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Jim Hunt

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Barneo 2018
« on: March 31, 2018, 06:06:16 PM »
There's still no hard news concerning Barneo 2018 on the Barneo Facebook page, or on Irina Orlova's for that matter. However there has been this brief report in The Independent Barents Observer:

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Information from Barneo coordinators shows that the first searches for a suitable ice floe for the camp is in the process.

However before the IBO revealed that, they also had this to say:

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As vanishing Arctic ice makes it increasingly difficult to uphold research activities 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 most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Jim Hunt

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2018, 06:13:25 PM »
There's not a whole lot of information available on the North Pole Marathon web site either:

http://www.npmarathon.com/html/388

However the most recent post on their Facebook page is from March 27th and says that:

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Reuters, Trans World Sport and SNTV will ensure global TV news coverage of the upcoming FWD North Pole Marathon.

A previous post states:

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The 2018 FWD North Pole Marathon [will] take place on April 9th.
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2018, 11:27:53 PM »

Have managed to find a few snippets....
 As you say the main Facebook page seems slow to start ...  https://www.facebook.com/BarneoRu/


There is a second Barneo unofficial facebook site - which mentions another planned visit this year. 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barneo/103205796399927 and on the 7th / 8th March it looks like artist Galya Morrell is at the North Pole
 
On her facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/galya.morrell there is a link to a great article dated 31st March 2018 which gives details of the planned schedule :


https://www.pythom.com/Preparations-for-2018-Barneo-North-Pole-Ice-Camp-are-in-full-swing-2018-03-31-33938  ### see below for details


There is an official Barneo website - http://polus.tilda.ws/  ... but silent


And an article on Irina Orlova's facebook page Ирина Орлова  earlier in March and lots of trucks loading up & shipping out - promises updates on the above...
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001774757853&lst=742656039%3A100001774757853%3A1522530050


There is a Young Explorers trip planned for mid-April too:
https://sites.google.com/view/youngexplorer

Preparations for 2018 Barneo North Pole Ice Camp are in full swing 
 Ice camp Barneo doesn’t have an address: the GPS coordinates of this tent city drifting in the Arctic Ocean near the North Pole are changing every second. Every year, Ice Camp Barneo emerges on the map for just 35 days, from late March till late April, immediately after the sun rises on
2018-03-31 16:25:38.755000,
by coldartist
....................
In a few days, two Mi-8 helicopters will take off in Siberia and will fly North, via Khatanga, Dikson and Island Sredny in Archipelago Northern Land. After refueling on Island Sredny, they will stay on route for as long as they have fuel. Once they land on the sea ice they will transmit their coordinates to the main land, after which an Ilyshin Il-76 cargo aircraft will depart from Murmansk to the helicopters’ location, which we call Zhalyuzi-1.

After air-dropping fuel at Zhalyuzi-1, Il-76 will continue on its way to the North Pole where it will drop more fuel along with paratroopers and will guide the helicopters to this new location, which we call Zhalyuzi-2. Once this mission is accomplished, the helicopters will begin the search for the Barneo-2018 site.

To find a perfect ice-floe is a tricky thing. There is a whole science about it. The Barneo floe must be oval-shaped, detached from the surrounding sea ice and must be at least 2 km long so that it can accommodate a 1,200 m runway and the camp. We have just received the satellite images of the area, actually of two different regions, and we see that this year the sea ice in both regions is pretty solid, varying from 1,82 m to 1,60 m which is enough to land An-74 with camp equipment, crew and visitors.

Once coordinates of Barneo-2018 are established, the camp from Zhalyuzi-2 will be relocated to this new spot, and the new Il-76 flight from Murmansk will air-drop tractors, extra fuel and more paratroopers. The construction of the runway will begin. Tractors will only clean the snow, and the rest is being build by hand. There are 3 shifts, working non-stop. In some years we succeeded in building an airstrip in just one day.

An inspection from Longyearbyen will arrive to grant an approval for the runway. Then two or three more technical AN-74 flights will follow, the camp will be built and the Flag of Barneo will be raised.
........ above selected from Python article referenced earlier

Lets hope some news starts to come through so we can follow it !

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2018, 08:41:45 PM »

At last - first post just appeared from Irina on the Facebook page...


https://www.facebook.com/pg/BarneoRu/posts/?ref=page_internal


At first we planned on starting the aerial reconnaissance in the middle of March, but there was just no way to do that, for the difficulties we met were almost inextricable. But "almost" doesn't mean "totally", so we still had a chance. And we didn't lose it. Hard times are gone, and we're basically over the hump. This night the low platform with two tractors and landing equipment is departing to Tver, together with the landing team. Tomorrow they will leave to Murmansk to prepare the first airdrop of fuel storage tanks at the Jalousie-1 point. Take a look at the tractor's loading:
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Page then has various logistics [/size][/color]
videos......

Jim Hunt

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2018, 09:53:37 PM »
It's a bit late in the day if they're expecting to have everything ready by April 9th!

Whilst we wait in anticipation for the 2018 "North Pole" ice camp to take shape, here's a video from last year:

"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Thomas Barlow

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2018, 05:31:55 AM »

At last - first post just appeared from Irina on the Facebook page...
I saw it today. Good to see it's on. Will be interesting to follow.

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2018, 12:43:28 PM »
There is a note on the FWD North Pole Marathon page that says it is now scheduled for April 16th.  Not much of a surprise really.

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2018, 01:43:20 PM »

Some progress....


From facebook page of Irina  Ирина Орлова 7th April 19:47 (which zone?)


