June 1st 2002 - Day 81

90° NORTH - ON TOP OF THE WORLD !
CLICK HERE to hear Caroline and Ann talking about their amazing trip.

At 5:50 GMT (June 2nd), Ann and Caroline reached the North Pole setting the following World records:

(1) Caroline and Ann are the first female British explorers to have trekked to the geographic North Pole as part of an 'all female' expedition.
(2) As members of the 2000 M&G ISA Challenge Expedition to the geographic South Pole, Caroline and Ann are the first female explorers in history to have trekked to both geographic Poles as part of 'all female' expeditions.

Caroline and Ann have done this without the help of either professional guides or men; they themselves are professional explorers and have proved that women are the equal of men in what was once considered to be a very male dominated environment. The girls are intensely proud of what they have achieved and just want to show all females out there that two ordinary women really can achieve the extra-ordinary.

Wow. What an amazing feeling of elation, excitement and relief.
We found the Pole using our GPS and guess what, it was in the middle of an open lead. Fortunately no need for swimming, though – we found our way onto a small island of ice and suddenly we were on the very top of the world. Pom was there in spirit. We hugged each other, planted the Union Jack and sang the National Anthem. Not a single note in tune, not a single note coinciding.

It was absolutely fantastic – unbelievable to be there at last. We put the tent up, took photos and celebrated with a tiny bottle of whisky and mugs of potato and beef stew. Then we were up and off again to find a flat piece of ice for the Twin Otter to land on. Fortunately, we found something half a mile from the Pole and before long we were on our way home. First stop was Eureka, a small weather station at 80º North where we looked in the mirror and had our first shower for 81 days. Also, lavatory paper, knives and forks and communicating with other people – all of which were alien. Then back to Resolute last night for a wonderful welcome and more celebration with DianeGuy (unfortunately Gary is out of town). The Party at the Palace on television brought it home what a momentus weekend this has been.

We have received hundreds of messages from all over the world and we’d like to thank everyone who has followed the expedition. Knowing you were all rooting for us has meant so much throughout. Above all, words cannot express how much we owe to M&G and our other sponsors, Julian Mills and Zoe Hudson at base camp, and Martin and Sarah Knight who have designed and run the website. All have worked tirelessly day and night to support us and, quite simply, without them we could never have done what we have done.

Next stop: the UK. We should be home on Friday, June 7 and we’re really looking forward to being back with friends and family.

They made it - Caroline and Ann at the North Pole - June 2nd 2002
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

May 31th 2002 - Day 80

SO CLOSE THEY CAN ALMOST SMELL IT

Position: Latitude 89 51' .20"N Long 75 49W
Weather - Started a bit cloudy with a bit of snow but then cleared at about midday.
Distance travelled today: 10 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 383 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 9 N Miles

The sun showed its face at midnight, and after a long day they need to get some sleep. But with only 19 miles left to go, Caroline is too excited and can't sleep, as she chats away, Ann who was feeling quite sleepy, also gets excited. Then Caroline falls asleep, leaving Ann awake thinking….

May 30th 2002 - Day 79

TORPEDO STYLE

Position: Latitude 89° 41' N Longitude 76° 28'W
Distance travelled today: 10 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 373 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 19 N Miles

The girls heard today that Tom and Tina had made it, and are overjoyed for them. They have achieved an awesome feat, and they have been constantly in their thoughts-well done. Ann and Caroline are trying not to get too excited as the Pole gets closer. But any excitement soon evaporated when they were faced with a lead soon after breaking camp. If the lead is just clear water and it is too wide to jump across, Caroline prefers to swim, whilst Ann paddles lying prostrate on her pulk. Having had a lot of open water recently, the leads have suddenly changed, it is like going back in time to how they were about 3 or 4 weeks ago as they are semi frozen, and full of ice. These are too difficult to swim through, so rather than lowering the pulk and paddling, if the height of the bank is favourable, Caroline lines up her pulk on the ice, lies on top of it, then Ann launches her like a torpedo across to the other side. Ingenious ways of crossing a lead - Lesson 10. The first half of the day was horrid and continued in a similar vein, with a few swims here and a diversion around a pressure ridge there. Patience is the essence; they know they cannot force the end. They have to stick to their routine and judgement and carry on doing what they know how to do. Their patience paid off half way through the day, as the weather brightened up, they finished with open flat ice.

They have been out on the ice for 2 and a half months, and their existence is their routine. Whilst they think of family and friends constantly, they are so far removed from 'normal' life they can't imagine the frenzy that awaits the England game and the excitement of the Queens Jubilee. Normal life will not resume until after The Pole has been reached, they cannot afford to let their minds meander too far from their goal.

May 29th 2002 - Day 78

THINGS ARE HOTTING UP

Position: Latitude 89° 31' N Longitude 76° 45'W
Distance travelled today: 10 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 383 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 29 N Miles

One of the jobs in a morning whilst the snow blocks are melting in the pan ready to make breakfast is to check the weather. + 2 °C, rather unnerving when you think what you are travelling on. The warm temperature makes the ice slushy to travel across. They come across leads that have ice in them and the edges of the leads remain firm. The combination of the warm temperatures, open water mean that cloud is the norm now, however, the sun did manage to show his face towards the end of the day. At the end of the day they have 29 miles left to the Pole. It is so tantalisingly close, but Caroline and Ann can't get too excited yet, they know they have to keep concentrating and keep focussed - there are no forgone conclusions up here

May 28th 2002 - Day 77

THEY'D NEVER BELIEVE IT….

