“How. Here. Cool"

The tenth large ski expedition starts

There is such a children's mystery: if the sun is right in front of you, and time is midnight, then what's wrong with you? Answer: You are at the North Pole.

The many hours of expectation at Zhukovsky airport. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New Gazeta"

This year, determine the time of day in the Arctic, go skiing a week on skiing for a week and dance at once on all meridians will be fourteen Moscow high school students thanks to the polar traveler Shparo - in the tenth, anniversary, large Arctic ski expedition.

Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin are Russian travelers who, in 2008, became the first to ski to the north pole of the polar night. The expedition took several months, and upon the return of Matvey decided to lead the children with him.

10 years have passed, and the ritual of a spring campaign to the North Pole lives and develops: two go to a new expedition instead of one team.

The first - the Pole detachment - will pass 110 km from the Barneo polar station to the North Pole geographical pole along with Matvey Shparo.

The second - the Barneo detachment - will remain at the station and will engage in scientific activities together with Boris Smolin: to collect biomaterial for further transmission and research in Moscow, measure the speed and direction of the wind.

Arrival on Spitsbergen (or Svalbard - “Cold Coast”) - the Norwegian archipelago. It is forbidden to die in law here: it is impossible to bury people in permafrost - the bodies do not decompose. And white bears can come to the smell. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New Gazeta"

Wife - 18. She is in the Pole detachment. Kosiki with bright red threads flash at the airport: the guys collect and sort through huge bauls with things that they take with them. In her hands is a collection of preparation for the exam in biology.

“Will you really prepare right at the North Pole?”

- Yeah, I will return just to the exams.

Already at the arrival of the Svaldbergen transplant archipelago, she will call her mother, send voice messages and all her thoughts will only be about one thing: how. Here. Cool.

After Spitsbergen, a transplant to the An-74 and another 2.5 hours of journey to the Barneo polar station in the Arctic. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New Gazeta"

According to Matvey, children (regardless of exams and interests) do not change much: they have the same aspirations for development, for discoveries as 10 years ago. But something new appears-that which greatly simplifies life in the polar campaign: “A thing that was not 10 years ago and which greatly simplified life in principle is GPS. This is navigation and communication.

“For example,” recalls Matvey, “when back in the 88th year my father ( Dmitry Shparo, Polar Traveler. - Ed. ) Went through the North Pole to Canada, this was only the beginning of space satellite navigation.” But this was done still extremely outskirts. They had a certain buoy with them, on which they turned on the beacon, and he sent signals to the satellite, and then to Moscow to the headquarters. After that, radio communications were arranged. In order for the travelers themselves to find out their coordinates, it was necessary to request Moscow. It was such a one -sided connection - the first experiment on the introduction of space communication. ”

The North Pole is drifting ice. Every year, a Barneo station is erected on one of these ice floes for a month (usually 100 km from the North Pole point itself). Today, drifting, the ice floe came 50 km closer to the North Pole. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New Gazeta"

At the North Pole, the phone is silent - there is no connection. For calls, you have to use a special phone-a powerful pipe from the 90s with a long antenna. The last Wi-Fi guys catch on Spitsbergen. In parallel, warm things are pulled over, metropolitan sneakers replace special high boots.

After landing on Barneo, the guys are kneading at -20: first they go skiing, and then attach “drags” -boats -sani, in which everything necessary lies and which will be useful to overcome water barriers on the way. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New Gazeta"

On Barneo, skiing will also be added to the boots, and a series of boats “attached” behind the guys, on which, if necessary, they will cross the cleft between the ice floes during the expedition. Several circles in white and blue dazzling snow are a sample of own forces.

The first lesson made by Matvey is checked right there, on Barneo: over an endless snowy valley penetrated by icy thoruses, is a bright polar sun. On the clock - three in the morning in Moscow. So what is the time now?