North Pole 2016

Not so long ago Vasily Shakhnovsky with Alexander Abramov  visited  the South Pole. And now he and his family  were already at the North Pole - in the group of Olga Rumyantseva as a guide ... Congratulations! And thanks for providing photos for publication ...

Our group led by a guide of the 7 Summits Club  Nastya Kuznetsova finally reached the North Pole !!! We have been waiting for this for about two weeks. The Barneo runway was cracked three times, the planes were not given permission to take off. But everything is behind - the goal is reached! We look forward to returning and details ...

  Last night, almost simultaneously with the group, flying in the Himalayas, Anastasia Kuznetsova went on a long journey. In the morning she joined a large group of tourists who had gathered in the capital town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard, in anticipation of the start of flights to Barneo and the North Pole. For a week the vanguard of our polar beats with nature, trying to prepare the runway  for Barneo ice camp. Ice moves, cracks, it is necessary to start from the beginning.

Only in the evening we received from Irina Orlova "... encouraging news!"

Tomorrow morning we are planning first technical flight to Barneo. In case if inspector from Rosavia will approve the runway we'll start flights with passengers

So far, all the plans mixed up ... the first group of 7 Summits Club, flying to the North Pole, the team is waiting to take off from Moscow. According to the plan, they were supposed to fly for 5^th of April. Second, a large group of 16 people with a guide Nastya Kuznetsova, on the same plan at 13th of April should be on Borneo and the 14th on the Pole. There is no certainty yet. We look forward to tomorrow.

While it remains to admire the rugged beauty of Spitsbergen (Svalbard - in Norwegian)

Unfortunately, when everything seemed ready for the beginning of the charter chains from Svalbard to Barneo,  ice shifts came there. And the ice platform, on which runway was built, was spited

Here's how it looked:

Our workers had to find quickly a new ice platform and invent all sorts deals for replacement. They found a new ice platform and now in an emergency order they started for a construction of a new airport. All this caused a delay in the beginning of the expeditions to the North Pole.

 Expeditions, with participants from different countries, all remain in the capital of Spitsbergen, Longyearbyen - waiting for news about the opening of the Barneo ice camp. The 7 Summits Club Team is also fully ready to fly to Svalbard and further flight to the North Pole. But due to flight delays the captain of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov decided to postpone his participation in the expedition to the North Pole for the next year. He has to fly to Kathmandu to prepare for the annual meeting of the participants of the expedition on Everest.

The ice airdrome Barneo is open. April 3th in the morning , the first group from Barneo ice camp reported on the readiness of the ice runway for the reception a plane from Longyearbyen. On the morning the An-74 with the expedition team on board flew to Barneo. The plane succefully landed on the ice airfield. On the ice camp  a team that will build the camp was left. Construction of the camp has already begun. The next flight is scheduled for tomorrow, when Barneo said that already established residential modules where possible place people.

The temperature at -27 * Barneo. Solar, wind, 2 m / s. Coordinates: N 89 * 16 '673' and 075 * 48 E '979'.

The 7 Summits Club this year will send two groups of the North Pole (Last degree). Alexander Abramov will lead  the first group, the second - Anastasia Kuznetsova.

 ATTENTION! Important news. Our explorers have determined the ice floe on which the Barneo camp to be built. That's it, "address": N 89 * 15'353 "E and 87 * 00'417

 IL-76 cargo plane dropped, everything went well. The team started to prepare the runway.

Tractors working well, despite the cold (as well as humans). A lot of work - something has to shoot down and file down that, on the contrary, to fill. Therefore, there is now hot work. They say they will clear the runway  is not earlier than after 3-4 days. On Sergey Panteleev photographs show how  they  have to work...