Automatic Translation ... ;D   I am sure someone can do better!
N 89*26.72 'and e 129*42.35' are the coordinates of blinds-2. There are now 23 people: 12 vertolëtčikov, flight manager, Ice Scout, Traktorist-Mechanic (they are flew from the point of blinds-1 ) and 8 Parachutists (among them doctor), which desantirovalisʹ with IL-76 along with fuel. Tomorrow, from this little camp, a helicopter will be released to search for ice under the base base.
So I think they are close to the pole, but havent yet sited a runway.......

Jim Hunt

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2018, 10:17:26 PM »
I'm afraid I'm limited to automatic translation too. The latest news:

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Floe under camp found close to blinds-2. Thickness 180 cm. There's another one near this ice, backup. Today, the guys are coming out of blinds-2 to a new location, moving fuel, and tomorrow, if the weather permits (it is unfortunately unstable) will accept two tractors and paratroopers with IL-76 And they'll start building ???

plus yesterday's map:

 
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Thomas Barlow

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2018, 04:52:25 AM »
This appears to be talking about 1.8 metre ice, and still looking for stable place?

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1611136835622126&id=100001774757853

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2018, 06:44:31 PM »

I tried putting it through Google translate - better than facebook's version...

7th April 19:47 - Jalousie = camp:

N 89 * 26.72 'and E 129 * 42.35' are the coordinates of Jalousie-2.
There are now 23 people there: 12 helicopters, the head of the flights, the ice reconnaissance vehicle, the mechanic tractor driver (they flew from the Jalousie-1 point) and 8 paratroopers (among them the doctor) who landed with the Il-76 along with the fuel.
Tomorrow from this small camp a helicopter will fly out to search for an ice floe under the Barneo base.

And 9th April 16:03
BARNEO-2018.
The ice floe was found near the Jalousie-2. Annual, the thickness of 180cm.  Not far from this ice floe is another, reserve. Today, the guys will move from the Jalousie-2 to a new location, transport the fuel, and tomorrow, if the weather permits (it, unfortunately, is unstable), they will take two tractor and paratroopers from IL-76. And they will start building a runway.

On the map (posted above) the camps 1 & 2 are shown as Zhaluzi - which translates as Jealousie !

Jim Hunt

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2018, 12:22:16 AM »
A plausible sounding auto-translation from Facebook:

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Congratulations to all involved in the project Barneo - the world's most northern airfield took the first technical flight! Starting tomorrow, we start regular flights to the ice base of Barneo.

"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Thomas Barlow

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2018, 10:57:51 PM »
A crack in the runway !

Google Translate.

Irina Orlova:
""Today returned from Barneo. I had planned earlier, but on Monday evening the AN-74, which flew out of Longyearbyen, was deployed on the approach to the station because of a crack on the runway. Day since Barneo there was no air service. For a day, we extended the takeoff in another direction and decided to build another runway just in case :) To-night it should be ready.""
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1619804358088707&id=100001774757853

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2018, 04:19:26 PM »
So, is it true to saw they are 2 weeks later than last year?
Does anyone know how that stack up with previous years?

https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1905.msg108576.html#msg108576

Thomas Barlow

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #14 on: April 21, 2018, 12:05:24 AM »
""This is the Big Bad Crack on the runway of Ice Camp Barneo near the North Pole. We took this pictures just minutes after the runway broke. This is not an emergency, such is the nature of drifting ice. 24 hours later after the crack the runway was repaired and ready for landing And guess what? The brand new runway was built in addition, just in case.""
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10160717052750713&set=a.283955605712.317619.500445712&type=3

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2018, 08:37:57 PM »
I posted this earlier in the Expeditions thread - so yes I would say 2 weeks late & getting to normal shutdown point (though they would normally have drifted further South of course).

I don't know if that has been required in early years due to ice issues - or as planned work has been achieved.  Will be interesting to see how late they can go this year.

On their Facebook site a 2017 chart shows site movement wrt the pole and dates over the years
2017 Mar 26 - Apr 20
2016 Mar 25 - Apr 19
2015 Mar 27 - Apr 23
2014 Mar 31 - Apr 21/fon
« Last Edit: April 22, 2018, 11:20:43 PM by charles_oil »

Thomas Barlow

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2018, 06:53:21 PM »
"though they would normally have drifted further South of course"
Good point. thanks

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2018, 09:28:54 PM »

Another update from Irina's Facebook page - and an apology for not keeping us as regularly informed this year:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001774757853
Chart of movement shows start of base on 13th April


BARNEO-2018.Yesterday on Barneo celebrated the birthday of Alexander Dietenberg, one of the RP.
After dinner and the cake sat well, the songs sang.
And while the birthday boy was relaxing, his colleague Vladislav Domolego was in charge of the flights :)
We are already finishing the season.
This year it turned out to be short, but we managed everything: there was a marathon, there were a lot of skiers, two planes of tourists arrived, science was working and there was a lot of interesting things.
I admit that this season I did not describe in detail the life on the ice floe, but there are reasons for this - earlier it was my main occupation, and now I have changed priorities ...

charles_oil

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #18 on: April 26, 2018, 02:10:00 AM »

And looks like the finale from Irina...

BARNEO-2018.
Everything, we finished the season 👍Only the whole team returned to Longyearbyen.
Tomorrow a technical flight with equipment will depart for Murmansk, and after tomorrow we will fly home!

Thomas Barlow

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Re: Barneo 2018
« Reply #19 on: April 26, 2018, 09:28:56 PM »
Wow. 12 days right?
Shortest by far?
That says something about the melting season.
Maybe should be linked in there as well?