Position: Latitude 89° 21' N Longitude 74° 10'W
Distance travelled today: 11 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 373 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 39 N Miles

Ann and Caroline thought they had seen all the different weather and ice that the Arctic could produce, and it has some repertoire. Luckily they did not experience any drift overnight, but today was a complete whiteout. Luckily they had glorious pans all day, with lots of old rubble fields, and not a lead in sight. Then in the middle of their day, it rained, not for long, but it rained, in the Arctic - they have seen it all now.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

Position: Latitude 89° 10' N Longitude 73° 36'W
Distance travelled today: 11 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 362 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 50 N Miles

After the dejection of yesterday, the Arctic dealt a very different hand today. The temperature has dropped slightly and there is a northerly wind. Whether it is down to this or the fact they hit a better area, it is difficult to know. Whatever the reason, they hit large pans of good thick ice, with a good hard crust on the top, rather than the soft slushy stuff they have had to endure recently. This makes the pulks glide much better. When they did hit the thinner stuff, there was evidence of leads having refrozen. This was a fantastic sign to Caroline and Ann, and any fears they had yesterday of disappearing into 'Waterworld' completely evaporated.

Caroline and Ann normally take it in turn to lead if the going is relatively easy, but they also have specialist subjects, Caro is great at finding paths through the rubble, whilst Ann's speciality is thin ice. Once back inside the warmth of the tent at the end of the 'day' they guess the mileage, switch on the GPS and are relieved and elated with the 11 miles they clocked. The highs and lows. They hit the sack and hope that the new Northerly winds don't push them South whilst they sleep.
Only 50 miles to go………….

May 26th 2002 - Day 75

THE ELLUSIVE PARALLEL

Position: Latitude 88° 59' N Longitude 72° 52'W
Distance travelled today: 8 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 351 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 61 N Miles

They experienced some slight drift whilst they slept, but thankfully they went West rather than South. They woke with excitement with the hope that today they would push through 89°. Caroline also woke with the thought of mashed potatoes and cheese for breakfast, another new alteration to their daily menu. Caroline loves carbs, and especially potato, if that was all she had to eat for the rest of her life, she would be happy. In fact some friends think she might mutate into one. At least it makes a change from scrambled eggs or porridge.

As quickly as they can melt the snow to cook breakfast and get some hot drinks inside, they whistle down the camp and set off with one mission in mind.
The weather conditions were similar to yesterday, but the light was very flat. They hit some big pans during the first half of the day and progress was good, but as the day progressed it got worse and worse. Try and imagine the snow when it settles in England (not very often, we know), there is a brief moment when it is all pristine, then it melts and turns into a thick slush, that was what it was like. When it wasn't like this, there was open water, bigger leads they had to swim across, floating their pulks behind. Even when the sun came out, it didn't lift their spirits. It seemed as if all the ice was slowly melting and sinking around them and there was no end to it. They were determined to get through 89°, but after 15 hours they were exhausted and called it a day. A measly 8 miles for 15 hours hard graft. During trips like these the highs can be cancelled by the lows, and today was one of them.

Caroline and Ann.
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Typical ice lead.
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

May 25th 2002 - Day 74

MORE SKI, LESS SWIM

Position: Latitude 88° 51' N Longitude 72° 00'W
Distance travelled today: 9 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 343 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 69 N Miles

Today the wind has finally dropped, but unfortunately it remains warm. Caroline and Ann still had to cross lots of leads, but only 2 were so wide that they had to don the bright orange suits and lower themselves into the deep black water and swim across. Now the wind has dropped, the water is more still and seems less hostile. More of a pond than an Ocean. Another treat today, at their first break, they found a new addition to the usual supply of chocolate, assorted nuts and Polar biscuit - "a Licorice Allsort" Ann shrieked, but she swapped with Caroline who found to her dismay she had a coconut one. Pom had put these in as a daily treat.

They happily find lots of big open pans and push hard wanting to get through the all-magical 89th parallel. When they are driving hard they get very hot, so now it is warmer, jackets come off and they are left with just one layer that acts as a base layer. This allows the moisture to wick away more quickly from their bodies and stops them and the jackets getting wet. As for their sallopettes, these are designed with zips down the outside of the leg so they can open them as far as they want so they can 'vent'. The clothing system has been made by Montane, Chris Roff and his team have been absolutely fantastic in supporting the M&G Polar Team with individual specifications and requirements. A zip here, less padding there, they couldn't have asked for more. They had an opportunity for new clothing on resupply, but they knew what had worked and didn't want to change - they send a huge thanks.

Yet another surprise for dinner tonight - Macaroni Cheese, thanks Marcel and Peter.

May 23rd and 24th 2002 - Day 72 and 73

WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS

Position: Latitude 88° 42' N Longitude 72° 21'W
Distance travelled in the last 2 days: 17 N Miles
Distance travelled since the start: 334 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 78 N Miles

Thursday (Day 72)
They awoke to a strong easterly wind, -17 °C and cloud. The problem with setting off in a strong wind, is if the weather closes in further and you have to stop, can you get the tent back up. Though the first storm they encountered seems so long ago, the memories are still firmly etched in their heads. However, they have a new system, whereby the tent is laid out on the ice, Ann sits on it to stop it blowing away, whilst Caroline runs around securing it, before it is raised into position. As the wind drops during the day, the temperature climbs to -9 °C, and the snow gets very sticky, this makes the pulks harder to pull and slower going. After another gruelling 12 hours on the ice, the wind starts to build again, but this time from the North.

Friday (Day 73)
A strong Northerly wind means they have drifted half a mile further South from their position where they set up camp-but it could be worse. The temperature continues to stay warm so the snow remains sticky during the day. The dry suits go on to swim across smaller leads whilst they have to negotiate their way round the larger ones. Exhausted at the end of the day, they look forward to a surprise dinner. For the first 70 days their rehydrated meal was either chicken curry and rice, Hungarian beef and noodle pot, beef and potato casserole or cod and potato. Not much choice, but they are high in calories for the weight. Tonight though, it is Nasi Goreng. What an international menu so far North. As soon as they have finished eating Caroline and Ann hit the sack.

