Tuesday, April 29
The final flight from the ice airdrome has been made. As always after closing the camp all things, materials and waste products were taken away. The floe on which the camp was situated is now empty. Russian drifting base Barneo will resume operation next year.

Monday, April 28
The ice base is officially closed and at 12:00 UTC (16:00 MST) it stops working till next year. The team dismantles the camp.

Sunday, April 27
Air temperature: -15°C. Distance from the Pole: 234 km.
Tourists, skiers and dogs leave the camp with the first flight. Only Barneo team members stay at the base. There is a flight expected with Arthur Chilingarov on board who will lower Barneo flag and close the season 2008. But the weather spoils rapidly and hopelessly. The wind rises up to 15 m/sec., air temperature goes up to -10°C. It is impossible to accept a plane.
While the weather is non-flying the team decides to celebrate the Orhtodox Easter. The wind is so strong that the mess-cabin has to be tied up otherwise it can fly away. The Easter table is laid in the tent and people sit at it to celebrate the Holyday.
Unexpectedly and as quickly as it has spoiled the weather gets better again.Soon Barneo airdrome can accept the plane with Arthur Chilingarov. He officially closes Barneo 2008 season, lowers the flag and leaves the camp late at night.

Saturday, April 26
All tourists gather in the camp. Before Barneo finishes everybody who has been on ice returns to the base and gets ready to leave for Spitsbergen. Barneo staff members check that there is noone left on ice.

Friday, April 25
Air temperature: -12°C. Light snow.
Wind: north-westerly, 5 – 8 m/sec.
Сoordinates: 87°57'005" N 005°24' E. Distance from the Pole: 228 km.
Within 12 hours the camp has drifted 5 km to the South.
Borge Ousland and 6 skiers of his fly from Barneo to be landed 10 km from the Pole: they will have to overpass the strong drift of the ice from the North.
Explorers from Scott Polar Research Institution fly to the area of Lomonosov mountain ridge in order to examine the temperature and salinity if the water in Arctic Ocean. All this operation is going to take 7 hours: three hour of work and 4 hours for the way there and back.

Thursday, April 24
Yesterday the stuff mess-cabin heating was turned off. Several days ago the tent of the gueast mess-cabin was dismantled due to the hopelessly damaged floor in it. The problem of the second mess-cabin turned out to be its floor too. The matter is the 2 cabins were constructed so that they had a common wall which needed no heater layer. After one of the tents was disassembled the other one got much colder. 2 heaters instead of one had been used there and together with the weather warming it caused ice melting under the floor and "water mattress" effect. To eliminate the effect the heaters were switched off for 5 hours. In the morning air temperature in the mess-cabin is -18°C.
Mikhail Malakhov and members of his expedition "Ryazan - the North Pole 2008" finish their program and return to the base by a helicopter. They have made a distance of not 1 but 1.5°. They started from the Canadian sector of Arctic, heading for Barneo through the them more than 3 hors to choose and arrange the ground, to mark the court and adjust the net. A set of rackets had been presented to the participants by members of Russian national tennis team in early April in Moscow. The match consisted of 3 sets and appeared to be very exciting and stubborn. Oleg Naumov and Lev Safonov became the winners.

Wednesday, April 23
Air temperature: -18°C. Distance from the Pole: 208 km.
Barneo steadily moves to the South. Within the last night the floe has drifted 12 km further from the Pole.
Late at night yesterday An-74 aircraft landed at Barneo with a team of journalists and Dmitry Shparo. They changed for a helicopter and left for the North Pole to pick up the members of the youth expedition "The Ski Track of Russia – the North Pole".
In the morning of April 23 the team of journalists, participants of the expedition and Borge Ousland with his group of 6 skiers picked up from the Pole after they finished their program have returned to Barneo. The young skiers feel all right and happy to have achieved their goal. After a warm welcome at the camp where they have a meal and receive presents (diplomas, books, t-shirts, souvenirs etc.) they fly back to Moscow through Nagurskaya and Murmansk.

