X’GREENLAND 2024

FOLLOW ROBERT, MAREK, ULRIK, AYUKA, AXEL, SATISH & ARNAUD

day 17 - Ski, pee, drink, eat, repeat....

It has been 5 days now that we are skiing under a polar high pressure, bringing lower and even cold temperatures ( -25C ), but a sunny blue sky. ( you cannot have it all here :-)
We know that we will end up paying the bill sooner or later, when a low pressure will cross our path by the end of the week,  so we try to enjoy it as much as we can..

And today,  we celebrated it with 8h of productive skiing, closing up to the 25 kms mark pr day. A couple of days more, and we are hoping to reach "the summit", the highest point on our path, before starting our slow descent on the East side...
But one day at a time. For now, we are enjoying a well-deserved rest ( and eventually a sip of whisky ) in the cozyness of our tents...

day 16

Today was another day in paradise. We started with a polar-beautiful, sunny day, but very cold. Much colder than minus 20C and with just a light wind. Afterward, the wind died down almost completely, and it felt warmer and warmer due to the baking sun – even if the temperature stayed really low.  

We did 8 full legs and we skied more than 23 kms. We are all well! 

Robert

day 15

After a nice and relaxed, but crispy cold morning, we took off a bit later than usual. 
We left Dye II in our back to venture into the unknown again.... no more point in the horizon to aim at for the next 2 weeks or so, except for the sun.
Ski conditions are surprisingly better. Not long after we left Dye II, the snow packed and got a bit harder. So we ended up our short day of 6 hours of skiing with 18 kms in our pocket. And very happy with that. On top of that we went from a freezing cold start to a "baking on the ice" afternoon as the  wind died out. 

Greenland is full of surprise... and magic ! 

We ended the day thinking of all our Norwegian friends who must be partying now, celebrating this special patriotic day...
Tonight, the Norwegian flag will stand proudly at our camp...

Day 14

DYE II... the mystical DYE II... The one and only target that was in our mind for the last 13 days. 
We started seeing his rounded white head after our second leg of the morning, and spent the next 4h aiming for it... the easiest navigation ever, at least on a clear day.
Once we set up camp at its base, we spent the afternoon traveling into the past.. this is such an unique place, where time stopped in the late 1988.
We won't tell you more, as you have to come and see it for yourself :-)

Really cold, but glarious sunny day ( -24C), - happy explorers....

day 13

It was a very cold, but absolutely epic day. We were zombi skiing after lunch when the double polar halos appeared in the sky! One halo was around the sun, and another huge halo all across the sky. AND, it had the rainbow-colored edge!! The standard rainbow also decided to show up next to the halos. It was gorgeous.

We all stopped to snap a few photos and skied on with renewed sprites. We did 23km at the end. :) Another cold day tomorrow and we will be reaching DYE II! A big (in all senses) milestone.

Ayuka and the Ravens Team

day 12

We started off with total whiteout this morning. It resulted in pretty creative, snake navigating while staring down at the compass holder. Still, we did well and covered 20km!
My glaciology science project is going well. Today I collected the sample #4 and even had time for a first photo with the Explorers Club flag ;) 
Upon returning, I will really need to get a good facial back in NY to recover from the skin being constantly beaten caused by Greenland's harsh wind, sun, and cold!

But all is well, and I hope to be at DYE II in 2 days.

Day 11

Windy and cold day,  we skied 20 kms. 
White sky meets the white ground, couldn't even tell the snow pattern this morning. Challenging to navigate.
Dehydrated under nose and smelly feet are part of our identity now.
Sparkly snow crystals lifts my spirits always this afternoon. 
Windy and flappy tents this evening. 

Ayuka and the Team

Day 10

We got a bit of everything today: we woke up with very light snow, and started skiing with wind and almost white-out conditions before it cleared up to give some space to our beloved sun...

We can feel that we are slowly getting higher as the snow pack is getting slightly harder.... which obviously makes our lives easier, as our "belugas" (sleds) are gliding faster and easier....
Nobody...nobody for miles around... just us, and the power and beauty of nature, rocked by the songs of the wind and the cracking sound of the snow...

Life is good up here...

Day 9

Another day in paradise. 
Ski, pee, drink, eat,enjoy,...repeat !
And that's what we have been doing for the last 2 days.  Sun, blue sky, not a single cloud, and a light breeze to remind us that we are still in Greenland...
Such an amazing feeling to make our way through this white ( and almost flat 😉) desert, leaving a temporary track that disappears behind the horizon.....
We all enjoyed it as much as we could,  as we know it doesn't last very long here

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will throw at  us....
The A-team..

day 8

What a day to be alive !
We were ready for a big battle, prepared to drag our pulkas in deep sticky snow for the entire day... Instead, we spent the day sunbathing, gliding through this powdery snow... 
We should thank the light wind that was blowing most of the day, for packing and keeping the snow as cold as possible..

What a treat it was... gliding on this sparkling ice cap, under a perfect blue sky, using the sun to navigate through this magical icy world..
We won't see the stars tonight,  but we saw millions of the shiniest ones on the ice... and now in our eyes ! 

