Ice from horizon to horizon

With the surface so flat, you cannot see far

Wonderful shapes

The light continually changes, bringing new views

The scale is deceptive

In our location, most ice formations were 5 - 10 ft high

Ice cross section

A section of pushed up ice, showing the layers

Camp Barneo

It is created each year by the Russians to support expeditions and other trips, and drifts with the ice

Inside the mess tent

The warmest place in the camp.  People here are recovering post marathon

Sleeping quarters

Blown air heating raised the temperature to -5 deg C

The Tardis  

One very cold loo

Mi-8 Helicopter

We flew ca 20 miles from camp Barneo to the exact North Pole - the ice is continually moving

At the North Pole

We spent about 40 minutes at the North Pole savouring one of the remotest places on the planet

Pressure Ridge

Simply stunning, it stretched as far as the eye can see and made a great viewpoint.

Flying the flag

The sun stayed at the same height, moving round the sky all day long.

Miles

Celebrating "on top of the world"

Patrick

Equally cheesy shot

A crack appears

This crack developed about 200 yards from the camp during the day after the race.  You can see how the course has been displaced laterally

Straddling 12000 ft of ocean

We were able to reach down and put our hands into the Arctic ocean.  The crack extended across the running course, and was growing very slowly