2018 north pole expeditions

[Sebastian Jones]

Trekking to the north pole? Required equipment in this era of depleting sea ice is a dry suit for crossing the inevitable and unavoidable open water  along the way. This British trio is to attempt a winter expedition. They plan to freeze a re-purposed life boat into the ice pack in the northern Beaufort sea, let it drift north to the vicinity of the Pole and ski the rest of the way.
I suppose they will freeze in north of the Beaufort gyre.
Details in this story are rather sparse, but perhaps more will emerge.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/north-pole-expedition-training-yellowknife-1.4532587
 

[oren]

Trekking to the north pole? Required equipment in this era of depleting sea ice is a dry suit for crossing the inevitable and unavoidable open water  along the way. This British trio is to attempt a winter expedition. They plan to freeze a re-purposed life boat into the ice pack in the northern Beaufort sea, let it drift north to the vicinity of the Pole and ski the rest of the way.
I suppose they will freeze in north of the Beaufort gyre.
Details in this story are rather sparse, but perhaps more will emerge.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/north-pole-expedition-training-yellowknife-1.4532587

Hopefully they will find the Gyre operational...

[Tor Bejnar]

This French group may be attempting a trip this year using a catamaran.  There is a thread dedicated to them that will be re-activated if they start...

[A-Team]

They plan to freeze a re-purposed life boat into the ice pack in the northern Beaufort sea, let it drift north to the vicinity of the Pole and ski the rest of the way.

This is silly ... plus expensive and dangerous for whoever they are expecting to come out and rescue them. A couple hundred thousand for rescue needs to be bonded in advance. They seem to have not to have the slightest clue about how Arctic ice moves: 6 out of the 8 last years, they would simply have drifted into the ESAS, no closer to the pole three months later than when they started.

There is no way to retrofit an lifeboat into something that cannot be crushed by ice compaction and shear, that was tried on fit-for-purpose ships in the 19th century reinforced with massive oak staves. Then there is the matter of relocating the boat after skiing to the pole -- it could move a hundred km in a week: will the batteries, gps and beacons still work? It won't prove possible to ski out to shore because of open water, leads and fractures.

The expedition that made some sense was the 400 day hovercraft drift trip. That could carry scientific gear and range out from base camp. However camp and equipment was destroyed by rifting on two occasions. Nothing seems to have emerged from a scientific perspective.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014AGUFMOS33D..06H
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/09/alone-arctic-ice-floe-hovercraft

[Sebastian Jones]

They plan to freeze a re-purposed life boat into the ice pack in the northern Beaufort sea, let it drift north to the vicinity of the Pole and ski the rest of the way.

This is silly ... plus expensive and dangerous for whoever they are expecting to come out and rescue them. A couple hundred thousand for rescue needs to be bonded in advance. They seem to have not to have the slightest clue about how Arctic ice moves: 6 out of the 8 last years, they would simply have drifted into the ESAS, no closer to the pole three months later than when they started.

There is no way to retrofit an lifeboat into something that cannot be crushed by ice compaction and shear, that was tried on fit-for-purpose ships in the 19th century reinforced with massive oak staves. Then there is the matter of relocating the boat after skiing to the pole -- it could move a hundred km in a week: will the batteries, gps and beacons still work? It won't prove possible to ski out to shore because of open water, leads and fractures.

Silly....Yes, and many such expeditions lack a logical practical purpose don't they?
I suspect that like most other NP expeditions, they expect to be picked up by air from the Pole or wherever they are when they activate their rescue beacon.
I don't know if they are even considering a scientific purpose for their excursion, perhaps they simply want to wax nostalgic for the heroic age of polar exploration.

[charles_oil]

Waiting for Barneo 2018 expedition to get started - it was this time last year they began scouting for the landing site.  With the thin ice - will it work ??
Will try to keep up with info from:


https://www.facebook.com/BarneoRu/


Where they are waiting too (as of 19th)


Per comments last year - avoiding opening a separate thread.....
Charles

[charles_oil]

On Polar Portal there is a significant difference eyeballing the colours  between 2017 (2.5-3.5m) and 2018 (1.5-2.5m), there were challenges in 2017 so I guess it will not be easier in 2018.

[gerontocrat]

Waiting for Barneo 2018 expedition to get started - it was this time last year they began scouting for the landing site.  With the thin ice - will it work ??
Will try to keep up with info from:

https://www.facebook.com/BarneoRu/

Where they are waiting too (as of 19th)

Charles

It may well be the last. Why risk your life when a luxury cruise ship will take you there?
The day of the adventurer who actually risks life and limb is coming to a close.