Thusday, April 22
Air temperature: -14°C. Drift speed: 0.2 km/h.
The floe bearing Barneo crosses the Greenwich meridian and occurs in Western hemisphere.
Сoordinates: 88°13'413" N 001°14'475" W.
The flight from Moscow en route Murmansk – Nagurskaya – Barneo postponed the day before on weather reasons has started at 08:00 UTC (12:00 MST).

Monday, April 21
Air temperature: -12°C. Distance from the Pole: 189 km.
Drift speed: 0.5-0.6 km/h. Coordinates: 88°17'981" N 001°49'072" E.
At night WC was covered with snow. In the morning there is a great snowdrift in its place. One of the American scientists helps: he goes through the snowdrift like a Bison and frees the entrance.
A flight from Moscow with journalists on board is expected at Barneo. The plane cannot take off from Moscow due to bad weather conditions at Nagurskaya base (Franz Josef Land) where it is supposed to stop for refuel. The flight which is postponed till next day must pick up the youth skiers group headed by Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin from the North Pole and deliver them back to Moscow.
The head of American science group Andy Heiberg and part of his team leave Barneo till next year. This season they have for the first time come to Barneo by Russian aircraft through Longyear (Spitsbergen). Earlier they flew to the base from Canadian territory by Hawker airplane. Andy is glad he has accepted the offer of the Russian side. He is satisfied with organization of the flights.

Sunday, April 20
Air temperature: -21°C. Drift speed: 0.7 km/h.
Coordinates: 88°21'304" N 003°40'352" E.
The floor in the guest mess-cabin flows hopelessly as it was damaged by the participants of the marathon in early April. The tent has to be dismantled.
A member of the team, mechanic Denis Bogdanov is sent to Spitsbergen according to the doctor's recommendation. Yesterday he overstrained himself when loading the equipment of American scientists'.
At 16:00 UTC (20:00 MST) the youth expedition "The Ski Track of Russia – the North Pole" has reached the Top of the Planet. Our congratulations to the participants of the tour!
By the evening the wind gets stronger. Snowstorm begins.

Saturday, April 19
Air temperature: -11°C. Distance from the Pole: 178 km.
No drift in the morning. Coordinates: 88°24'180" N 006°47'474" E.
Barneo airdrome accepts a flight with fuel. Several American scientists and their equipment fly back by the same aircraft.
After many delays caused by the weather conditions a plane from Krasnoyarsk with parachutists and their instructor Insarov arrives at Barneo. They plan to bale out at the North Pole but get a refusal from the direction of Barneo as they have no properly registered permission on the jumping. Thus due to incorrect organization of the tour the parachutists are unable to perform their program.
Visibility gets much worse: "soup". By the evening air temperature goes down to - 17°C. Drift speeds up to 0.3km/h. In the evening an open air barbecue is organized. The shashlik is first-rate.

Friday, April 18
Air temperature: -17°C. Drift speed: 0.2 km/h.
Сoordinates: 88°25'380" N 006°50'475" E.
Free day. No flights.
A triathlon contest is organized at the camp – crow-bar throwing (instead of the javelin), bucket throwing (instead of the shot) and ski race.
The winner is a flight engineer of Mi-8 helicopter Sergey Kuydin.

Thursday, April 17
Air temperature: -17°C. Distance from the Pole: 174 km. Drift speed: 0.2 km/h. Coordinates: 88°26'410" N 007°53'475" E. The weather and visibility are good.
The tourists with husky dogs who arrived the day before fly by 2 helicopters to start their rout. To reach the start point of the Last Degree program the tourists have to be delivered by a helicopter now. Within a month from the beginning of Barneo construction the floe has drifted to the south for more than 100km. The helicopters return to Barneo with divers and America scientists' equipment picked up from the Pole.
Another plane arrives at Barneo with fuel. Back to Spitsbergen it flies with the divers.
A minor breakage of the tractor occurs but it is quickly fixed. The lost huski dog has been successfully found. At first the search with snowmobile and huski team proves to be vain as well as throwing pieces of meat about the runway. But then a special dogs' tent is set aside the camp and the dog is soon found there.

