Soviet, Canadian Skiers to Cross the North Pole
Four Canadians and nine Soviets set off Thursday on an icy, 1,073-mile ski journey over the North Pole, from the northernmost point of the Soviet Union to Canada.
The Soviet news agency Tass said the cross-country skiers waved goodby to observers at Cape Arctic on the northern tip of Severnaya Zemlya and headed north in single file.
Led by Dmitri Shparo, the group plans to make its way from this northern extreme of the Soviet archipelago, known simply as Northern Land, across the pole and on to Cape Columbia in the Canadian Arctic.
The joint expedition was originally planned for 1980, but the Canadians backed out when Soviet troops intervened in Afghanistan’s civil war.
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