The South African explorer Mike Horn, who knew a friend of his difficulties while crossing the Arctic Ocean on skis because of the effects of global warming, won the boat that was to recover the two men. At its end, we learned Sunday from the organizers.
Mike Horn and his Norwegian sidekick Boerge Ousland, aged 53 and 57 respectively, "have reached the Lance (the boat) and have finished the ski expedition," a spokesman for AFP told AFP. the team, Lars Ebbesen. The two men had left Nome in Alaska by sailboat on August 25th, then reached the sea of ice on September 12th and then moved on skis, pulling sleds loaded with food. They had passed the North Pole on October 27th.
87 days instead of 60
Their rations were exhausted during the last week, two members of the crew of the Lance had come to meet them to provide food on Friday and they finished four expedition. "It was a wonderful moment when they arrived slowly at the boat," said Lars Ebbesen. According to the Marine Tracking site, MarineTraffic.com, the Lance, an icebreaker is located on the 82nd parallel north in Norwegian waters of the Arctic Ocean. He will now win the Norwegian coast, which, according to Lars Ebbesen can take as well "three days as three weeks".
The expedition, which was to last two months, finally spread over 87 days. "We knew it would be a difficult experience from the start, but what we experienced there was way beyond our imagination," Horn said in a statement. "They are better than we thought and now they can rest," Lars Ebbesen said, relieved.
Due to climate change, the ice is thinner than usual and more likely to drift, which has complicated the two men's expedition.