Dmitry Shparo and his companions were not allowed to go to the North Pole neither in 1973 nor in 1974. The leaders of the communist party formulated the terrible verdict: "The expedition to the North Pole is not expedient". The only consolation was a permission, given in 1976, to travel to the scientific polar station "North Pole – 23". This trip proved to be very useful for the preparation of the future main event. The route crossed a 24-km field of pressure-ridges and it took the skiers 8 days to crawl over it.