Physically the north pole or just the region?
Actual North Pole.
http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgchealy/aws15/150906.asp
Despite challenging ice conditions, we made great time through the ice this week and arrived at the “top of the world” about a week earlier than planned. The cooperation and teamwork between the deck crew and scientists has been a key to our success. HEALY encountered the thickest ice during the 200 mile transit between 82°; and 85°;N. It was up to ten feet thick, and demanded three engines and careful ice piloting by the bridge team to keep the ship safe and transiting in the right direction. From time to time, the ice became so thick we were stopped dead in our tracks and needed to back up several hundred yards to give ourselves room to pick up speed and ram into the ice to break it. This so called “backing and ramming” is felt by the entire crew, as the entire ship rocks and rolls, and bounces as it crushes through the ice.
Though this area of thicker ice slowed us to 3 knots, we daily progressed toward the pole. Morale is high, as the crew celebrates our accomplishment, but our long and arduous journey is far from finished. More ice and science stations await us once we depart the North Pole and begin our transit south; heading further east than our northbound track carried us.
Well, I see no barber pole or elves, so I think just the region probably :)
it was the magnetic north pole where the ice is thin
on the obama scale, this measures up to landing on the moon