The hot-air balloonists weren't the only adventurers taking advantage of the brief, favorable weather for arctic travel. A group of Russians traveled alongside the balloon crews - to parachute onto the treacherous ice. The cramped jet, which carried not only the crews of adventurers but the tons of gear necessary to ensure their survival, landed at a bulldozed airstrip on the ice, only 80 miles away from the North Pole. The helicopter landed, after first feeling the thickness and security of the ice by bouncing the runners side to side, and the crews unloaded their gear. The helicopter left, not to return for three days, leaving the explorers completely on their own.
Dehydration is a paramount factor.
These were worn underneath their parkas, using body heat to keep the water from freezing. Along with the camel-backs, which the adventurers restocked with melted snow, they guarded against the temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit with face masks, down jackets, exposure boots and three pairs of gloves each. The men heated stakes to push them into the ice, laboring under nearly 100 pounds of gear. They warmed the tent with fuel-burning heaters and between their sleeping bags and the ice stood only a thin layer of cloth. Most of the heat from the burners collected in the top of the tent, leaving the inside fluctuating between 5 degrees above and 5 degrees below freezing, so the crews wore their coats inside the tents as well.