Back in Resolute
Gary and the gang had an uninterrupted night in the tent, and after a slap up breakfast and copious amounts of fresh coffee, set off to see the graves from the Franklin expedition. It is such a desolate place to think of being stranded here, the survivors dying one by one. It is impossible to comprehend what the early explorers had to endure, and the uncertainty they must have felt when they set off from England not knowing when they were going to return.

The contrast was poor, so visibility was limited as the team wound their way back carefully through the rough rubble that surrounds Beechey. Gary was majestic pulling the heavy Komatik through the difficult ice. Zoe was breaking the trail following the winding tracks around, and up and over hard blue ice. They hit some flat pans and had to jump over an open lead. Kent thought he was Evil Kenievel, his skidoo took off, he braked as he landed and slid to a halt within a foot of everyone else at the other side. Genius or lucky - who could say. We were near Cornwallis Island and decided to take a short cut through some particularly tricky ice. Zoe put her skidoo face down into an ice ditch, Pom had just come off hers and Gary had the komatik stuck over a hummock. We had 2 out of 5 skidoos working, and Tom sights a bear. What a time to be stranded…..Gary unhooks the Komatik, Tom pulls outs the skidoos and off we go to see the bear, from about 20 m away, absolutely awesome. Photos and video galore, what a treat.

May 22nd 2002 - Day 71

THE LAST RESUPPLY

Position: Latitude 88° 25'N Longitude 65° 35'W
Distance travelled since the start: 317 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 95 N Miles
Distance travelled Day 70 and 71: 10 N Miles
Temperature:

On Tuesday, (Day 70) the weather stayed clear and sunny all day.

The girls had been able to have a lazy morning, having said that they were up at 4 am to report the weather to First air. But also, they needed the rest having finished marching late last night and giving First Air hourly updates they were tired and anxious about any possible delay due to the weather over Eureka. However, the plane landed successfully and on their pan practically next door to the tent. Ross, the pilot, ably assisted by Mike even managed to take a couple of photographs of the girls. Food, fuel and some mail and Bridgedale socks (a luxurious neccessity) delivered together with a change of pulks (Sledges). The smaller sledges had been getting a bit of a hammering so they decided to change back to the original Acapulkas. After the plane left they managed to get a couple of miles under their belt.

Wednesday, the weather stayed good and clear with minimal pressure ridges and good skiing conditions. The number and size of leads is increasing now but with a bit of extra marching, usually to the west, they have been able to cross the leads. A day of self-congratulations is in order, they have crossed the line and there is less than 100 miles to go, psychologically this is a huge boost.

Back in Resolute the home team, under the direction of Gary Guy (as ever), piled onto their skidoos with Gary pulling the komatik. The komatik is a large wooden sledge with a box on the top. Inside the box the Inuit hunter will put the carcass of the beast he is hunting, skins, guns or whatever takes his fancy, Gary had our camping gear inside. Everyone had the most fantastic time racing across the sea ice and after about 4 hours, and just before we arrived at Beachy we came across bear tracks - large and fresh, they followed an amusing pattern as the bear had gone from seal hole to seal hole, it looked like some childs spiral drawing. We put up camp at Beachy in sight of Northumberland House, the supply depot built by the crew of North Star in 1854 who had been sent to find Franklin and his crew. Apparently they set up camp on the same site that the survivors of the Erebus and Terror that had becomed trapped in the ice also were forced to stay. It was a clear and beautiful night. The tent Gary put up was utter luxury, more like a marquee than a tent, there was heating, large foam mattresses and a delicious stew. It was magic.

WEATHER FOIL & CAROLINE TAKES A SWIM

Latitude: 88° 15'N Longitude 66° 15'W
Distance travelled during the previous two days: 12 miles
Distance travelled since the start: 307 N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole: 105 N Miles
Temperature: -18°C

© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Sunday (Day 68) was the planned resupply day but as luck would have it the weather changed, a thick layer of low cloud covered the area the girls are in. There is also bad weather at Eureka so resupply has been postponed for twenty-four hours. The girls, who were looking forward to a lie-in, have been out on the trail again today.
Although feeling a bit tired their spirits were restored after Ann successfully passed over a large lead, about 60 m wide, on very thin bouncing ice. After her skis passed the water oozed through the ice. On reaching the far bank she shouted at Caroline to put on her orange dry suit, which is easier said than done. The legs are long and huge boot covering and large mittens mean putting on the skis is a feat in itself but amidst much hilarity Caroline successfully put on her skis and started to cross the lead, albeit in a different part than Ann. After only a short way the ice gave way and with a shriek Caroline plunged through the ice. The suit was magnificent, up she popped before her face was even splashed and due to the blobby ice she turned for the nearest 'bank' and scrambled back onto the safe ice. Now Ann was North of the bank and Caroline South. Ann, being Ann, volunteered to come back!! Eventually Caroline plucked up courage and got back into the water. Caroline would launch herself onto the thin ice, but still it was not possible to ski across or swim across easily. So the 'ice breaker' Caroline would break the ice with her belly flops, then make progress in the water, then belly flop. The suit kept Caroline warm and buoyant, so buoyant that instead of words of encouragement from Ann all she could hear were hysterical hoots of delighted laughter until eventually Ann threw her a throw line to help haul her to the other side of the lead.
They then carried on for the rest of the day feeling very reassured with the dry suits performance and hoping that they would get their resupply the next day.

