Torch Relay Bashny.Net

He writes well-known blogger and traveler under the name sergeydolya: The atomic icebreaker "50 Years of Victory" in flight with the Olympic flame at the North Pole has established two records. The first icebreaker reached the North Pole in the polar night - before they went to the Pole only bright - and set a speed record of reaching the North Pole - 91 hours and 12 minutes. We went from Murmansk on October 15th at 17:25 and arrived at the Pole on October 19 at 12:37, passing away in 1395 nautical miles at an average speed of 15, 3 miles per hour. Ice pole thickness was 1, 3 meters, and we reached without any problems.




But these records were not our goal. The mission of the expedition was to bring the Olympic flame to the North Pole and spend a stage of the Olympic torch relay. It was attended by representatives of eight countries of the Arctic Council - Russia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Canada, the USA, Iceland and Denmark.



The day before we had a rehearsal pole relay on the icebreaker. Instead torchbearers with unlit torch ran Igor Kutsenko - general producer of Olympic Torch Relay and Alexei Rzhevskij - Manager of Special Projects of the Organizing Committee of Sochi 2014. They also during the actual relay acted as guardians of the Olympic flame:



They checked all the props, including a huge flags with the logo of the partner. By the way, all of the relay is carried out on the money partners and the government has not invested a penny in it:



The next morning all waited Pole. They brought the lamp with the Olympic flame to the navigation bridge and the last hour of all members of the expedition were together with the captain on the bridge, watching the instruments and the approach to the pole:



They reached the North Pole at 12:37. On the bridge there and then celebrated with champagne. In the photo from left to right: Artur Chilingarov (the head of the expedition), Mustafa Kashka Mamedinovich (first deputy general director Rosatomflota), Valentin S. Davydyants (captain of our icebreakers) and first mate Ruslan V. Sasov, which led us to the North Pole:



Arthur N. shows other members of the expedition radar, which shows that we have reached the 90th degree of Northern latitude, ie the North Pole:



Here is the radar. The number in the upper right corner 90'00.000'N shows what antenna GPS, installed on our icebreaker is exactly at the North Pole. Longitude is irrelevant, as all the meridians converge at the North Pole and centimeter by centimeter to the left to the right on the pole may differ by 180 degrees:



In October, the North Pole polar night, and even in complete darkness at noon here:



However, at any time here can be seen on the horizon glow of the day somewhere very far away. On the color of the sky do not pay attention - it was black, I just lightened the picture to become anything seen:



We were lucky, and right at the North Pole was a large and sturdy floe. The first thing we have landed on it and found a sign the North Pole:



The preparation of the relay and all the equipment took 6 hours. At 19:30 Moscow time we started - carried the lamp with the Olympic flame from the bridge and lit the torch of the first torchbearer:



The first carried the torch of our icebreaker captain Valentin S. Davydyants:



During the torch relay pass did not fire, and the fire from the flame on the torch. When sending fire one of accompanying the torch "fire keeper" opens the gas supply at the next torchbearer, then torchbearers are touching their torches, and the flame passes from one to another, and at the end of the second "fire keeper" closes the gas flaring previous torchbearer and continues to run with fire. Valentin Sergeyevich handed the Olympic flame Elena Kudryashova - Rector of the Northern Arctic Federal University:



As the audience were members of the expedition and the crew:



Torchbearers were selected as follows: Organizing Committee "Sochi 2014" made a decision that would not be very honest, if the poles torchbearers will run only from Russia, and asked the embassies of the countries of the Arctic Council, choose a torchbearer of the country. These people fled.



The next torchbearer after Elena was Lassie Heininen Kudryashova from Finland. He is a professor at the University of Lapland and the Arctic.



Fire descended lower and lower decks:



Another torchbearer from Jens Peter Nelsen - professor at the University of Tromso:





He passed the fire Pat Pitney - Vice-Chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Olympic champion Games 1984 in Los Angeles:





From the torch Pat the fire was one of the most renowned relay of torchbearers Stephen Podborski working in the Canadian Olympic Committee. He also bronze medalist in Lake Placid in 1980 and eight-time winner of the World Cup downhill. In February 2012 Podborski became the official ambassador of the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi from Canada:



It was he who pulled the fire on the ice of the North Pole:



And transmits it Ilhwa Sjoberg - representative of young scientists in Sweden:



Definitely, the most sympathetic and humble of the team:



If each of the torchbearers ran only their distance, the "keepers of the fire" ran them all. I'm not talking about your humble servant, who ran still around:



On the ice, the route ran from one side of the icebreaker, which is covered by an ice floe wind. Torchbearers ran over a large perimeter around the North Pole sign, take a short trip around the world. Next came Steyngrimur Jonsson from Iceland - PhD Physical Oceanography:





He passed the fire Dane Christian Markusenu - Geophysics and senior adviser to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS):





The penultimate was another Norwegian Jan Gunnar Winther - Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute:





He completed the baton Artur Chilingarov - the Russian Arctic and Antarctic explorer, President of the Association of Russian Polar Explorers, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Russia:





All torchbearers were waiting for him near the ladder:



Gathered together, they took the flags of their countries and ran across to the Olympic bowl installed at the North Pole:



Arthur N. ran last with the Olympic flame in his hands:



Under the general applause, he lit the Olympic flame in the bowl:



At the end of the ceremony torchbearers we joined hands and made another round trip around the North Pole:







After that, the ice released everyone, including crew members and began a whirlwind of celebration and photographing each other. All ended with a giant projection on the ice of the North Pole.









The last frame was the projection of the flags of all the countries taking part in the Olympic torch relay at the North Pole. Torchbearers took to the ice and took place at each of its flag:



In a few hours after that our icebreaker headed for Murmansk. The next day, when we got to the latitude where there twilight guys from Converse Avia took me on a helicopter and take a few laps around the ice-breaker.





I must say that the torch is not extinguished even once during the entire relay.



Source: sergeydolya.livejournal.com