Finally we got started last Sunday. Kenn Borek gave us a safe landing at Ward Hunt Island. The North of Canada gave us a "warm" welcome at -48 degrees Celsius and a small windchill. So the changes from Inns North Hotel to this true artic were quite big.

Kenn Borek's Twin Otter just before take off and we are left to ourselves.

We have been marching for one week now. The temperatures have been stable between -35 and -40 degrees Celsius, so we have to be very careful about everything we do. The smallest little mistake will lead to frostbite. So we have been trying to work in good routines. There is no reason to rush. We are after all supposed to stay out in this fantastic nature approx. for four months, so we try to avoid any big mistakes now in the beginning.

Some of the daily routines can be very cold, like this one, I am removing ice from the sweeter before going inside the tent.

We have now reached Markham Fiord, after following the pack ice east from Ward Hunt Island. Luckily we have been able to follow a small "road" between the ice and the mountain most of the time, which means that we have avoided some of the rough parts of the pack ice.

Ohba is pulling his sledge. Background is the pack ice.

Before reaching Markham Fiord and turning south we calculated the distance to the North Pole to be 770 kilometers by air, which is not much more than the distance to our next destination, but the conditions are of cause very different. We are now very happy to turn south and we are looking forward to lighter days and warmer temperatures. We have a lot of challenges coming up, and we are doing our best to continue our journey south.

This is one day's march. We started out at the foot at the mountain and ended up here, so this is where we are "celebrating" Saturday and one week on the ice.

The artic nature is very beautiful, and the light is fantastic.

Håvard Svidal-Haugan