heading to Greenland and another is bound for Canada. Four groups set off from Barneo for the North Pole under the “Last Degree” program. Two groups are following the “Degree and a Half” program, including Steffen Dahl, who is skiing unassisted. Inge Solheim accompanied Prince Harry to the base, and then returned to continue guiding his group of British servicemen to the North Pole. Despite their wartime injuries, the veterans are moving pretty fast. During the first 24 hours they covered 25 km. A camera team is following Inge's group and making a film about these heroic men. All of the skiers had benefited from the “tail” drift, but today, unfortunately, the ice is not moving relative to the North Pole.

April 7, 2011

The night passed and the split has got slightly frozen, but it still “breathes”. The two Barneo’s tractors are now at work lengthening the longer end of the landing strip. There is no reason to wait for the crack to close up. Richard Donovan’s international Marathon team was supposed to arrive at the base today. At the mom…ent they are in Longyearbyen expecting the aerodrome to be fixed up.

We congratulate Barneo's power engineer Alexei Korostelyuk and his wife Lena on the birth of their SON!!! We hope that the little one will be healthy and strong – when he grows up his father will surely take him along to the Arctic.

April 6, 2011
ATTENTION! URGENT BULLETIN!

Today after lunch, while the An-74 was en route to Barneo on its second flight of the day, and was already halfway to the base, a crevasse appeared in the ice. It crossed the entire camp, including the runway, gaping open to 1 meter wide.

Flight Control Officer Vladimir Kruglov ordered the airplane to turn around in midair, sending the tourists it was carrying back to Longyearbyen. After inspecting the crevasse, the Barneo team decided to look for a new ice floe for a runway. The chances that the crack will close back up – and do so evenly – are pretty low, though in our experience even this is not impossible.

To add insult to injury, the weather is against us once more. The wind changed directions and picked up to 12-14 m/sec; a blizzard began. We can't send the helicopters out to look for a new location, so we will sit tight, watch the ice, and wait for conditions to improve.

In addition to the camp personnel, Barneo's guests include Russian scientists who arrived yesterday and twelve tourists who visited the North Pole by helicopter today. Everyone received a warm spot in a sleeping tent and a good meal – the kitchen has been fully operational since yesterday evening. No one is sick, no one has been injured and no one is despairing. The skiers who arrived on the morning flight have already began their trek.

April 5, 2011
Coordinates: 89 01' N, 121 34' E.
Temperature of -17 C, fog, light winds.

The Barneo team worked hard during the night - by the morning the base had two mess tents connected by a walkway, a kitchen, and two sleeping tents. Then everyone laid down to get some rest.

Yesterday four Russian skydivers became Barneo's first guests. Anton Kurochkin, Oleg Konyagin, Dmitry Alfyorov and his wife Larisa Alfyorova descended from the skies even before the first landing of the An-74. They dropped from the Il-76 together with the fuel brought from Murmansk.

Norwegian guide Inge Solheim and the members of his expedition (British veterans and Prince Harry) were the first travelers to make use of the ice runway. The men loaded their skis and sleds onto helicopters and took off for their starting point, over 250 kilometers away from the North Pole.

Two flights will come to Barneo from Longyearbyen today. The first will bring Russian scientists and their equipment. The second (arriving late at night) will carry skiers. Soon operations at the base will be going along as scheduled.

April 4, 2011 (evening)
We congratulate everyone who has been waiting for so long for the Barneo camp to open! The first technical flight touched down on the ice runway at 18:00 Longyearbyen time.

THE BARNEO 2011 SEASON HAS STARTED!

Coordinates: 89 04' N, 118 49' E.
Great weather, temperature of -20 C, wind speed of 2 m/sec.

The first technical flight left Longyearbyen late - there was poor visibility and strong winds at Barneo. However, true to forecasts, the weather improved markedly in the second half of the day and the crew of the An-74 was cleared for takeoff. Two and a half hours later the airplane arrived at the new ice airfield.We thank the An-74 team for the soft landing - they have dozens of flights to make this season, but today was the most important one, the first one.

To see video First landing on Barneo 2011

April 4, 2011
During the morning phone call with Barneo we found out that the weather had deteriorated last night. The wind rose to 20 m/sec, visibility dropped and snowfall began. This slowed down the clearing of the runway, but work was still completed by the morning.

The ice thickness could not be measured precisely as the available drill bit was not long enough, but since the ice is 2-3 years old it should be at least 2.5 meters thick.

The weather in Murmansk is good, so the Il-76 made the third fuel drop, completing its program. The crew of the airplane can now return home to Tver.

Due to the fuel drop, the technical flight from Longyearbyen has been postponed to 12:00 Longyearbyen time (minus two hours from Moscow time). Meteorologists from St. Petersburg promise that weather conditions at Barneo will improve by that time.

Attention! The Barneo ice airfield will be opened soon! Stay tuned!

April 3, 2011, Longyearbyen
Air temperature in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen is -12 °C, gale-strength wind.
Yesterday evening Barneo organizers welcomed in their office Inge Solheim, who will guide four British servicemen wounded in Afghanistan together with prince Harry to the Pole this season. The Walking With The Wounded's journey aims at raising money for wounded ex-servicemen and women.

April 3, 2011
Barneo coordinates: N 89°06', E 115°12'. Air temperature: -30 °C. Wind speed of 3-4 m/sec
According to the morning report from Barneo, 400 meters of the airstrip are ready. The team needs another 24 hours to prepare the runway for airplanes to land. The ice is described as “difficult” – much of the work has to be done with ice shovels. Just like last year, there are three tractor drivers working in shifts.

