First ever wedding held at North Pole

MOSCOW.  April 13. KAZINFORM Famous Norwegian explorer Borge Ousland and his bride Helge became the first couple ever to get married at the North Pole, Russian expedition Barneo-2012 said in its blog on Friday, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The couple, accompanied by a Lutheran pastor and some 30 guests, initially arrived at the Russian Barneo ice base on board an Antonov An-74 aircraft and then took a helicopter to reach the North Pole.

The wedding ceremony was held in accordance with all traditions. There were lit candles, dressed up bridesmaid and bestman, and the bride dressed in a silk white wedding dress, but the Cross was made of a couple of crossed skis. The ceremony ended with champagne and fireworks.

The unique event, however, took an unscheduled turn when British explorer Mark Wood crashed the wedding.

Wood was solo-skiing to the North Pole as part of an expedition to raise awareness on climate change. In January he completed a 612-mile (985km) skiing trek to the South Pole and on Wednesday completed the 140-mile (222 km) distance from the Russian ice station to the North Pole.

"At the South Pole there's an American base, but at the North there's just ice," BBC quoted the 45-year-old explorer as saying. "But when I arrived Borge Ousland was getting married. He had 20 or 30 people at the North Pole, flown in by helicopter."

The explorer said he had some champagne and enjoyed the fireworks afterwards, according to BBC.