Small Celebration

I slept very well last night. Woke up feeling totally recovered. No more aching muscles. Last night most of my dream was about the time on the ice, all those vivid images flashed back. Guess I really do miss it. Or maybe I still tried to hang on to the special occasion.

Longyearbyen has a storm to day. Very, very windy. Temperature is about -8, with windchill is like -23. I think normally I would feel super cold but I think after the time on the ice, I don’t think it's that bad. It's all relative I suppose.

We had a small celebration at lunch today. Vadim (an experienced polar guide) who works with Vicaar presented us the diploma and the trophy. It was nice to get some diploma or trophy but it's the achievement of personal goals is the most important thing for me.

I talked to another skier, who stayed in the same hostel as mine. His name is Pepe Jijon from Ecuador. He has done the seven summits, including the Everest. He also reached the North Pole, one day before I did. He did the last two degree expedition (while mine is the last degree). A great guy, very friendly. He had a live interview with Ecuador media yesterday and he became the national pride for being the first Ecuadorian to ever reach the North Pole.

This trip has given me the opportunity to meet so many exceptional people. They really inspire me and open up new horizon. I can’t think of how I can meet these people in a normal circumstances. I will have to write about all the people I met in this trip in some other posts.

I am leaving for Oslo tomorrow and stay one night there before heading back to Toronto then San Francisco. More photos and videos to be uploaded once I get better internet connection (that would be in Toronto or back in the Bay Area).