Please Mother's nature, send us more day like this....

day 7

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Marek today. He injured his hips, was I a lot of pain and could neither walk nor ski. Really sad so early in the trip. It was the reason for the day in the tent yesterday. The weather was too bad for any helicopter to land in our area.
We wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.

Once left alone on this white desert, it didn't take long before we all clipped on our pulka and started skiing... after a day in the tent, I guess we all felt the need to get some exercice. 
And what exercice !!! 
We spent the afternoon dragging our pulkas through all the fresh snow that fell last night. They never felt so heavy...
Breaking the trail was obviously challenging for the one of us that was leading, but stopping skiing would make it very difficult to start again, as the snow would stick and pile under our pulkas...

Slowly but steady, after 5h of intense effort, and a good well earned 10kms of ground covered, we were happy to setup camp and have dinner...
It was impressive to see the team working so well together, helping each other and taking turns when one of us would get "stuck".

No need to tell you we will all sleep well tonight. 
Hopefully we'll get more "glide"

DAY 5/6

Nice relaxing day in the tent for the team, after 4 days of pulling our heavy "beluga".
A well deserved rest while watching the snow falling for the first time since we stepped on the ice cap and wiping off our tracks...
The day is spend on taking care of our feet, reorganising our gear and fixing minor breakage... without forgetting our whisky our fireball tasting evening. 
I think we are all gonna sleep well tonight, ready to break the tail tomorrow.

Arn and the A-team.

day 4

Day 4 was a beautiful blue sky day. We skied 18 km in 6 and a half hours, the longest distance thus far. The team is looking strong, and morale is high!

Starting the day at 8:15am, the plan was to work on 5-50min legs before lunch (with 10min breaks). And 3-50min legs post lunch. The plan was well executed minus few minor bumps - the team is slowly working towards efficiently navigating on ice and quickly turning over camps. 

Camp 4 setup with kitchen area and bathroom is looking great. Its snowing this evening for the first time since we got on the ice. Excited about learning new skills navigating in this weather (whiteout) tomorrow.
More tomorrow!

day 3

We finally reached the top edge of the ice fall and made our first ski tracks on the ice cap. What a relief to trade the crampons we were wearing for the last 2 days and finally get on our skis...
Heading 125°, we all take turns every hour to keep the right direction and lead the group at their best pace... We stop every hour to refuel on food and drink.

After one and a half day on ice,  it's a real treat to ski on snow,  which is now all around us. 
We skied right next to a huge water hole called "moulin", last thing we'll see before entering the "deep white".
A big thanks to our guide Arnaud who skied back to get a shovel that fell off one of our sled 1h before we actually realized it... any piece of equipment is so precious here, and our shovels are an important part of our routine duties. 

Now,  we have all our shovels to set up camp and enjoy a sunny evening. 

Axel and the team.

Day 2

First hour - brutal! Steeper sections and sled carries. After 2 hours we found passage between icy walls and progressively got higher onto flatter glacier. Still on crampons though. Where did all the snow go? 
Everyone is still feeling upbeat and strong.
We are all looking for the flatter terrain ahead of us. 

Marek and the ‘Ice-Cream Team’.

day 1

Here we are.... After hours, days, weeks and even months of preparations and logistics, we finally took off from Kangerlussuaq this morning to reach the magical Greenland ice cap. Not only is the road beautiful,  but we even got to see a few muskoxen, reindeers, and arctic hares - all still dressed in their winter clothes... 
Nothing surprising: even if Spring has been around for a while now,  the temperatures today are a good reminder that winter doesn't want to give up... all benefits for us,  as this is what we need to cross the ice fall and keep our feet dry... 

We didn't even have to carry our gear across the moraine to access the glacier,  but instead, pull our pulkas on a frozen snowy ground. We couldn't have hoped for a better start. A quick and almost sunny launch, soaking into the beauty of this majestic ice cap,  we started making our way through this mighty ice fall... 4hours of pulling,  hauling, pushing, braking, ‘cramponing’,... and guess what, even smiling... later,  we found a small place between crevasses that could welcome our tent... what a day to be alive ! 
Can't wait for tomorrow...
Arn and the team...

ready to go

Last meal. Last toast. First group photo. No way back :-)

PACKING, FIXING, PREPPING

It was all hands on deck. All those who had arrived threw themselves at getting ready physically, working on lowering shoulders and mentally starting the digi-detox and get their minds into the team & Greenland frame.

MEETING UP

As everybody is on their way toward Greenland, the team leaders have already set foot in Kangerlussuaq. The rest will follow during the next days.
All the cargo with food and equipment was there waiting and intact! So now the real work begins to piece together every small detail for the trip. By the end of the week we should all be set for the crossing.

Stay tuned!

AROUND THE WORLD, DAY -7

Last frantic packing. calls and checks. Guids heading for the airport today and the rest following over the next days. This is countdown time and drams and endless preparatiobs are about to become real - and serious.

Stay tuned and follow the team here!