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2018/03/cruise-tourists-are-about-break-ice

Cruise tourists are about to break the ice
Expedition travel companies build fleets of adventure ships which are able to make it deep into ice-covered Arctic waters.

At least 16 new ice-class cruise ships
The new Lindblad vessel is far from the only new ice-class cruise ship in the making. A review made last year by the Barents Observer among major cruise liners shows that 16 new purpose-built expedition vessels for Arctic waters now are in pipe.......

In addition to the Lindblad Expedition and Aurora Expeditions, several other companies look towards icy waters.

One of the latest ships announced will sail for the French luxury expedition operator, Ponant. The cruise liner has ordered the world’s first non-nuclear cruise ship aimed at sailing to the geographical North Pole with up to 270 passengers.

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2017/10/russian-arctic-research-thin-ice

Russian Arctic research on thin ice
The country's Meteorology Service (Rosgidromet) is planning the construction of an ice-class platform, which is to replace previous drifting research stations on ice floes.

The Arctic ice is melting and Russia’s long tradition to deploy research stations on drifting ice floes is quickly coming to an end. The thinner Arctic ice increases the risks of cracks and consequent accidents and loss of equipment

The researchers now aim for the development of an ice-class drifting platform for Arctic research. The platform, which will get the name «North Pole», is to be used by the State Hydrometeorology Service for Arctic studies and ice measurements.

The project is one of the projects highlighted in the new Arctic Development Program adopted by the federal government in late August this year. A total of seven billion rubles (€102 million) are earmarked the project.

The platform is to help researchers study the Arctic seabed, the atmosphere and the environment.

It will also be used by the Russian Armed Forces, newspaper Kommersant reports.

The installation will be made in a way which enables it to operate in the area without the involvement of icebreakers. It will be equipped with a fuel-friendly engine which can make it operate autonomously in the area for up to 3-4 years at a time, the newspaper informs.

[litesong]

Trekking to the north pole? Required equipment in this era of depleting sea ice is a dry suit for crossing the inevitable and unavoidable open water  along the way.

Not for Lewis Pugh........

Swam at the North Pole for 18 MINUTES!!!

[Tor Bejnar]

wikipedia

In July 2007 Pugh undertook the first long-distance swim across the Geographic North Pole. The 1 km (0.62 mi) swim, across an open patch of sea, in minus 1.7 °C (29 °F) water, took 18 minutes and 50 seconds to complete. Jørgen Amundsen, the great-grandnephew of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, paced Pugh by skiing alongside him during the swim.[20]

The swim coincided with the lowest coverage of Arctic sea ice ever recorded [at the time]. After his swim Pugh explained his decision to swim in just a Speedo costume:


"I urge world leaders to do everything they can to protect our environment. But sometimes the legislation I request they enact is unpopular with the electorate. If I am asking them to be courageous, I must also be. Swimming in a wetsuit or a dry-suit would not send the right message."[21]

[Jim Hunt]

Per comments last year - avoiding opening a separate thread.....

There has been a dedicated Barneo thread every year since the ASIF was born.

They seem a little late starting this year? Or maybe merely a little late publicising?

[charles_oil]

Last post was the 20th March which was just a re-post for optimism about things starting for Richard Donovan's run...


It seems Barneo are getting very close to the advertised actual dates for events which should be based at the camp and yet no news on scouting for sites, making runway or even shipping stuff up there. 


On their site a 2017 chart shows site movement wrt the pole and dates over the years - so lets hope they are just too busy to post this year !
  2017 Mar 26 - Apr 20
  2016 Mar 25 - Apr 19
  2015 Mar 27 - Apr 23
  2014 Mar 31 - Apr 21


Fine by me if we have a new thread if there is a Barneo 2018 !   Just looked back at a couple of comments about grouping them within the same thread last year.

[gerontocrat]

The Barents Observer has this:

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/2018/03/4-year-old-boy-soon-his-way-north-pole

4-year old boy soon on his way to the North Pole
Ronin (4) is one of four small kids who will take part in the youngest ever expedition to the North Pole.

The four kids will be among the first visitors at this year’s Barneo camp, the drifting Russian ice station established annually for tourists and polar expedition. Camp organizer Irina Orlova and her team is currently in the process of embarking on their first reconnaissance flight to search for an ideal ice floe for the camp.   

Searching for an ice-floe.......

[charles_oil]

Thanks G - I found it too - but it looks like another predicted trip rather than real news of progress + my computer decided to go black screen & then reboot immediately  I found it so I don't know if its got a dodgy link!!

