North Pole Ice Airport

For the four weeks before the ice melts, Barneo becomes a magnet for people passionate about living on the edge. These include not only scientists and explorers, but also skydivers trying to land on the roof of the world, a couple looking for the ultimate wedding venue, extreme golfers who think nothing of teeing off in temperatures of 35 degrees below zero, and the hardy souls whose idea of fun is the notorious Arctic Marathon.

The polar region changes the people who visit it, and our cameras are with them as they face the challenges posed by this awe-inspiring, unforgiving landscape. Across three episodes, we tell the story of Barneo’s short season, following the visitors whose arrival there is the fulfilment of a lifetime’s ambition, and the workers for whom freezing temperatures and cracking runways are everyday obstacles. Hundreds of miles from civilisation, they have to be ready for anything.