Wednesday, April 16
Unexpectedly the floe on which Barneo is located splits up. The crack is up to 1 m wide and it passes through the runway. The length of the runway has accordingly reduced to 850m. Fortunately the runway can be continued in the direction opposite to the crack.

Thanks to the efficient work of the team in the evening the runway is ready again to accept a plane from Spitsbergen with tourists and husky dogs. One of Rick Schweitzer's huskies escapes right from the runway. The dog has been searched for.
Russian scientists finish their work at Barneo and leave the base.

Tuesday, April 15
Snowstorm. Temperature: -12°C.
Borge and his skiers start for their rout. Due to the warm weather the floor in the camp mess-cabin lets water through. On the first day of Barneo work the participants of the North Pole marathon entered the tent wearing crampons in spite of the staff requests and damaged the floor with their spikes.

Monday, April 14
A cyclone comes to Barneo. Air temperature is -14°C.

A helicopter with teenagers takes off for the Last Degree program. Borge Ousland and a group of skiers he is to lead on their rout tomorrow arrive at Barneo by An-74.

A watch with the International Polar Year symbols is officially presented to Borge Ousland.

Sunday, April 13
A scientist, polar explorer and hero of Russia Mikhail Malakhov arrives at Barneo with 5 Russian skiers and immediately starts his rout to the Pole. Russian divers come to Barneo, they check their equipment and go to the Pole by a helicopter for diving.
The youth group of skiers directed by Shparo and Smolin train before the tomorrow expedition.

Sunday, April 12
An airplane An-72 lands at Barneo with teenage skiers - winners of the Russian Youth Contest in honor of Shparo/Smolin expedition. The distance from the Pole is 185 km.

Friday, April 11
Russian scientific program at Barneo in 2008 comes to the end. The final submergence under ice is performed by a scientist Yuri Evdokimov.

Thursday, April 10
The work on clearance and examination of the ice is conducted at the geographical North Pole. Distance from Barneo to the Pole is 187 km.

Wednesday, April 9
4 groups of tourists who have completed their Last Degree program are picked up from the Pole.

Tuesday, April 8
There are no flights. It is the day for baths.
The conditions of an ice-camp, constant cold and lack of conveniences make the baths opening a special and long-waited event. There is a particular bath-tent constructed having extra internal layer of film to avoid drench. An electric stove and a gas-jet are used to heat the room; a basin of water is put on them to produce steam. The water for the baths should be prepared beforehand – a lot of melted snow is needed. Drinking water is in deficit at Barneo. It is brought by airplane. For wash and technical needs melted snow is used.

Moday, April 7
A plane L-200 with a Czech pilot flies over Barneo making for the North Pole. On its way back it lands at Barneo to refuel.

Sunday, April 6
A Twin-Otter airplane lands at Barneo with a group of American scientists directed by Jimmy Morrison.

Saturday, April 5
Air temperature: -25°C, wind speed: 11 m/sec.
At 01:00 UTC (05:00 MST) an airplane An-72 lands at Barneo with a delegation on board: the Archbishop of Kamchatka Ignatiy, head of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski city Vladislav Skvortsov, showman Leonid Yakubovich and popular Russian actors. They change for a helicopter and fly to the North Pole to serve Holy Liturgy there. It is for the first time that 5 of the 7 Church Sacraments: those of Confession, Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion and Holy Orders, are performed at the Pole. The ceremony takes more than 3 hours. After their return to Barneo the participants exchange their impressions while having tea in the mess-cabin. Later they leave for Moscow.
Russian tourists who arrived the day before are taken to the Pole by 2 helicopters. Among them there is the President of International Institute of Management in Archangelsk, weight-lifting champion and record-breaker Anatoly Ezhov. At 11:00 UTC (15:00 MST) he holds several records at the Pole with 16 kg weights.

