Not good news from here I am afraid; we have, as you will know, been waiting to be inserted onto the ice since the 25 Feb. Today's forecast indicated that we won't fly until Monday at the earliest - and that the best flying conditions are Wednesday / Thursday of next week (9, 10 Mar), some 12 days later than we had anticipated. We are unsure of the ice conditions and given that we have to make the pick-up by the 26 Apr, the expedition this year is untenable. We had allowed ourselves 60 days to complete the trip, and whilst we had intended to complete the journey as quickly as we could we still felt that we needed the breathing space that this time would allow given the vagaries and difficulties of Arctic expeditions
Moreover, the other 2 expeditions (the Irish and Italian teams) planning on leaving from here are in the same position, and as we are sharing an insertion we needed to make a joint decision. We have all taken advice and, based on the premise that we may be able to return in future years, we have decided to not attempt to ski to the Geographic North Pole this year. This decision is based on the weight of risk vs possibility of success and we do not feel that the odds are stacked in our favour. Furthermore we cannot justify spending the amounts of money we are talking about with an exceptionally slim chance of success.
In order to recover some training value from this trip, our plan is now to ski to the Magnetic North Pole (currently located some 400miles from Resolute Bay and about a 30 day trip which we intend to start on Tues 8 Mar). It is not the same and is not what we came here to do and this has been one of the most disappointing decisions that we have had to make. Obviously we now need to 're-cock' our equipment, sort ourselves out, complete the task ahead which has now changed and allow the dust to settle. Our plan is then to launch a reattempt at the Geographic Pole.
We understand that this will be as disappointing for you given your support as it is for us. Our aim is now to make the most out of the training time we have available and come back.
Matt and Jules
Lads I cannot begin to imagine how hard a decision this has been for you, but have to say well done on making what would appear to be the right one. You are showing real valour and spirit in every step that you make and you have a huge fan base and following which will only continue to grow for now and for the next time too.
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