First night in the tent, -35° F.
Audio transcription:
Hi, this is John everybody. We have successfully launched the Victorinox North Pole ‘09 Expedition. Tyler and I are camped 1.7 nautical miles away from our drop point on Ward Hunt Island, the most northern point in North America. Our feet are warm. Our bellies are full. Our tent is pretty much dry although we're dealing with a lot of temperature variation between the stove, which is quite warm, and the sidewalls of the tent, which are just frosty with condensation from the temperature difference. Our spirits are high. We are looking forward to a nice warm sleep. And tomorrow we enter the Arctic Ocean sea ice. And as we can see northward it's just a big long endless sea of rubble at this point. It felt fantastic to ski for 2 hours. And we feel very confident in our systems and in our training. So, it's been a wonderful day. Here it is over to Tyler.
So the day has come that many people have been looking forward to and I'm sure a few people have been fearing. But John and I will be safe and we will be smart, we can guarantee that. I'm sure many of you are wondering what it's like when the airplane flies away after dropping you off on the northernmost point in North America, and I can tell you that it is very quiet. It is just like the movies actually except that it's quieter. That plane leave and you can't hear a thing. One of the things that struck me today in walking north, the mountains were behind us and it was so similar to a sunset in the desert behind the low mountain except that it lasts forever. It last all day. It's really wonderful and the Arctic Ocean is a desert technically. So, I guess it's appropriate. John and I turned to each other at one point today and went, "How many people do think have stood right here?" and we didn't know the answer but we figured a hundred. Less? More? Not many. Anyway, we felt very privilege to be here and it was really gorgeous. That's all I have to say for now. Talk to you later.
Daily Expedition Data
Date: March 2, 2009
Location: N83° 08.096' W074° 05.863'
Time Traveled: 2 hr 20 min
Distance Traveled: 1.7 nm (1 nm = 1.19 statute miles)
PM Temperature: -35°F
Wind: Calm
Total Distance to date: 1.7 nm
Distance to Pole: 414 nm