No matter how hard you train, nothing can prepare you for the tedious hours of the constant movement of skiing across the ice all day – my neck and shoulders became incredibly sore.
Surprisingly, the low temperatures didn’t feel too bad as long as we were moving, but it always felt painfully cold when we stopped at breaks, especially lunch. The bitter chill would seep in and the moisture from my breath would freeze my face mask to my skin. Once we started skiing again it would take a while for my body to reheat. However, some parts – my fingers mainly – would stay cold and ache with a pain so intense that I still cannot really describe it, especially after going to the toilet during the breaks. We were not far into the journey when I realised that toileting would be one of the worst aspects of the trip for me. Compared to the guys, it took me a lot longer. I had multiple zips and layers of clothes to manage, which meant I had to take my big polar mitts off and be in just liner mitts. I decided I had to walk away from the group and find a stack of ice to hide behind. I’m sure Dad and the others thought I was being a bit precious, but I wanted to maintain at least a little bit of dignity. It was already in short supply after walking away from the group carrying a roll of toilet paper. The average temperature during our trip was –27ºC and it soon became obvious there was absolutely nothing comfortable about a comfort stop. Once I’d dropped my pants for a pee the tops of my legs and my butt were exposed to the brutal conditions.
On one of our first mornings, Eric called Victor, our liaison person at Barneo, to confirm our position, and received some daunting news. The ice runway had cracked again. They needed to attempt to build another one to get us out. They’d also cancelled all the incoming flights from Longyearbyen, which meant the North Pole Marathon had been cancelled, along with Dixie’s expedition and another family’s.
The uncertainty of the situation put me on edge. Without an operating runway, there was no real way we could get off the sea ice and back home. I’m not a morning person at the best of times, but this worry made me extra snappy. Luckily, Dad was aware of this and was incredibly patient when I wasn’t in the best of moods. It’s not easy sharing a tent with anyone, let alone your dad, and there must have been moments when he wanted to let off some steam, too. Luckily for me, he held back!
It was thanks to Dad that I was able to attempt such a trip in the first place. I couldn’t have done it without him. But as the days went by I could see that he was in serious pain. The plastic stent between his bladder and kidney was supposed to be removed a few days after the surgery, but because we’d flown out the same day, it had to stay inside him for over a month. He kept joking that every time he peed and left a bright red bloodstain on the white landscape, he was leaving a trail for the polar bears to find us. Not entirely funny, since polar bears can smell blood from up to 20 kilometres away.
We did have plenty of laughs, despite the harsh conditions – or perhaps because of them. Lunch quickly became one of the highlights of the day, even if it involved eating frozen salami, which is almost impossible to bite into. As we were sitting on our sleds one day digging into dry biscuits, Dad asked me what I’d be eating if I was at home. I knew straight away: avocado smash and goat’s cheese on sourdough toast with tomato and salt and pepper. Everyone else groaned and called me cruel for teasing them.
When you’re travelling across floating sea ice, you are at the mercy of the ocean currents. If the ocean movement was away from the Pole – known as negative drift – we could literally be going nowhere each day and really struggle to reach the Pole in time. However, we had a strong easterly drift for most of the trip and, on one night, even drifted two kilometres closer to the Pole. I was pretty chuffed about that.
Eric wanted to help me learn as much as I could about the polar environment during our first time on the ice together, so one day he taught me how to navigate using the sun, and encouraged me to take the lead. Most of the time, the four of us travelled in single file in the tracks Eric laid first. Soon I found I really enjoyed being out the front – knowing that you’re the first person to have walked there is an incredible feeling.
But the isolation can also be intimidating. We were reminded of some of the dangers out there when Eric spotted polar bear tracks in the snow. They were very clear and so big I could fit my entire hand in one. Eric had done this trip many times before and he told me he was constantly looking around us and even over his shoulder in case of a bear in sight. This was a huge bear, he said, and its tracks were quite fresh. I started looking over my shoulder too.
In recent years, with the changing climate, polar bears have had to travel further over the ice to find what little prey is left in that part of the world. They don’t really seek people out, but if they haven’t eaten in a long time, or feel threatened, they will attack and kill. The sad truth is, we are a much bigger threat to polar bears than they are to us. They spend 50 per cent of their time hunting, mostly for seals, but the loss of ice is affecting them greatly. As they become less likely to find food in the wild, they spend longer on shore and often come into contact with communities, resulting in interactions that usually end badly for the bears. Scientists estimate the wild population of polar bears to be somewhere between 22,000 and 31,000. These numbers are already in decline, and the US listed the species as threatened in 2008. I fear for these beautiful creatures and for this entire environment if something isn’t done about the changing climate soon.
