Over the North Pole in a hot air balloon by Zuzana Zelenakova

French Jean Louis Etienne is a true explorer and adventurer, and the number of his expeditions is quite long given the fact that he embarked on first of them back in 1975, when he went to the Fitz Roy Mountains in Patagonia. He was the first man ever to reach the North pole on his own in 1986. Now, in 2010, he attempts to become the first man to make the solo hot air balloon crossing of the North Pole. Monday, Etienne, aged 63, took off from Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, which is one of the world´s northernmost towns. The French is headed west over the North Pole and to Alaska. He should manage to pass 3,500 kilometers in seven to ten days. Of co! urse, he won´t fly blind and there will be a team of experts tracking him from the ground and keeping him informed about weather conditions and other important factors. "It's a moment of great intensity. [...] Now everything's very calm. I'm rising steadily above Longyearbyen. It's absolutely magical," said Etienne over the radio shortly after he took off from the Norwegian town. One of those who watched his departure was also famous French footballer Zinedine Zidane, who helped to sponsor the expedition. I feel really excited and am pleased to be at his side, as we talked a lot about this”, said the retired sportsman. “Today is the big day for Jean-Louis. He’s been preparing this for a year and a half.” Jean Louis Etienne will not only enjoy the magnificent views of the landscape, but he will also perform various scientific measurements, of carbon dioxide for example, or the magnetic field. Etienne planned to make the trip already back in 2008,! but was forced to cancel it as his balloon was damaged in a s! torm abo ut two months before the take-off.

related story (sgx16927): http://www.france24.com/en/20100405-french-explorer-attempts...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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