Monday (Day 69), they have a full food and fuel ration for today but this could stretch to include tomorrow if need be. There is low visibility and low cloud and the resupply has been called off, so the girls got stuck into another day of crossing large clean pans, and crossing numerous leads. Their day finished in the middle of the evening and they called First Air to give the co-ordinates of the new pan for the pilots to land the twin otter on.

Back in Resolute Zoë and Pom have had to pack and repack all the resupply into small boxes. Due to weather conditions and the fear that the weather will close in again it has been decided that only the pilots will go up on the Resupply, letters hurriedly written and a loaf of bread baked by Tom were included. Fingers are crossed that the small weather window will remain open long enough for the seven hour flight to the girls tomorrow. The First Air pilots Carl and Kevin are leaving Resolute having finished their shift, being replaced by Ross and Mike (hope I have spelled them right) who will do the resupply.

KEEP ON KEEPING ON

Position: Latitude 88° 04'N Longitude 65° 40'W
Distance travelled Friday Day 66: 9 miles
Distance travelled Saturday Day 67: 10 miles
Distance travelled since the start: 295N Miles
Distance to the Pole: 117 N Miles

Friday (Day 66) was the first day they wore their Dry Suits, the girls rang Pom to tell her and discuss the in's and out's of the sledges they have on the ice at the moment. It was a white out all day. The concentration required in crossing the pans and deciding where to cross a lead is immense so they were extremely happy with the 9 miles they achieved. The dry suits are bright orange and cover their boots, hands and heads, and just the face is visible. The suits were made especially for the team and can be used not only as added security device if crossing a lead with thin ice but also to swim across a lead if required. The suits were designed by Borge Ousland, the legendary Norwegian Polar explorer. There is a continuing easterly drift but the NE wind has moved the ice pans where the girls are slightly South West overnight whilst they slept.

Saturday (Day 67) was a beautiful sunny day there were plenty of large open pans interspersed with numerous leads. It was the sort of day that reminds one why the Northern Arctic and the frozen sea are so beautiful and why people come back year after year. Nothing seems so threatening when there is sunshine. Tomorrow is the last resupply day, so they hunt for a suitable airstrip and look forward to a lie in. They are travelling a minimum of 11 hours on the ice each day. They have 3 days supply of food and 4 days of fuel on board.

RESOLUTE:
Friday, another day of polar plodding for Pom, which was helped enormously by Zoë lending her a walkman. She listened to Faithless for 11 hours; Zoë threatened that she would test her on the lyrics. Zoë had made some protective 'corn' type plasters from blue camping mat for Pom's toes, these helped the pain a lot but unfortunately did not stop the battering to the toes. In addition to this both boots were immersed in a tub of water to simulate the potential conditions on the ice-Zoe felt really bad making Pom do that. On returning to the Shack Zoë checked Pom's toes, unfortunately they had deteriorated very quickly and there is no way that she will be able to return to the ice for the completion of the expedition. Mentally this was a hard couple of days for Pom and she was extremely pleased that Zoë was with her. They had a huge plate of spag bol.and went to bed.
Saturday, they went to the airport to meet the new arrivals which included Tom, Ann's boyfriend who is here until the girls get off the ice, Kent, Pom's husband, here for a long weekend and the return of Gary. Gary handed over the 2 kilos of chocolate bars and 6 lbs of butter which Ann and Caroline will eating after the next resupply, in addition to the rest of the rations. The rest of the day was spent preparing the sledges, rations and kit for the girls, a never ending task of 'mud pies' adding nuts and chocolate but taking away fat or visa versa.

On Saturday Pom received an extremely well thought out gift from M & G, the teams sponsor, a bottle of vodka and tonic. The timing was excellent considering the result of yesterdays skiing test. Thank you from both her and Zoë.

May 16th 2002 - Day 65

OPEN WATER AND AN ARCTIC DIP

Latitude: 87° 44' N Longitude 66° 52' W
Distance travelled so far: 267 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 136 N miles
Distance travelled today: 10 N miles

Water, water everywhere………..Today saw masses of open leads, they came across 25 in the first hour. In the second hour, Ann was leading across some 'porridge' like ice that was not dissimilar to countless previous times, when she suddenly went through and took a dip in the Arctic Ocean. Quickly, Caroline hauled her out by her harness. They decided to carry on, and would only stop if Ann got too cold. It was a beautiful day which started out as -15°C and got progressively warmer. In between the leads the surface conditions were good and they made another 10 miles towards their goal.
Back in Resolute, Pom's toes have improved tremendously and she is back out on the ice and hills, pulling a laden pulk to see how her toes respond. She was out for 11 hours and said it was one of the most boring days of her life trying to pretend she was on the ice.
Everyone is hopeful she will be able to join Ann and Caroline at the next resupply and complete the expedition with them. But, not only will she have to make sure that her toes are up to the rigors of an expedition day but also and perhaps most importantly be secure that if she does join the other two that she doesn't hold them up in any way. Tomorrow she will have to do another day of similar length and deliberately wet her feet to see how the toes respond.

May 15th 2002 - Day 64

A DOZEN 'CLICKS'

Latitude: 87° 34' N Longitude 68° 11' W
Distance travelled so far: 257 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 146 N miles
Distance travelled today: 12 N miles

Another belter day, great travelling weather and the girls feeling great having got some good mileage under their belt. Caroline continues with her broken sledge, hoping that every obstacle they have to clamber over doesn't exacerbate the damage. The cloud is high today, and the sun rarely pops his head out.
Tom and Tina had a very tough day yesterday with Tom falling and hurting himself badly and Tina falling in the water - our hearts are with these guys.
Meanwhile, back at Resolute……..
Marcel and Peter have left, and Pom and Zoe are alone in the Shack. Poms toes are so much better and planning and preparation has started for the next resupply.

