Howard Fairbank Canada to the North Pole: Fear running high!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Fear running high!

In the last few hours there have been lots of emails, phone call activity around the condition of the Ice at the start point. One never knows where the truth lies, but infra red photos are being sent around with notes attached saying that the ocean is really badly cracked, and there is even open water right off the land at our start point.... This is when it's good to tap into Richard's experience, and he remains confident that this is pretty typical pre-expedition hype and apprehension. He does qualify that by saying things are probably a 'bit worse' because of the super tides.... We have just spent the last two hours going through the possible ice scenarios and how we will manage them....Hmmmm.... It will be VERY interesting, and I can feel my stomach turning a bit more!

My friends Dan and Amelia took the lonely flight to the start this morning, and within hours they will be at the cold face and know the real truths about the ice conditions. We were supposed to be with them in Resolute, but with the this was not to be. I received an email from them last night, and it had a huge impact as I immediately related to their pre-expedition nerves, given the relatively low level of experience. They are strong and an amazing team, so I hold thumbs....

We are on track for a 2.3o pm charter flight departure from Yellowknife, and are about to head off for our last 'nice' team lunch. Apparently Resolute is not a centre of culinary fame! I can almost be certain that none of us will be ordering any food that resembles, pemmican, noodles, cheese or nut butter, and we will keep away from nuts for desert!

3 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 27, 2010 at 8:10 AM
Hi Howard,
Hope lunch was good! As you so often bring up, the state of mind is obviously so crucial in this whole venture. Not spinning out into doubting, energy sapping & negative 'stories'. It's something I've struggled with in life & I salute your mental stamina & strength. Thanks for sharing details of how the 'waste'from those 7000 calories gets, erm, eliminated. I did wonder.....
I appreciate your taking time to keep us posted.
Angie J.
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AnonymousFebruary 27, 2010 at 10:57 AM
Best of luck, Howard. Will be sending you positive vibes across the ice from London. Keep your cool, do your best, and when things get tough remember to enjoy it.

Cheers,
Mike.
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AnonymousFebruary 28, 2010 at 2:12 PM
Howard, your philosphy is so pure and uncomplicated and I hope that you can get the best out of this expedition despite it being a team effort.
Knowing you, you will take what you need out of it without compromising your own set of principles and values.
I wish you stamina and strength of body....I know your mind is strong enough!

take care my mate....Peter from Cape Town.
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The Expedition Goals

1. The Team of Four is to traverse the Arctic Ocean from the traditional, last land point in Canada, Ward Hunt Island, to the Geographic North Pole (90 degrees North) some 762 kilometeres away, as the 'tern' flies!

2. The Team will be self sufficient, save for one flown in, food re-supply, at around 22 days into the roughly 50 day expedition.

3. The team will each haul their own sleds, expecting to take between 48 and 55 days, to cover the tortuous course, dodging natural obstacles, on the ocean ice, to the Pole.

4. The Expedition is planned to start 1 March 2010, from Ward Hunt Island, Nunavut, Canada. Notoriously unpredictable weather conditions may affect this start date.

5. The Expedition finishes at the North Pole, which MUST be reached before 28 April 2010. This is the day when the temporary, ice based, Russian logistics base, 'Barneo', closes and the expedition will be relying on them for airlift back to civilisation. This base closure is due to the fact that, with the onslaught of summer, the ocean ice conditions deteriorate to the point where sustaining a base is no longer possible.

The Expedition Route

The expedition will follow a very traditional North Pole conquest route: From Ward Hunt Island, Nunavut Canada to The Pole, 90 Degrees North.

(The other traditional route was from Russia / Siberia, which was considered slightly longer, but with easier terrain. With the onset of global warming, this route is no longer considered on option, as there is too much water at the start.)

Ward Hunt Island is a small island, off the NW corner of Ellesmere Island, which are both part of the Canadian Arctic Islands (More specifically the Queen Elizabeth Islands part of the broader group.) It's Northern cape is one of the northernmost elements of land in Canada, hence its starting point for the expedition. It is located at: 83°05′55″N and 074°10′00″

In total the expedition will cover just under 7 degrees of latitude, and a 'straight line' distance of some 760 kilometres.

Due to the dynamic nature of the arctic, open ocean leads, wind, and ocean currents will have an impact on the actual route travelled. It is not unknown, for southern drift to carry an ice floe, with an expedition tent and its sleeping inhabitants, back to the latitude they started at the previous day! The wind and the currents are variable, and tidal flows add to the largely unpredictable drift, however we are expecting to have a net southerly and easterly drift over the total trip. Historically, an expedition on this route, could traverse up to 20% more than the straight line distance.

The path will attempt to roughly follow the 74 degree longitude line, while including a westerly offset to counter the expected net easterly drift.

The Expedition Team

Team Leader: Richard Weber

(50, Ottawa, Canada. One of the world's top Polar Explorers. 6 traverses, including the 'probably never t0 be repeated' 1995, 108 day expedition from Canada to NP and back, unsupported.)

Team Member 2: Tessum Weber

(20, Ottawa, Canada, Richard's son, and an experienced cold environment adventurer.)

Team Member 3: David Jones

(45 Geneva, Switzerland, Experienced mountain climber, including Everest summiter.)

Team Member 4: Howard Fairbank

(52, South African, A Wanderer: Solo Sailor, Trans- continental Cycling and Sea Kayaking adventurer.)

The Next Pre-Expedition Training

Our team, Pre-expedition training, will continue through most of February, with the team meeting 11 February in Yellowknife.

11 February to 24th February 2010, we will be based in Yellowknife, with training being once again focused on excurions around Great Slave Lake. These will vary from multi day, sleeping out sessions, to day only trips. Much of the focus will be on testing new equipment, and checking whether adjustments made to some of the equipment we used in December have had the desired result. (One of these pieces of equipment will be the dry suits, which will involve open water training again.)

Much time will also be spent sorting out the food and designing sled packing solutions and daily routines. (There will be a separate blog post on the food, calorie philosophy, and daily rations.) Around all of this, the critical human side will be at work with significant team building, role establishment, and final re-inforcement of the expedition goals and values.

On the 24th of February we plan to fly further north to Resolute, (Resolute Bay), on Cornwallis Island 75N, 95W. This is another traditional stopover point for expeditions attempting to do this same Canada to Noth Pole route. It is also one of the coldest inhabited places in the world, with an average yearly temperature of −16.4 °C (2.5 °F) Resolute's average HIGH for the year is −13.3 °C (8.1 °F) while the average LOW for the year is −19.5 °C (−3.1 °F). At Resolute, we will use the more northerly location and it's colder conditions to further aclimatise, and do final testing of team / personal systems and equipment. No doubt much of this time wil be used subconciously for individual mind focusing and other mental preparation.

On the 1st March, we are then scheduled to fly the last stage to Ward Hunt Island, for the start of the expedition. This is a small plane charter flight and is notorious for being affected by adverse weather conditions.

Canada to the North Pole

Friday, February 26, 2010

Fear running high!

3 comments:

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The Expedition Goals

The Expedition Route

The Expedition Team

The Next Pre-Expedition Training

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