In the evening the tourists return to Moscow. Victor Boyarsky with his group of journalists flies back to Barneo by helicopter.

Friday. April 4
Air temperature is -24°C, strong wind: 10-12 m/sec.
In the morning expedition leader Victor Boyarsky starts skiing from Barneo to the North Pole with a group of journalists representing different world periodicals. They will be on the way for almost 2 days and have a possibility to experience the difficulties and amenities of the route.
2 airplanes from Moscow land at Barneo with more than 60 Russian tourists. After they dine in the mess-cabin some of them go to see the camp surroundings, for the others several films on Franz Josef Land Archipelago and Barneo construction are shown.

Thursday, April 3
The temperature at Barneo is -30°C. The wind has risen to the speed as high as 15 m/sec.
Nevertheless ski guides Patrick Tkach and Christoph Hobenreih with their groups, and also two husky teams ruled by Ralph Swistoniowsci and Teresa Stanvall start to the Pole.
Seasonal scientific observation starts at Barneo in the context of the PAICEX 2008 expedition. The group of scientists directed by Igor Melnikov has arrived at Barneo not long ago and started their work today.

Wednesday, April 2
The camp lives its busy life. Several groups of tourists start skiing en route Barneo – North Pole in order to get over the last degree by themselves. They are: Australian team accompanied by their guide Eric Philips, a group of 2 tourists with the guide Miroslav Jakes, Hubert Main and his skiers' party, and a duet of Rima Chai and Matty McNair.
In the evening a helicopter with tourists takes off from Barneo to the North Pole where they will enjoy parachute jumping.

Tuesday, April 1
At 00:00 UTC (04:00 MST) the earliest flight to Barneo is accepted. With arrival of the pioneering group of tourists the camp is open; its activity rapidly picks up speed: within the first 12 hours of work 7 airplanes are accepted. Participants of the North Pole Marathon were the first to arrive to Barneo; they have carried out their program. Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin are delivered to Barneo form the North Pole. Their expedition is over; today they are leaving for Moscow.

Monday, March 31
"Barneo" starts!
At 19:35 UTC (23:35 MST) the aerodrome of ice base Barneo begins working.

Sunday, March 30
The runway construction at Barneo comes to the end. A specific feature of the runway this year is its wavy surface - as if frozen ripples on water. Since the kind of surface is not admissible for the landing they have to level it by watering right after the tractor going. The water freezes and creates flat surface. The other complicating factor is the strong wind in the area. The flight to Barneo is expected on Monday, March 31.

Friday, March 28
The operation for the sky man's evacuation has been accomplished successfully. The helicopters have managed to find each other in the endless ocean, to descend onto an appropriate floe and make change during 30 min without stopping their engines. The injured sky man is delivered to Spitsbergen while one more tractor mechanic and extra spare parts have gone to Barneo. This must help to organize 3-shifts work on the runway construction and fasten the process. The most and hardest part of the runway has been made by hand. Its completion and first technical flight are planned for March 30.

Wednesday, March 26
After the long repair the tractor reverts to the runway construction and opens the ice to discover multiple obstacles and solid blocks under it. They can only be worked out by hand which essentially slows down the process. The opening of the camp is now planned for March 30. One of the sky men at Barneo has got frostbitten and needs evacuation to Spitsbergen. To do this several helicopters fly towards each other to meet in the Arctic at a rage of about 400km from Spitsbergen. 2 helicopters from Barneo will make most of the route, one of them loaded with fuel for top-up, the other having the injured sky man aboard. Having done half of the way together with the “companion”, the tanker-helicopter will stop on ice to wait for the other one to return. The third helicopter (of “Spark+” Air Company) will lift from Barentsburg (Russian settlement in Spitsbergen) and carry out the distance to the meeting point and back on its own.

