We went on family vacation to the North Pole, and were the youngest kids to reach it. Annika (then 14) and Jessica Horn (then 12), live from G21
« Little did we know that we were to break a world record and did something that most people could not even dream of… we were too small to understand the risk and to understand that we were the first ones. But it gave us so much strength, and since then, only 2 other kids have been there. Imagine: We were on the top of the world in extreme conditions. We never had sandy beach holidays, always went on extreme expeditions. But this time, at the North Pole, was the most remarkable expedition the 4 of us have undertook. We had to carry as less weight as possible, all the super flux we had to leave behind us, and lived on a confined space during 2 full weeks, with the books, pencils and papers we brought with us. It was even too cold to pee outside. When we didn’t ski, we basically lived in a tent and an outer layer. It was then when we really got to know each other better. It was the first time that mams and paps told us childhood stories, stories about their friends and teachers. They’ve given us an insight in their lives when they were young, and offered us the possibility to bond to them in an all-different manner. These moments, we’ve never had them at home, it only happened on expeditions. And we were never afraid, it was just too much fun. We remember, how much we wanted to be creative, even back then! We wanted to read, write and create stories. And when we skied, Jessica and me were always inseparable, advanced in the same speed. It was only at one stage, that our paps asked us to give up our almost unbreakable sister bond, which has been lasting ever since. In the middle of nowhere, he asked my sister to take her sledge off, and put it on me. We just trusted him that he knew what he did. And he let my sister behind, asked me to advance on my own, and after one minute, he said, “congrats, baby, you are the youngest girl to have ever reached the North Pole. You have the world record.” And I asked, but what’s about my sister? And he said, “you are the first youngest girl to have arrived at the North Pole, until your sister beats you. But you’ll remain the first youngest girl ever to have reached it!” One minute later, Jessica arrived, and he told us, that for once,“ you are allowed to be proud, because you have achieved something.” From that moment on, we couldn’t wait to go back home, drink our hot chocolate, but a snowstorm forced us to remain for another 3 days in our tent, as no helicopter could land. The tent was under the snow and paps went out to clean it. It wasn’t that we run out of stories, but out of food and technology… We’ve never lived something like this again. We were basically not drinking, eating anymore, just living from emotional stories… After this, we lived 2 weeks in the Russian base… It was in April 2004, the best season to go on a North Pole expedition, when the ice is stable. During this time, 8 groups wanted to go, and only two, with us, have succeeded. But we were the only kids to ski to the North Pole…
