Kunming resident Jin Feibao is attempting to summit each continent's highest peak and trek to both of the Earth's poles within a one-year period. Following his recent trip to Argentina's Mount Aconcagua, he has moved on to Norway and is skiing to the North Pole. GoKunming is reprinting transcripts of Jin Feibao's daily telephone reports to Kunming.

April 27: Champagne on top of the world

"Yesterday, we skied 11 hours, covering 13 kilometers and reaching the North Pole at 2:45 am on April 28, Beijing time.

Compared to the previous seven days, this last day of trekking and skiing was the hardest one. We were blocked by many wide crevasses with water inside, so we had to use GPS frequently to guide us as we zigzagged around the labrynthine crevasses.

During the day I stepped on a pack of thin ice that was too thin to hold my weight - it broke as soon as I put my full weight on it and I fell into the icy water. Luckily the hole I fell into was not wide, so I could prevent myself from falling in completely, only my legs were in the water. The tour leader rushed to me and pulled me from the frigid water, then picked up the powdery snow on the surface of the ice and used the snow to rub my wet pants to accelerate the freezing process of the water in my pants, thus lowering the danger of frostbite. After a while my legs felt okay again, so we kept pushing forward.

When the GPS showed that we were extremely close to the North Pole, everybody was so excited that all the expedition members began running like lunatics toward the direction of the pole. Finally, the GPS showed that we were standing on the exact spot of 90 degrees north latitude, at that moment, everyone went crazy. We forgot about the freezing cold and exhaustion and started yelling and taking photos and calling family and friends. The tour leader popped open a big bottle of champagne and we all toasted our accomplishment.

Last night we camped at the North Pole, which doesn't have any landmarks. This morning, we woke up and found out that we had drifted two kilometers while sleeping. Now we are waiting for a helicopter to pick us up from the ice and fly us back to Barneo camp, where we will take another airplane back to Longyearbyen in Norway.

At this moment sitting atop the world, I am very proud. I have successfully reached the 3 extremes on earth - the top of Mount Everest, the South Pole and the North Pole - within one year's time. I may be the first Chinese to accomplish this.

I want to express my gratitude to my hometown Kunming, my province Yunnan, my motherland China, and all my friends and family. Thank you all very much!"

分享这篇文章

评论