Tuesday, March 25
The FSS aircraft follows the route Vorkuta - Northern Land - North Pole and parachutes the spare parts. The tractor is fixed and is able to continue the work. A flight from Moscow to Longyear is planned for March 26 afternoon.

Monday, March 24
A plane of Federal Security Service aviation takes off en route Moscow – Vorkuta – Franz Josef Land Archipelago or Northern Land Archipelago – North Pole in order to perform the spare parts parachuting for the broken tractor. It stops at Vorkuta airport and cannot continue the route due to the weather conditions. At Barneo they look forward to the plane arrival.

Sunday, March 23
The weather at Barneo changes: the temperature is -25°C, snowstorms.

Saturday, March 22
In spite of the spare parts delivered, it proves to be impossible to fix the tractor. The temperature deactivates the equipment. Another spare parts landing is planned for Monday.
The whole day the personnel of Barneo are busy at Longyear storehouse sorting the goods for the camp.

Friday, March 21
After the second repayment the tractor makes 250 m more of the runway and breaks once more. Low temperature prevents the machinery from working properly.
At 09:00 UTC (12:00 MST) the last and bigger group of Barneo team including expedition leaders, cooks, the doctor, participants of the scientific part of the expedition and others takes off from Moscow to Longyear (Spitsbergen).
At 20:00 UTC (23:00 MST) a plane of Russian Federal Security Service aircraft makes the parachuting of spare parts for the tractor onto the Barneo floe.

Thursday, March 20
The temperature at Barneo goes down to -42°C. The tractor is repaired after the breakage and makes 120 m (of necessary 1200m) of the runway. After that it breaks again. This time a bearing is out of order.

Wednesday, March 19
The runway construction is delayed due to a breakage of the tractor – the torsion bar is torn. Unfavorable weather conditions and temperature -35°C have made the repair even more difficult.

Tuesday, March 18
The tractor has been successfully parachuted onto the floe. In spite of the wind and low temperature (-35°C) it starts. The runway construction has begun and is supposed to be finished by Friday, March 21.

Sunday, March 16
The floe for Barneo is found!
The coordinates of the coming Barneo camp are: 89° 36' N 118° 49' E, temperature -35°С. At 02:00 UTC (05:00 MST) on March 18 the descent of the tractor and start of the runway construction are planned.

Saturday, March 15
The 2 helicopters Mi-8 move from 86° 51' N 89° 49' E to the point with coordinates 89° 29' N 132° 12' - the area of search of the prospective Barneo aerodrome. They set up a temporary camp and on Sunday, March 16 will start to look for an ice floe appropriate for the aerodrome construction.

Friday, March 14
The expedition of Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin HAS REACHED the North Pole at 16:40 UTC (19:40 MST) today March 14, 2008! They have made a telephone call from the Pole and informed us on this. Congratulations to our guys! They are the first who have made it during the polar night characterized by complete darkness and low temperatures. As soon as Barneo aerodrome is ready to accept aircrafts a plane from the mainland will start for the polar explorers.

Thursday, March 13
The two helicopters passing first night amid Arctic ice.
The two Mi-8 helicopters reach the point of 86° 51' latitude North 89° 49' longitude East and at 14:00 UTC (17:00 MST) land to pass the night expecting fuel descent. After they take on fuel on March 14 the helicopters fly on to the North Pole to search for an ice floe appropriate for the BARNEO camp.

Wednesday, March 12
Public prayers are served in the Church of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin to bless the start of the BARNEO expedition.
2 helicopters Mi-8 of Taimyr Air Company start the route Norilsk – Dikson – Sredniy Island – Cape Arcticheskiy – North Pole. At 19:00 UTC (22:00 MST) the helicopters land at the Airport of Sredniy Island.
Il-76 Airplane starts from Moscow to Murmansk with equipment, fuel and other load onboard to be dropped by parachute.

Tuesday, March 11
Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Polar Year Arthur Chilingarov holds a meeting initiating the work of annual drifting ice camp BARNEO. The plan of high-latitude expedition at the BARNEO base is approved.