据Everest当地时间21日报道，俄罗斯探险队员Matvey Shparo和Boris Smolin已整装待发，即将在冬至日乘机穿过西伯利亚的Cape Arktichesky（亚提克斯角）海域，开始他们的北极冬季探险之旅。
的确，世界上仍有存在着对探险者充满挑战性的处女之地，然而这些地方却不是能够轻易到达-到目前为止世界上仅有屈指可数的几位男性探险家（没有女性）能够冬季滑行穿越北冰洋：那里天气酷冷，黑夜漫漫，水域宽广，与世隔离（不要指望有后援队），并随时会遇到意想不到的技术难题和危险的情况。
完全的冬季北极探险和冬季乔戈尔峰，南极探险一起并称为当今探险界不可能完成的任务。
据最新的雷达探测图显示亚提克斯角附近有大片的水域。除了严寒及无尽的黑暗之外，此次探险还将面临着比传统的春季探险更加宽广的水域。
北冰洋的冰层在三月份方才达到最后值，即太阳在北极再次升起之前。
Mat莫斯科人，曾与其父在1998年完成首次滑行穿越白令海峡，之后蜚声国际，他先后还完成了格陵兰岛的穿越及麦金利山的攀登。
Boris也生活在莫斯科，也曾完成格陵兰岛的穿越及麦金利山的攀登探险。
今年春季，他们进行了冰上漂流的训练，即从Wrangler岛漂流穿越龙格海峡到达Chukotka
2006年Borge Ousland 和Mike Horn冬季穿越北极及挪威人的2000年冰上穿越
2006年1月22日挪威人Borge Ousland 和在瑞士定居的南非人Mike Horn在亚提克斯角出发，历时61天，终于徒步到达北极。但很遗憾，他们仅差几天就属于完全的冬季北极探险。（跨越了冬季）
Rune Gjeldnes和Torry Larsen的2000年北极之旅也仅经历了1个月的冬季时间，他们在2月初出发，成为世界第一队无后援的北极探险队。
1986年的苏联冬季探险队
1983年，极地传奇人物Dmitry Shparo率领首支冬季滑雪探险队于1月29日至3月7日之间前往极地探险，行程达700公里。
Dmitry Shparo描绘那次探险说：“当在1月底出发时，我们所有人都认为北极会有一丝光亮，即使在极夜，没有月亮，没有星星，甚至也没有北极星的情况下。雪会反射光亮，我们会在白雪中前行。我们都是受过教育的人，其中不乏科学家，但事实证明我们的想法是错误的，地面上一点光亮也没有，白雪也就无法反射-因为没有任何可以反射的东西，整个世界漆黑一片。”他继续讲到，“如果前行中不拿火把的话，你根本无法辨清离你仅一臂远的人。你知道你的前面有人，能听到他雪撬的声音，但看不到任何部位，甚至也包括你自己。这就是为什么极地探险是件非常恐怖事情的原因了。”
原文：Breaking news: North Pole Winter Expedition ready to go - complete darkness and open water
Today on Dec 21, the darkest day of the year, Russian Polar Explorers Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin are ready to be flown out to Cape Arktichesky.
Yes, there are still virgin challenges available for explorers, but they don’t come easy - only a handful of men (no woman) have faced the Arctic Ocean winter on skis. The combination of extreme cold, complete darkness, open water and total isolation (don’t count on a rescue) creates some of the most technically difficult and dangerous conditions an expedition can encounter.
A true winter North Pole expedition has never been achieved and together with K2 Winter and South Pole Winter, is one of the greatest uncompleted challenges within the Adventure World.
The latest radar shows large areas of open water around Cape Arktichesky. Besides from the cold and perpetual darkness, the expedition is expected to face more open water than traditional spring expeditions.
The ice is still several month from reaching its winter maximum; which occurs in March, just before the sun reappears in the Arctic.
The Norwegian/Swiss Winter Attempt of 2006 and the Norwegian 2000 Crossing
Borge Ousland and Mike Horn started out on a winter attempt on January 22, 2006 and arrived at the North Pole on March 23, 2006. The skiers missed a full Arctic winter expedition by only a few days.
Rune Gjeldnes and Torry Larsen also experienced a month of Arctic winter conditions when they did an early Feb 16 start on their successful quest for the world’s first unsupported and unassisted Arctic crossing.
The Soviet Winter Expedition of 1986
In 1986, polar legend Dmitry Shparo led the first winter skiing expedition between two floating Soviet stations. The trip was between January 29 to March 7, lasted for 37 days and covered 700km.
Dmitry Shparo describes the expedition: “When we started our trip from SP-27 to SP-28 at the end of January, we all expected at least some light. Even under the conditions of a polar night - when there is no moon and no starts and no northern lights - we would be traveling over white snow.”
“We all were educated people, there were scientists among us, but this is what we thought. It was a mistake. With no light from above; the snow will not work as a reflecting surface - there is nothing to reflect. It was pich black.”
“If you went without switching your torch on you would not be able to distinguish a man at an arm’s length. You knew that there is a man in front of you, you heard the noise of his skis, but you could see neither his skis, nor your own. That’s why such an expedition is rather a terrifying thing”.
Mat (32) lives in Moscow and achieved Polar fame after completing the first crossing on skis of Bering Strait with his dad, Dmitry in 1998. He has also crossed Greenland and climbed Mt. McKinley.
Boris (46) also lives in Moscow has crossed Greenland and climbed McKinley among other expeditions.
They have trained during the spring of 2007 on drifting ice across the Longa Strait from Wrangler Island to Chukotka.