Yesterday, helicopters ferried all of the fuel over to the base camp and the Zhalyuzi-2 point ceased to exist. The weather at Barneo is good, with a temperature of -30 °C and a wind of 3-4 m/sec. Skies are clear.

The Il-76 needs to make one more drop of fuel at Barneo, but conditions in Murmansk have deteriorated again – wind, rain mixed with snow, and very low clouds.

Winds are also raging in Longyearbyen, literally knocking people off their feet. The temperature is -12 °C. Yesterday we had some guests at our office. Norwegian guide Inge Solheim came with a team of four British veterans led by Prince Harry, who is a patron of the Walking With The Wounded charity organization. We had some tea and talked. We told them about the Barneo base camp, which will be their starting point, and they told us about their planned expedition to the North Pole.

Inge explained that the four Afghanistan veterans were selected for the team through a qualifying round. There were many contenders, but the four winners were Jaco Albert Van Gass, Robert Stephen Young, Guy Fraser Disney, and Martin Joseph Hewitt. The expedition will be a very difficult one. The disabled veterans will ski two degrees (approximately 220 kilometers) to the North Pole – and they will have to do it faster than planned due to delays caused by weather conditions.

We took a photograph to commemorate the meeting.

April 2, 2011
Coordinates: 89° 08' N, 116° 21' E. Air temperature: -24 °C. Strong winds, light haze.

In the morning the Il-76 left Murmansk for Barneo and successfully dropped off two tractors, as well as the tractor operators in tandem with experienced sky divers. They were followed by the rest of Glagolev’s landing team. The group will prepare the parachutes for evacuation and help build the runway.

The tractors were the first to be unpacked – they are what determines how quickly Barneo can be opened. The engines of both vehicles started without problems and the operators got to work.

In Longyearbyen the Barneo team celebrated the birthday of the base’s power engineer, Alexei Korostelyuk.

April 1, 2011

Joint team commander Alexander Bakhmetyev reported at 6:50am that an ICE FLOE FOR THE BARNEO CAMP HAS BEEN FOUND. Its coordinates are 89° 10' 30" N, 121° 44' 06" E. The pilots are ready to accept these coordinates for the air drop of tractors for the construction of the ice runway. The weather is good, with temperature of -20° C and wind speed of 3-4 m/sec.

But things are not that simple! True to tradition, now there are weather conditions in Murmansk that won’t allow the Il-76 to take off. The wind is blowing 5-6 m/sec right along the runway. And the airplane can’t take off against the wind due to the geography of the airfield in Murmansk, where there is a mountain just past the runway threshold. A fully loaded Il-76 carrying two tractors and a landing team does not have the space for takeoff.

We are waiting for the wind to change in Murmansk…

March 31, 2011 (evening)

The landing team of 6 skydivers and a Swiss operator touched down at Zhalyuzi-2 (coordinates: 86° 22' N, 130° 20' E – very close to the North Pole). The weather was good, with temperature of -24° C, wind speed of 5-6 m/sec, and visibility of 10 km. The Il-76 returned to Murmansk to prepare to bring two tractors and other heavy equipment to the ice where the Barneo station will be set up.

The helicopters will leave for Zhalyuzi-2 at 10pm Moscow time. From there they will scout for an ice floe for the future landing strip.

March 31, 2011

An Il-76 with freight and a landing team left Murmansk at 6am and headed to Zhalyuzi-1 (coordinates: 86° 44' N, 91° 28' E). Joint team commander Alexander Bakhmetyev radioed in from the ice around noon to say that the fuel had been dropped successfully. From the airdrop point the Il-76 turned north to bring Glagolev’s group and fuel to Zhalyuzi-2. Once there, the landing party will relay their coordinates to the helicopters and await their arrival.

March 30, 2011

At 3pm Moscow time two Mi-8 helicopters finally escaped from the “captivity” of bad weather and set off towards the North Pole. Joint team commander Alexander Bakhmetyev reported at 7:10pm that they had touched down on the ice at the Zhalyuzi-1 point. They will set up a tent there and early tomorrow morning they will submit their coordinates to Murmansk. At 5am a landing team will fly out to airdrop fuel at Zhalyuzi-2.

March 28, 2011

The helicopters are still on Sredny Island.

An airplane arrived from Moscow today. Now the entire Barneo team has gathered at Longyearbyen. Russian scientists came, headed by Professor Igor Melnikov. Representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations also arrived.

During the afternoon the Barneo organizers met with the Governor of Longyearbyen.

March 26, 2011

The helicopters departed from Khatanga at 7am Moscow time. Four hours later they refueled at Chelyuskin and continued on to Sredny Island.

Some of the world’s greatest adventurers are already in Longyearbyen waiting for Barneo to open: Sweden’s Ola Skinnarmo, who sailed on the Explorer of Sweden through the Northeast Passage in 2009; Eric Philips, who leads ski excursions to the North Pole every year; and Inge Solheim, who will guide four British servicemen wounded in Afghanistan to the Pole this season. Prince Harry, who is third in the British royal line of succession, will join Solheim’s expedition during one of its stages.

Also in Longyearbyen is Petter Nyquist of Norway, a good friend of the Barneo team, who witnessed the ice floe under the station breaking apart last year and recorded a documentary film about this event (please see Barneo 2010 Chronicle). Petter plans to visit our ice camp once again.