CHANDIGARH: Indian Navy's North Pole expedition team was flagged off by the Raksha Utpadan Rajya Mantri Shri Rao Indrajit Singh at New Delhi Monday.   

The Indian Navy ten member team would undertake cross country ski traverse of about 130 km  from the 'last degree', i.e. 890 North, to the geographic North Pole.

The rigor of the  expedition would call for the highest standards of mental and moral strength, physical fitness, determination, courage, endurance, a never say die spirit and, above all, a perfect teamwork. This expedition would inculcate and encourage all the laudable attributes that are required to be developed amongst men in uniform and are in keeping with the highest standards of the Indian Navy.

No Indian team has ever undertaken a ski traverse expedition to the North Pole. It is considered that the Earth has three poles (North, South and Mt Everest (vertical pole) and no single institution in the world has done all the three poles. Indian Navy has done Everest and South Pole and is poised for this landmark achievement of reaching all the three poles. There are less than 25 people in the world who have been to all the three poles. No Indian has ever done this. Three members of the Indian Navy have done the two poles and are perched to enter this very exclusive 'Three Poles' club.

Indian Navy accomplished the world record making ascent of Mt Everest in 2004, followed by the stupendous ski traverse to the South Pole during 2006 – 07. It is now ready to take on another extreme challenge in the adventure world – ski traverse to the North Pole.

With this, Indian Navy would achieve the pinnacle of adventure world – 'The Three Poles'. A feat that cannot be rivaled by any other single organization / institute / nation in the world.

The expedition to ski traverse to the North Pole would attempt to achieve the following records:

(a)   First organization in the world to reach 'three poles'

(b)   First Indian team to ski to the North Pole

(c)   First Indian team to ski to the North and South Poles

(d)   First Indians to reach all the 'three poles'

After being flagged off from New Delhi, the team would fly to Norway. Thereafter proceed to the township of Longyearbyen in the island of Svalbard, from where most of the flights to the Polar icecap are operated. From Longyearbyen, the team would fly to 890 N and then undertake a ski traverse of about 130 km to the geographic North Pole.

The team has undergone the following training over the last one year:

(a)  Himalayan Expedition – Jul – Aug 2007 in Himachal Pradesh

(b)  Himalayan Expedition – Oct 2007 in Garhwal

(c)  Ski training and extreme cold and weather survival camp at Gulmarg Jan – Feb 2008

(d)  Yoga and fitness training in Delhi

 The North Pole expedition would be a befitting tribute to the glorious past of the Indian Navy's adventure activities where Indian Navy has risen from pinnacle to pinnacle bringing glory to the service and to the nation. Having done the other two poles, Indian Navy is now aiming to complete perhaps the greatest challenge in the adventure world – the Three Poles.

The expedition team comprises the following members:

1.      Cdr Satyabrata Dam

2.      Lt Avinash Khajuria

3.      Surg Lt Ajay Sharma

4.      MCERA I Raj Kumar

5.      POMA Rakesh Kumar

6.      POMA Vikas Kumar

7.      LME R Pandey

8.      Sea I B Singh

9.      Sea I Manoj Vats

10.     MA I Sonam Tamchos

The entire Arctic Ocean region north of 800 N freezes during the months of Nov – Apr each year. The ocean turns into a gigantic ice cap over which one can ski to the geographical North Pole. By the end of Apr, the ocean starts melting, breaking the ice ferociously and thereafter ships and icebreakers crisscross North Pole. The ice floe and the ice sheet formed across the North Pole region during the winter months offer one of the most spectacular and savage arenas on Earth for undertaking adventure activities, perhaps rivaled only by Antarctica and the South Pole (which Indian Navy  accomplished in the year 2006 – 07).

The various means of reaching the North Pole are by air, dog sledging, ships, nuclear ice breakers, submarines, skiing, etc, depending on the weather and the ice / ocean conditions. Out of all of these, a ski traverse while pulling pulk sleds manually is considered the physically toughest and riskiest means to reach the North Pole.

Since the area of North Pole is actually frozen ocean, no human habitation or flora and fauna are permanently found. Though during the winter months, Polar bear families are found in abundance, looking for sustenance. An encounter with such a bear family can be extremely dangerous. Other than the northernmost tip of Greenland, the Norwegian island of Svalbard is the nearest landmass to the North Pole. Unlike the South Pole, there are no scientific bases anywhere in the vicinity of the North Pole and the area is purely used for adventure and extreme sports activities which includes the polar marathon.

Due to the continuous global warming, the ice sheet forming atop the North Pole is getting thinner each year. Since the ice is floating, they often drift apart due to the underlying ocean currents/winds leading to cracks in the sheet.

This makes the journey over ice to the North Pole hazardous as there is always a danger of the ice breaking or moving away from the North Pole. The entire terrain is constantly lashed by severe winds, blizzards and freezing temperatures.