Nightmare!

We boarded the plane took off and we were on our way hugely excited and extremely nervous in equal measure, crammed into this russian jet laden with 20 people and all our gear, people in seats and others perched on top of the kit piled up behind a huge net. over two hours into our flight 20 minutes before we landed on the frozen arctic ocean on an ice runway carved out of the frozen ocean we had to turn back, a huge crack had appeared on the runway and had we landed (as is wrongly reported on the internet apparantly) we would all be at the bottom of the arctic ocean. so i thank god that we didn't land but none the less it is bitterly disappointing.
we now have to wait at longyearbarn to see if they can fix/move the runway. of course there are people up there whose only way back from a frozen ocean is by this flight, three flights went up ahead of us, they are effectively stranded until the runway is repaired (including prince harry)
without sounding all mawkish or a bit of a nit, this is what adventure is all about, highs and lows and potential significant risk. but i do think as travellers we have a certain amount of hubris to think we can just rock up 700 or so miles from the mainland and land in one of the most inhospitable hugely un predictable remote wastelands and head towards the pole without risk in many many different guises. the ice is unpredictable, highly unpredictable we are skiing on a frozen ocean after all and ice melts even up there.
any way it is clear our time window is running out we defo won't get up there for two more days at the earliest and even that is highly uncertain,
the one thing though, i can guarantee, the russians who run camp barneo (and who i see very unfairly criticised by one very high profile group who are currently on the ices blog a totally unjustified criticism which exemplifies the hubris and arrogance referred to above..... grrr makes me very angry!) are the loveliest most thoughtful, organised team you could imagine their paramount concern is for our safety and they as well as our guides alan and mickael and the legendary jeremy gane who arranged all of this, as far is possible manage some of the many risks we face so don't worry we are in very safe hands and i will not do anything at all i don't feel comfortable with.
this type of trip doesn't come naturally to me i have to say and i forget how nervous i get but the adventure comes in many parts broken down into preparation and execution, i just seem to frequently find the execution part is thwarted by unseen circumstances!
any way otherwise all good stunning day here, the team are nursing sensational hangovers but, dear reader, surprisingly not me... it was a beautiful clear night and i walked back to our hostel at midnight surrounded by snowy mountains on the clearest crispest lightest most beautif

ul midnight walk you could possibly imagine, grateful to many for the fact i wasn't at the bottom of the arctic ocean!