[charles_oil]

Still nothing from Barneo - but this article is very relevant as it looks like they will be changing from an ice-based to a ship based camp:

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2018/03/arctic-ice-vanishes-planning-north-pole-research-platform-moves-ahead

By   Atle Staalesen
to Facebook
 March 28, 2018       
 
 As vanishing Arctic ice makes it increasinly difficult to uphold research activitities in the highest Arctic, Russia moves ahead with plans to build a research platform for the region. 
The projected self-propelled platform will have top-level ice protection and be able to move autonomously around in Arctic waters for up to three years, Minister of Natural Resources Sergey Donskoy told RIA Novosti.
The active development phase is to begin before June this year and construction will start in 2019, Donskoy confirms.
The platform is a joint project with federal meteorological service Roshydromet and was outlined as a priority project in the recently adopted social and economic development program for the Arctic.
The platform will be named «North Pole» and be operated by Roshydromet. It has a preliminary investment cost of €98 million.
The new platform is to replace the North Pole research stations based on drifting ice floes.
The Soviet Union and later Russia has had floating research stations in the Arctic since 1937, with a break in the years 1991-2003.........

During the last couple of years, it has become more and more difficult to find ice floes solid enough to hold a station.    My bolding!

[Jim Hunt]

Still nothing from Barneo - but this article is very relevant as it looks like they will be changing from an ice-based to a ship based camp:

Sorry Charles. I'd seen that news too, and I've just started a new Barneo 2018 thread on the strength of it.

[charles_oil]

ok - Barneo stuff shifts there - the boat above (or the future Barneo Boat) looks like a Lego model, so I wonder how advanced the plan actually is..... ??

[Jim Hunt]

One team is now out on the ice heading for the North Pole. The Women's Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition 2018:

An international team of women from across Europe and the Middle East will set out to ski the last degree to the North Pole in April 2018 to foster greater dialogue and understanding between women from Western and Arabian cultures. The expedition aims to inspire all women to reach beyond the expectation of others and fulfil their own life ambitions.

According to their Twitter feed they've covered 20 km or so, but the "live" tracking map on the web site shows them still in Longyearbyen!

[ArcticMelt1]

Not 2018, but it's interesting.

https://twitter.com/seaice_de

[RikW]

If they don't go this year, why do they need ice-breakers?

[Sebastian Jones]

Not 2018, but it's interesting.

https://twitter.com/seaice_de

Link to the MOSAIC site. Definitely worth watching in 2019.
http://mosaic-expedition.org/

[Tor Bejnar]

Thought this might belong here... (might not be "north pole")

According to the weekly newsletter the ice is quite thick but manageable  and comparable to 2005.

http://www.sjofartsverket.se/pages/111200/Veckobrev%20fr%c3%a5n%20Isbrytaren%20Oden%202018-08-09.pdf

SMHI posts daily observations of weather data taken on Oden

http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/2.1090

Swedish Polar Research Secretariat has a blog about the expedition

https://polarforskningsportalen.se/arktis/expeditioner/arctic-ocean-2018/bloggar

And a website about all their research in in the polar regions

https://polar.se/

[miki]

If they don't go this year, why do they need ice-breakers?

Ditto 

[Jim Hunt]

Thought this might belong here... (might not be "north pole")

Within 5 miles of the Pole. Is that near enough?

There's more on the ASIB and at:

http://GreatWhiteCon.info/2018/08/oden-reaches-the-north-pole-all-too-easily-once-again/

[Andreas T]

Interesting post from the oden with good pictures, i particularly like the aereal view of the floe, where all the activity takes place.
https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/as/2018/08/28/the-perfect-ice-floe/

Helen Czerski writes about the work to get as much measurements as possible before open leads start to freeze
https://cosmicshambles.com/words/blogs/helenczerski/the-constant-cycle-of-fieldwork

They had a visit from a walrus, which surprises me, I thought they need shallower water to feed than what is found in the central arctic?
https://twitter.com/helenczerski

[ghoti]

I love to read about the work done on these expeditions. One thing that I notice that seems to be common in the Arctic is there often is mention of how difficult it is to find a suitable location to set up. "Finding the perfect floe".

When research involves sampling, because of course  you can't measure the whole Arctic, you really want the sampling to be representative. Clearly they can't do large numbers of random samples but are forced to work in one spot. Having to find "the perfect floe" means the sampling is almost certainly non-representative. Not ideal.

I don't see they have any other choice but my field work training makes me feel uncomfortable  with it.