IT'S A RUBBLING TIME

Day 62 Latitude 87° 22n Longitude 67° 68W
Distance travelled today 11 N miles
Today was charmed by huge flat pans of solid ice, the girls speed across the ice accomplishing a neat 11 miles.

Day 63 - Latitude: 87° 22 N miles Longitude 68° 02W
Distance travelled so far: 245 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 158 N miles
Distance travelled today: 7 N miles

Temperature dropping to -20C° causing leads to refreeze which is good news, the fear at this time of year is widening leads causing delays so the hope is that the change in temperature will give the girls an easier and safer path. There is a westerly wind causing an increase in the east drift to 0.3 knots, they need to increase the amount of westerly direction to compensate for this. From flat pans of yesterday to huge rubble fields today you can never be complacent in the Arctic, the minute you feel relaxed a new surprise will confront you. Today there was a huge pressure ridge of 50ft high. It took the girls a couple of hours to climb, haul, scream and yell their way over the huge lumps of aquamarine ice pulling their laden sledges behind them. The energy required to climb over these massive pressure ridges is immense, it is only with hugh patience that one can guide, lift, pull, push ones laden sledge to follow the 'easiest' route with the rope and sledge getting continuing caught and snagged on the ice again and again.

May 10th 2002 - Day 59

Latitude: 86 46' 2 N Longitude 68 06'W
Miles travelled - 10 N miles
Distance travelled since the start - 218 N Miles
Distance to the Pole - 194 miles

The day started with SW wind and sunshine but ended with cloudy conditions. There has been quite a bit more snow filling the holes between the blocks of ice at the pressure ridges and making the rubble quick and easier to cross. No open leads and some good sized pans gave Ann and Caroline a really nice steady day. They are both feeling strong and confident.

Zoe and Pom met up with the Pilots at 2.00pm and left Eureka shortly afterwards on the return flight to Resolute they were given a fantastic surprise, Carl took them on 'safari' flying low and with the help of his extraordinary eyesight they say Musk Ox and their young, gathering round them in a circle to protect the babies from the onslaught of the monster enemy the twin otter, they bravely stood their ground until the plane had passed them by and then they scattered nervously across the ground. Then as they neared towards Resolute, the plane appeared (to Pom and Zoe) to be flying really very low, but they were rewarded by Polar Bears, the big female standing up on her haunches as she saw the plane as if to say 'Ok, I won't fight if you won't'. It was a fantastic trip for them both.
That night they had another wonderful dinner with Gary and Diane Guy, joined by the English guys from Ice Explorers.com they chatted and ate until 1.00am when they watched the arrival of the twin otter, flown by Doug, returning with the Peter Bruijn and Marcel Knotter from the Dutch Magnetic Expedition who had successfully walked to the Magnetic Pole – another late night. The Shack was a wonderful caos with three expeditions and their kit all swopping stories and information.

May 9th 2002 - Day 58

2nd Resupply

Latitude 86 46'N Longitude 68' 06N
Miles travelled - 6 N miles

Beautiful weather greeted the girls when they woke but, when they looked at the airstrip they had chosen the night before in the white out they were worried about it's length, it was shorter than they had thought. However, having spoken to First Air base in Resolute they were assured if it was not suitable the pilot would find another strip, they relaxed and waited for the resupply.
The twin otter captained by the legendary pilot, Carl and his co-pilot, Nick landed at an adjacent pan at approx. 3.30pm and rather than make the girls walk too far, Carl 'drove' the plane over to the shared pressure ridge. Zoe and her assistant Pom climbed down from the plane and immediately started exchanging news and views as to whether they should take the security wet suits or not, they did after a few interjections from Carl. The resupply was finished quickly giving Zoe ample time to give both Ann and Caroline a quick check up. They are both in good shape, having nearly lost all the extra podge they had put on for the expedition. They were thrilled to see Pom up and about and admired the new Montane jacket she was wearing. After a few more hugs and laughter the girls returned to their tent to pack it away and did a good six miles which they were pleased with as the day ended in another whiteout.
That night they had one of Diane Guy's delicious home made stews and bread, they slept very soundly.

Zoe and Poms day had started at 8.30am in Resolute, climbing aboard the twin otter they flew to Ward Hunt Island to refuel and then onto meet the girls for their resupply.
Once the resupply had been completed the pilots had to find the First Air fuel cache
floating on a large pan of ice, the battery had run out and needed to be replaced urgently, otherwise the pilots might loose their fuel which had been previously set up for the rest of the season. Carl was pretty confident he could find it quickly as he had used it only two days previously when he had collect Paul Landry and Swee (the Singaporean) and Pauls beautiful Husky from the North Pole. The mission was accomplished but it took slightly longer than had been anticipated. They then had to fly back to Ward Hunt Island and collect various equipment and a sledge which Dave Mills had left behind in one of the huts. By now it was 8.30pm and the pilots had been flying for 12 hours so they headed for Eureka to spend the night.
The plane touched down at 11.00pm, by 11.30pm they were all at the military base and Boyce the chief of the base had got out of bed to see his old friend Carl and to meet up with Zoe and Pom again. In 1997 Zoe, Pom, Caroline and Lucy (the Echo team) of the Penguin Polar Relay had all been very thankful recipients of Boyce and the military's fantastic hospitality when they had been stuck with no money at Eureka whilst waiting for the weather to clear so that they could get on the ice and complete the Relay.
It was a great reunion.

