The 2012 North Polar season is a go as ExWeb reports that the first skiers are now en route to Cape Discovery, the launching point for their Arctic journey. Aboard the first plane out should be Irish duo Clair O'Leary and Mike O'Shea, as well as Japanese solo skier Yasunaga Ogita.The flight from Resolute Bay to Cape Discovery is not a short one. The explorers will cover 1000km (620 miles), and make a fuel stop at Eureka Weather Station, located on Ellesmere Island, along the way. Once there, they'll be offloaded with all of their supplies and gear and will likely spend the night prepping for an early morning departure tomorrow. That means by early next week we should be getting our first reports back from the ice and a good indication of what the current conditions are.
Last year poor weather delayed the start of the Arctic season for several weeks and effectively closed the window on the North Pole before most of the teams could even think about getting underway. Its good to see that the weather has improved for the start of the 2012 season. At least for now anyway.
Good luck the explorers. Godspeed!