During the day, as we were skiing, there was a lot of time to think, and I thought a lot about the fact that this part of the world might not be accessible in just a few years’ time due to global warming. There was even a possibility we could be the last people ever to reach the North Pole; all those cracks in the runway may have been a sign. So I decided it was important for me to capture as many memories and as much footage of this amazing environment as I could. Soon I would be back at home in my everyday routine, but for the moment it was anything but everyday. Being constantly aware of where I was and being grateful for the opportunity became my goal for the rest of the trip.
On day six, we hit the halfway mark. We’d pushed so hard already to get to this point, but we still had another 75 kilometres to go. Eric was very encouraging, telling me he admired my stamina and determination. Out there, every little bit of support helped.
We’d been away from home for almost three weeks now, and I was getting pretty homesick. Fortunately, I was able to call home on the satellite phone every day, even if it was only for a couple of minutes. It immediately made me feel better, even though Mum and I spent most of our time talking about Dad and how he was coping with the pain.
By the time we got to the eighth day of the trip, we were ready for our final push towards the North Pole, but in the morning before we’d packed up the camp we got a radio call from Victor back at the base. The landing strip at Barneo still wasn’t fixed, and the ground conditions for the rest of the trip were forecast to be very tough with extensive compression zones. Plus, we only had five days to reach the Pole before the season ended, and they would pick us up regardless of whether we’d reached the Pole or not.
Overnight the wind had picked right up, and when we went outside in the morning our tents and sleds had been completely covered by snow. Up to that point it had been all sunshine and blue skies, but suddenly it was overcast and the visibility was really low. At least the wind was blowing towards the Pole, as a headwind could have pushed us backwards.
The landscape was beautiful – like a frozen white ocean – but the wind made it even colder than we’d become used to and the terrain became more rugged and slowed us down as we dragged our sleds over the increasing number of compression zones. The horizon was chaos, with no clear route to follow.
Dad was still struggling with the pain and for the first time it was really affecting his pace. The harness pushing up against the plastic stent caused him sharp pain and the ups and downs of the terrain exacerbated the movement. Eric admitted to us after the trip that at one stage he ha
d seriously considered having Dad evacuated – it was his job to make sure we arrived at our destination safely, after all – but I’m glad it never got to that point. I think Dad was more worried about being the reason we didn’t make it than he was about his own health.
The worst part was that the terrain continued to deteriorate. Even Eric was struggling, and at times it took three of us, as Petter was filming, to get each other’s sleds over the ice rubble. It was almost as if the landscape was fighting us from every angle. Surprisingly, we still managed to cover 14.5 kilometres most days, which just shows how far a little persistence could take us.
When Eric mentioned on day 10 that we were the most northerly people in the world at that point in time, it blew my mind. I imagined us on the top of a little toy globe. As we settled down for the night it really sank in that, unless something went horribly wrong, we were going to reach the Pole the next day.
On what was supposed to be our final day, I woke feeling incredibly excited. Eric had heard from Victor that the Barneo runway was operable again, so once we got to the Pole it seemed highly likely that we’d be able to get out. The conditions had eased and now there was just a light wind.
At our last drink break before the Pole, we looked up to see an Air Berlin plane fly over our heads. I think it was filled with tourists doing a sightseeing North Pole flyover. Obviously, that’s a pleasant and far easier way to see this magnificent landscape, but there was no way I would have swapped my experience on foot for any number of scenic flights.
Eric gave me the GPS and told me to take the lead and find 90ºN. It was strange to see the GPS just click over to nine-zero and almost unbelievable that we had finally made it. I turned to Eric in disbelief and he assured me that we were there. It was just our luck that at the time we arrived at the Pole, it was in the middle of a large compression zone, which meant dragging our sleds the last few minutes to our final objective was super hard work. There is no permanent marker at the North Pole because the sea ice is very quickly drifting on the ocean currents.
It was snowing lightly and Dad and Eric both gave me a big hug, which isn’t easy when you’re wearing skis and attached to a sled.
I was now the youngest person ever to have skied to the North Pole from anywhere outside the last degree, and it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. All the hard work had paid off. We celebrated by sticking a ski pole into the snow where the North Pole would be, and I ran around the world, crossing every line of longitude in a matter of seconds – again, my mind was blown.
