Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The North Pole

The weather cooperated and the team arrived at the North Pole by helicopter at about 5 PM local time! Well, by the team's watches it was 5, but of course time gets a bit muddled at the Pole. First off, the sun will not set tonight. At this time of year it will trace a big circle in the sky, and, provided there's little cloud cover, keep the icescape nice and bright 24 hours a day. Secondly, all the Earth's lines of longitude and time zones converge at the Pole, so who is to say what time it really is!

What's the weather like at Pole today? It's about -22 Celsius (-7.6 Fahrenheit) with light winds and clear skies. Just about the perfect day to be at the top of the world.

To top it all off, today is Hans' 50th birthday! Now that's a birthday party--celebrating with your family at the North Pole.

Also, immediately after landing, Johnny and two Russian paratroopers donned parachutes, flew to 2,500 meters and skydived over the Pole. After a 20 second freefall they pulled their chutes and over the course of five minutes glided down, eventually landing about 200 meters from the actual Pole. That's pretty darn good accuracy!

During the freefall, Polar Explorers guide Rick Sweitzer is reported to have been chanting, "Pull, Johnny, pull..." No doubt that Rick was relieved to have Johnny back on the ice safe and sound.

The team will spend the night back at Barneo. Don't worry about the cold though. The Arctic airstrip has a small village of very comfortably heated group tents. Anna, Sophia and Laura plan to celebrate by staying up all night. Why not? There'll be plenty of light!

Thanks again for following, and stay tuned for expedition pictures. 

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