Olympic flame makes bold foray into far north

Vancouver: The Olympic flame travelled farther north than it has ever gone as it lit up the

arctic night sky in the northern outpost of Alert. The torch was carried across the frozen Nunavut tundra by 20 hardy runners who called themselves `The Frozen Chosen`. The relay is the longest in Olympic Games history and day 10 is the nearest the torch will get to the North Pole. Last night, torchbearer George Stewart took part by lighting the community caldron in Alert, the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, located 800 kilometres from the North Pole. It was established in 1950 by the Canadian government as a military and weather station. The torch is specially built to handle temperatures of minus-50 degrees Celsius and the temperature yesterday night dipped to minus-28. The 45,000 kilometre torch relay will see the flame carried across Canada by water, land and air before it arrives in Vancouver which will host the 2010 Winter Games from February 12-28. Bureau Report