Dad went over to his sled and pulled out a little parcel – a present from my brother, Kane. He had made me a painting with the words: ‘Limits are illusions that we create to protect ourselves from ourselves.’ It captured the moment perfectly.
Dad also handed me a letter from Mum.
To my dearest baby girl, Jade. If you are reading this letter it’s because you have just reached your goal of the North Pole. Wow! Wow! Wow! Breathe deeply and enjoy every second of what you have just achieved. I feel like I have been with you every step. I could not be any prouder of you than I am, having watched you grow from a small baby to a beautiful, happy, courageous, strong young woman. You amaze me every day. I love you so much and I love you more. Mum xx
Our final day also happened to coincide with Anzac Day, the day Australians and New Zealanders remember the sacrifices made by our armed service men and women. I hadn’t missed the annual Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance since I was born, so we decided to hold our own small service on the ice. Dad read the story of the youngest Anzac – a 14-year-old boy. Then he played the Last Post on his iPhone and together, we sang the national anthem.
I placed a note I had written in a sealed container and buried it in the ice. I knew the ice would drift towards warmer oceans and eventually melt and then my note would wash up on a beach somewhere, hopefully to be opened and read by someone in the future.
Finally, we set up camp, excited to be sleeping at the Pole, even though we were already drifting away from it on ocean currents.
We’d only just settled in and I’d just called home when the call came through that the Russians were on their way to get us, so we had to pack up all our gear again. I was on a toilet break when I heard the helicopter approaching and had to run back to the others while doing up my pants. Eric went out into the snow to direct the helicopter towards us and, as it dropped out of the sky, he disappeared in a flurry of white. It was quite spectacular. We hauled our sleds and ourselves onto the helicopter and took off for Barneo, leaving the Pole behind.
CLIMATE
CHANGE IN
EARTH’S POLAR REGIONS
In 1988, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Drawing on the work of more than 800 experts, in 2013 the IPCC released a 2000-page report that found the atmosphere and ocean systems are warming, and that it is extremely likely that human influence is the dominant cause.
The emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (all of which are produced during the burning of fossil fuels or the production of oil, coal and natural gas), contributes to this warming of our atmosphere. While this has always occurred to some extent in what is known as the carbon cycle, the natural carbon cycle has been distorted by the introduction of excess greenhouse gases. For 400,000 years, carbon levels in the atmosphere never surpassed 300 parts per million. In 2013, CO2 levels exceeded 400 parts per million for the first time ever.
Some of the most damaging effects of climate change can be seen in Earth’s polar regions. Seventy per cent of Earth’s fresh water is frozen, and the summer ice melts in both the Arctic and Antarctic have become increasingly severe. Not only does this raise sea levels and cause coastal flooding, it also completely adjusts the world’s major ocean currents.
In addition, the higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are also being absorbed by oceans and making them acidic, which is incredibly harmful for marine life.
Climate change is a real and serious threat we all need to be aware of and work together to act on. Despite peoples’ various countries, religions, beliefs and genders, we are one people and we all need to work together if we are to make positive change for the future generations of the planet. It’s not about saving the planet – Earth will be here and recover long after we have gone – it’s about saving the human species.
5
PART ONE COMPLETE
Coming home was a really strange and challenging transition for me. I’d travelled across the frozen Arctic Ocean. I’d reached the North Pole. I felt like I had changed, grown as a person and experienced so much, but at home not much had changed. It was a weird feeling – both comforting and disconcerting.
Thanks to a couple of days in a hotel in Longyearbyen before our flight home, I’d already had all the things I’d craved while I was out on the ice – a hot shower and some great food. But seeing Mum and Kane was the best. I’d missed them so much.
The school year was obviously well underway but, thankfully, I still had a few days to adjust before I had to go back. And there was a lot of adjusting to do. The media off the back of the trip started the day after we arrived back in Melbourne. I’d never had any media training (nor have I to this day), so I was miles out of my comfort zone (again!). The newspaper and magazine interviews weren’t too bad, but radio and TV were harder because it was live to air and there was nowhere to hide from tough questions. Everyone was super nice to me though, and I am very grateful to the media community for being so supportive of what I was trying to achieve. It was full-on, but a great opportunity to share my experiences with others. As the days back home ticked over, deep down all I really wanted was to be back in the Arctic. I missed the silence and the connection I had with my self and my mind. Back home, especially with the media, I had no opportunity to debrief and process what I’d just experienced – there was always a distraction.
My Polar Dream Page 4