Russian youth group sets camp on North Pole, waits for helicopters

A Russian youth group has reached the North Pole after covering more than 100 kilometers on skis, the president of the Polyus Expedition Center, Irina Orlova, said on Friday.

The group seven young men and women between 16 and 18 years old, along with their adult guides Matvei Shparo and Boris Smolin, were delivered to 1 degree latitude from the North Pole and skied 111 kilometers (almost 69 miles) for seven days to reach their goal.

“They have set up camp on the Pole,” Orlova told RIA Novosti.

She said that the group should be picked up on Saturday and taken to the Russian Barneo Base by helicopter if weather permits.

“If the weather is good, then helicopters will take the youths and the adults to Barneo tomorrow,” Orlova said.

The seven youths from Russia’s Chuvashia, Orlov Region, Omsk, Cheboksar, Perm Region, Vologda Region, and Moscow were chosen among 50 candidates vying for the chance to ski to the North Pole.

The expedition was organized by the charitable foundation Priklyuchenie Club (Adventure Club) and the Russian Ministry of Sports and Tourism under the auspices of the Russian Geographic Society, as well as the Association of the North Pole Expedition Center Polyus.

MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) 

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