Caroline and Ann
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Polar Bear !
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

First views of Caroline and Ann on the Ice
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

The resupply team
(Zoe is taking the photo)
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Caroline, Pom and Ann reunited
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

May 8th 2002 - Day 57

Latitude: 86° 30'N Longitude: 69° 14'W
Temperature: -16°C
Distance travelled previous day: 8 N miles
Distance to go to the Pole 210 N miles

There is the continuing easterly drift at the time of our Base Managers call our Longitude was 69° 14'W but at the end of the previous day's travel the Longitude had been 70° 54'W.
Travel yesterday had been difficult due to the whiteout conditions, a number of large pressure ridges towards the end of the day interspersed with open leads and soggy ice.
They came across an old wooden ski amongst the ice and kept a bit as a souvenir.
Camped on a good flat pan hoping that the weather would clear overnight for the resupply. However, they have enough fuel for 2 more days if the weather doesn't clear.
Due to the warmer weather they will send the tent floor back on the resupply plane and exchange their sleeping bags for clean ones minus.

Pom & Zoe had rather a big night cocktails with Gary & Diane and returned to a chicken stew and fantastic mashed potatoes with James, Jules, Matt and John Jo who were all extremely over excited after their skidooing trip round crystal city.

Latitude: 86° 22'N Longitude: 69° 58W
Distance travelled previous day: 10 N miles
Distance travelled since the start: 194 N miles
Distance to go the Pole 218 N miles

The weather still not good enough for the plane to land, so the resupply was postponed at midday for 24hrs. Ann & Caroline broke camp to get a few more miles under their belt But they also need to find a new landing strip.
Ann and Caroline are determined to have light sledges as possible and, due to the increasing warmer temperatures, have been able to shed some of their clothing and outer and inner fleece linings to their sleeping bags, these will be returned to Base at the resupply.

May 6th 2002 - Days 54 and 55

Latitude: 86 12'N 70 06'W
Temp: -26C
Distance travelled May 5: 7.2 N miles
Distance travelled May 6: 10.8 N miles
Distance to the Pole: 228 N miles

Sunday Day 54 - was cloudy and a whiteout all day it also snowed causing slow progress, coupled with lots of rubble the girls were glad when the day was over.

Monday Day 55 - conditions improved with better visibility and they came across a good newly frozen lead heading North that they skied up. They have one more day of skiing until the next resupply so fingers crossed for good weather and a less problematic resupply than the last one.

Back in Resolute Pom and Zoe finalised the resupply requirements for the team and were looking forward to the finals of the Dog Show on TV, gutted it appeared not to be screened so they made do with WWF wrestling instead.

Rubble from a distance on the ground, a wall
that you don't want to go near but have no option

From the air at about 9500 ft showing open water as big as the thames, the other shows
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

May 4th 2002 - Days 52 and 53

Position: 84° 54'N 70° 54'W
No drift over night
Temp: -24°C
Distance travelled during the last 2 days: 19 N miles
Distance to Pole: 246 miles

Friday (Day 52) saw perfect conditions and the team but in their best distance to date, 11 Nautical miles. There were large flat pans with only the occasional spot of rubble. But weather in the Arctic changes quickly and by Saturday (Day 53) it was a whiteout. Everything becomes much slower in these conditions with navigation becoming more difficult. After a long day they came to a huge high pressure ridge and then another and then another interspersed with open leads, an end to a tough day so they were pleased with the 8 N miles they had achieved. They are now putting in 10 and a half hours after breaking camp, and will be looking forward to the few hours of extra rest they will get on resupply day.

In Resolute Zoe & Pom watched the Canadian versions of Crufts on the TV wondering if the judges were only watching the dogs or including the owners who all seemed to achieve a commendable extended trot.

May 2nd 2002 - Day 51

Position: 84° 35'N 70° 53'W
No drift over night
Temp: -22°C
Distance travelled today: 9 miles
Distance to Pole: 265 miles

The team woke to a bright sunny day with hardly any wind. Perfect travelling weather and a balmy -22C°.
Ann has got her skiing legs back and they were able to keep their skis on all day as one large flat pan flowed into another. They have become adept at finding the low part of the wall in the pressure ridges so they can ski over and round the huge jagged blocks of ice.
Sometimes the ice is piled up neatly other times the ice is wretched in its tortured shapes piled high in a long curving line. Then suddenly there will be one vast piece of ice like a sculpture standing 20 ft high. The colours change too, usually aquamarine the ice can be grey, occasionally dark green and even a good match for a blue smartie, sometimes it's black with oil, a dreadful slight on the pristine cover of the sea. But the ice, this year is all covered by a thick icing of snow and the slice of cake sometimes has a 'cherry' on the top.
Navigation is by the sun and to plot their next course they look across to the horizon and pick out a particular shape 'Ok lets head for the slice of cake, west by that big knobbly bit and we'll stop for chocolate by the elephant'. The light and scenery constantly change; sometimes you can see the sun and the shadow of the moon as the clouds dance across the sky. Twice a jet has passed overhead an unnatural sound crashing into the environment. The silence is total until the ice moves and a pressure ridge is forming, it sounds as if the London underground is about to plough through Mornington Crescent.

