Russian explorers drive across North Pole to Canada

Seven Russian explorers have completed a two-and-a-half-month month journey from Severnaya Zemlya, Russia to Resolute Bay, Canada, crossing the North Pole in buses with bloated tires.

The trip – the first of its kind – was full of exciting moments.

The explorers crossed paths with polar bears, numerous seals, and a huddle of mustachioed walruses.

Aurora borealis performed for the travelers, lighting up “the entire sky,” according to expedition leader Vassili Ielaguine.

“Heaven helped” the men one day when, before their eyes, ice floes closed a wide chasm that would have otherwise prompted a long detour. Ielaguine said that they may well have run out of fuel.

Conflicting territorial claims over the Arctic and its immense natural resource wealth were left aside as the Russians were received warmly upon arrival in Resolute Bay.

 

Sources: Phys.org; Geophysical Research Letters; CBC