During the 61-day trek, mostly conducted in total darkness of winter, South African Mike Horn and Norwegian Borge Ousland braved bitter winds, temperatures of minus 50C and polar bears.
The skiing duo did not have the help of dogs or machines in the first ever bid to reach the North Pole in winter.
Mr Horn, who lives in Switzerland, battled an infection in the last days, taking antibiotics after a possible fuel leak inside his sledge may have contaminated his food.
The pair of adventurers left Geneva on January 8 for Moscow, then were dropped by helicopter at Cape Artichesky on January 22 when conditions were right to set out on the solid sea ice.
"Borge is 42 years old and now looks 80, and I'm 39 and look like 90," Mr Horn quipped in an email to his site yesterday.
Mr Ousland was obliged to saw his skis in half last week after a repair job did not hold.
In October 2004, Mr Horn became the first man to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle without motorised transport, completing a more than two year solo odyssey of 20,000 kilometres.
Married to a Swiss woman and the father of two daughters, his motto is: "A caged lion is not happy."