May 1st 2002 - Day 50

Position. : Latitude 85 26'N 71 20'W
Distance traveled 10 N miles
Distance to go to the Pole 274 miles

Ann and Caroline are going great guns
A windy day with poor visibility. At the end of every 1hr 5 min session the girls came across an obstacle so instead of stopping at the end of the session eating and drinking and then attacking the obstacle they carried on climbing over the pressure ridge or skirting round a lead, it meant that each session was sometimes stretched to 1hr 45mins and they did the scheduled 9 sessions. At the end of the day they were totally exhausted but they had achieved 10 N miles - HOORAH they are going great guns.
Whenever they skirted round an obstacle on the ice they always went west as the drift is continually taking them east due to the Lomonosov ridge on the ocean floor, if they get caught in these eastern currents they will be unable to ski faster than the current and will miss the Pole so they must continually compensate by going West.
When they stopped the wind had risen and the tell tale dark wispy clouds indicating a possible storm were clearly visible. They just managed to get the tent up and collapsed into their lovely dry sleeping bags.
Caroline's eye which had been giving her trouble has now completely cleared up and both she and Ann, although tired, are in fighting form.
Back in Resolute Pom continues to visit the Clinic for her IV drip but the most important engagement that she and Zoë had today was to join the memorial service for Kono held at the edge of the sea ice at Resolute. Kono was the legendary Japanese explorer who tragically drowned last year 8 miles from Ward Hunt Island. His last one man expedition was from the North Pole to Ward Hunt Island but he contracted frostbite. After a one month respite at Eureka he went back on the ice, it was late in the season but he wanted to catch his dream, but tragically he died in the Arctic ocean.

Kono's wife and members of his family had flown for the anniversary of his death and had brought stones from his home town to be laid on the make shift altar they had erected in front of the memorial. The congregation laid chrysanthemums one by one on the altar. The service was held in Japanese and English. Stones would be taken back from Resolute to Kono's home. A song was played and Kono's family sang, it was extremely beautiful and very emotional. Whatever your reason for being up here, it was impossible not to be moved by the very kind words.

Pom in the mean time is being incredibly brave, he toes will heal up now they are no longer being hammered on the ice. She still has wet gangrene, but her toes are improving rather than deteriorating as they were on the ice.

Memorial for Japanese explorer Kono held at Resolute Bay.
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

April 30 2002 - Day 49

Position. :Latitude 85 16'N 71 20'W
Distance traveled on April 29th 6N miles
Distance traveled on April 30th 10N miles
Distance to go to the Pole 284 miles

Good clear conditions and sunshine, the ice conditions were good too and the team set off with purpose. They did 9 x 1hr 5 min sessions and achieved 10N miles - they are ecstatic, they now feel totally confident that they can keep to their schedule.
They read and re-read their letters from home, discussing every little nuance and telling and re-telling any scrap of news they received. They ate Hungarian Goulash for supper and discussed if they could get a two man tent at next resupply, its much warmer snuggling close to somebody rather than a saucepan when its -34°C.

News from Resolute
Pom and Zoe are back at The Shack in Resolute and make twice daily trips to the clinic where Pom is having intravenous antibiotics and her feet are dressed. X-rays were taken of her feet today to make sure the infection has not gone down to the bone, and the films were sent off to Iqaluit on the jet. The old pulks were unpacked, the sleeping bags were frozen and like boards, god only knows how you sleep in something like that. Discarded socks and facemasks were frozen onto the pulk and had to literally be prised off. Pom tells stories of their time on the ice, and it does sound utterly incredible what they have been through (especially given that Pom is more prone to the understatement).

Caro and Ann after waving goodbye to Zoë and Pom ate their first home cooked meal of pork stew made for them by Diane Guy in Resolute Bay - delicious was the verdict but difficult to eat pork fillets with a plastic spoon. The night was spent rolling around in a 3-man tent bumping into saucepans and cookers rather than Pom who they were missing a lot. They got to bed about 3.00am and had a late start; it was a whiteout, which makes travel difficult.
Before resupply the team had decided to try their previous tried and tested format of 1 hr 5 mins man hauling and then breaking to drink and eat, it meant that they should be able to achieve 1N mile per session and they felt confident that by following this route they would achieve their rule. But they were tired and had new sledges, the previous night had been emotionally draining for everyone, the 6 N miles was a disappointment.

Pom's frost bitten toes
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Pom back in Resolute Bay
having treatment for frost bite
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Resupply, and drama at 85 degrees - Days 45, 46 and 47

April 28th 2002 - Day 47

Position. : Latitude : 85° 0' N.

As the team slept Zoë (back in Resolute) was reasonably coherent when Julian gave her 5.00am wake up call.

The team spoke to Greg at First Air at 7.00am reporting blue skies with a haze on the horizon, good visibility. Greg, had already checked the satellite pictures and the resupply was on. The flight went via Eureka for refueling and then up to a fuel cache on the ice. While Zoë was in the air the team remained in their sleeping bags, chatting and sleeping, the first time they had been able to genuinely rest for a long time. Mid morning they suddenly heard a mans voice 'Hello'…'Hello' instantly they realized it must be Tom and Tina Sjogren a Swedish couple on a unsupported expedition to the North Pole. Tom and Tina stayed outside the tent and they swapped stories of open leads, big rubble, moving ice and how they had coped with the terrible temperatures. The girls had been first on the ice this year and Tom and Tina told them how impressed they had been at their seemingly never ending tenacity of staying on the ice, particularly during the first week when it was -52°C and coping during the first storm by lying under the tent canvas as 80 mph winds meant they had no hope of getting up tent up. The team had stayed under this canvas for two days and is probably when Pom contracted frostbite. The girls were incredibly bucked up by Tom and Tina's words. On the other hand the team are hugely impressed with Tom and Tina who have already skied to the South Pole this year they all wished each other luck and hope to meet up at the Pole, Ann climbed out of the tent and gave them a big hug - how extraordinary to bump into other people, what a great diversion.

At 5.25pm they heard the sound of the twin otter, the girls with fluttering tummies from excitement rushed to get out of the tent to watch the twin otter land. As they exited the tent they noticed with change of light, and greater cloud cover, definition on the ground was bad. The plane tried twice to land and then the pilot went to a couple of other pans to look for a landing site, after a few minutes the plane flew back over the tent in a northerly direction and disappeared from site. Straining to hear any change of engine noise the girls heard the engine revving and believed it had landed. There was no direct communication with the pilot as the radio link did not work in that area so the team called Greg in Resolute to report the situation. As he hadn't heard from the pilots the team, quickly packed up their tent and went in the direction they thought the plane had gone. After one hour they rang Greg again and he gave them the coordinates of the twin otter. They had 3 N miles to travel as quickly as possible, speed is always of the essence in these situations as the pilots have a limited number of hours they should be flying. The terrain was quite tough with a number of small leads and pressure ridges. Caro skied but Ann and Pom had to walk as Ann's binding on one ski had broken and Pom's toes were so painful from the extra pressure of the ski binding that she preferred to walk even though it is extremely tiring continually sinking up to your knee or sometimes waist in the snow. Four hours later they arrived at the twin otter, jubilant to see Zoë again.
The pilot, Doug, an old friend and a fabulous pilot had previously flown the girls on to the ice in both the Arctic and to Hercules Inlet at the beginning of their successful M & G Isa Expedition to the South Pole. Doug had literally landed on a pocket handkerchief but the light had been right and he could see the lie of the land, the team was extremely grateful to him and his co-pilot, Nick.

The fevered rush of swapping old gear and getting new equipment and supplies began, sledges were changed, and frozen sleeping bags replaced with dry clean ones.

The team then climbed into the twin otter for Zoë to give their ailments a check.
Zoë was extremely impressed at how well the team looked, fit and strong but when she looked at Pom's big toes she was deeply concerned. Zoë said 'If they were my toes I would leave the ice' Pom had been worried for some time by the frostbite, the pain was excruciating and gangrene had set in, the smell wasn't too good either. She also knew the schedule the girls need to keep to get to the Pole and she certainly didn't want to jeopardize the success of the expedition.
It was a highly emotional time, there was no time for discussion, the team totally trusting Zoë's judgment accepted her prognosis, but the decision as to what to do was Poms. Zoë knew exactly how the team would be feeling she had been a member of their previous expeditions. Pom decided to leave the ice, desperately disappointed and crying the team hugged, Caroline and Ann walked away from the plane and Zoë and Pom waved through the plane window as they flew to Eureka.

The plane arrived at Eureka at about 3.30am and Zoë and Pom stayed the night at the weather station. Pom luxuriating in being warm for the first time in 7 weeks, bathed and washed her clothes. It had been so cold the team had not taken off their clothes for all that time - leaving the ice does have some compensation.

Footnote (bad pun)
Pom's toes were irrigated with iodine and dressed again at Eureka, Zoë was worried to think if there was anything that could have been done to keep Pom on the ice and whether it had been the right decision. The pressure during resupply was quite intense and decisions had to be instant. It was incredibly brave of Pom to come off, as they are all so focused on getting to the Pole it is easy to pass off anything that will prevent you. With a second look in the cold light of Eureka, Zoë had absolutely no qualms that it was the right decision.

From the cockpit on route to the girls
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Touch Down !
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Repacking
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

The Team after 47 days on the ice
© North Pole 2002 Ltd

Zoë arrived late in Resolute Bay with bags of nuts and chocolate, pain killers, athletes foot powder, sudacream for the chilblains the girls have on their thighs, toothbrushes and a myriad of other items for the resupply. Due to bad weather in Nanisivik ( a stop en route) the runway was closed, and there was a slight panic that Resolute may also be shut due to bad weather. However, the jet did land at Resolut and all was well, resourceful as ever she roped a young doctor, James, into helping her pack up the resupply boxes and still managed 3 hours sleep.
The team was hopeful that they would be able to find a suitable landing strip, not always easy with so many pressure ridges about. But they also hoped to be able to get a few miles under their belt as well. As luck would have it they came across a good-sized pan with very little sustrugi having completed 5 miles. They all had a fantastic day skiing only marred slightly for Caroline whose goggles continually froze obliterating her view and causing her to have a few tumbles.
The team called First Air giving their position. Supper of chicken curry, cheese and a mug of hot chocolate followed with the team looking forward to a lie in the following day.

Final preparations are being made for Sunday's resupply.
Zoë Hudson, the teams Field Manager, arrived into Ottawa about 6.00pm and spent a few frantic hours shopping for the teams snack bags. They had decided that they wanted to increase their calorie intake and preferred to eat more chocolate and nuts than increase their oil or butter intake. Zoë found a fantastic shop 'Bulk Barn' where
She bought kilos of macadamias for a mere $C3-50 per kilo and brazil, almonds and cashews.
The team is getting apprehensive about the resupply now, worrying that if the weather changes the resupply could be delayed which could have disastrous consequences on the projected schedule for getting to the Pole. They also have only two spare days of food left, the clock is ticking. However they had a fantastic day on the ice, sun shining they really enjoyed them selves. The sea ice can be incredibly beautiful and today was one of those days when the team knew why they loved the Polar regions so much Poms back is better but her feet are giving her a lot of trouble, both Caroline and Ann are in good health
First Air has given the team instructions as to the type of terrain the pilots require for landing and they will be looking for a suitable airstrip on Saturday. They have to find an area at least 1000 ft long by 50 ft wide with the sustrugi no more than 4 inches high. Today they only saw one possible place for a plane to land. There is still plenty of rubble around and the pressure ridges, although much smaller and filled with snow, are still plentiful. Once the team has located a suitable strip they will be inform First Air at Resolute Bay with co-ordinates of the position, the weather, and surface conditions. This information will be repeated on Sunday, resupply day, as the weather pattern could change or they position could shift overnight due to drift.

April 25th 2002 - Day 44

Position - Latitude 84 46'N Longitude 71 43'W
Distance travelled during the previous day - 6 N miles
Distance travelled since the start - 100.2N Miles
Distance to go to the Pole - 3