X’GREENLAND MAY-JUNE 2023

FOLLOW MICHAEL, WILLIAM, ANNIK, PETTER & ARNAUD

Day 10: COUNT DOWN

We are nearing the time we will all meet for real! Wednesday the cargo with equipment etc will leave Norway. Then the guides will show up to see that everything is in our storage and look over the equipment.

Then next week everybody will arrive, and we will work, pack, test, talk, weigh and have some fun. Get our shoulders down and smiles up!

See you soon!

Day -5: WELCOME!

Finally here we are, we have been there for 3 days now to prepare the sleds and the rest of the technical equipment. All that's missing is you!
Everything will happen very quickly in the next few days. The nights are short and the sun rolls over the horizon without even hiding.
It is very plesent this week. Arnaud, Margretha and I went to see the starting point of the expedition, on the way we saw several reindeer, partridges, muskox and hares.
We will pack all the food together and will be meeting at the good restaurant to taste specialities of the place tomorrow. It's spring and we're almost ready to start this great adventure.  

Caro, Maggie, Arnaud 

Day -4: THIS IS THE START

As the first teammmates are trickling in from around the world and preparations continue, we wanted to show you the first glimps of the Inland Ice. It is truely beautiful, but daunting at the same time :-)

a few pictures of our packing party !

Day 1: Leaving Kangerlussuaq,

The Adventure is on!

Happy to get going, we boarded the bus to go to point 660, the one way trip, made memorable by the magnificent bus driver, Klaus.
Then followed three hours of carrying our equipment over rocks, mud and slush till we reached the edge of the glacier - and the beginning of the ICE!
The sledges behaved decently as we navigated the labyrinth of ice.

First day, our bodies are in shock! We did about four hours before we made camp in a beautiful sunny spot on the only piece of “flat” ground we could find.
One thing we learned today: Arnaud loves his job.

- Annik (Today’s blogger)

Day 2: In the ice fall (67.1521 N, 49.7513 W)

We started the day in our crampons but after a few hours we got the skis on, it was soon obvious who the Norwegians are in the group.

We then proceeded to drag, push, haul, roll, pull and yank our pulks across the undulating ice. There was some swearing but even more smiles. Super hot weather meant we were stripped down to just our base layers which was quite a sight! - Will (Aberdeen)

Note. Recently learned the trick of using cut-off long skins in addition to short skins. Love!!! (Annik)

Day 3: First day on the icecap

Boiling hot day. Officially off the icefall !

Today we learned, the hard way, to keep the pace loooow. Had some good discussions about break habits & celebrated our first icecap camp the Scottish way. So, to the more important part. On a trip like this, resting is the most important thing, according to Kathinka (Guide, Ousland). And in order to maximize our rest, we need to have an attitude of efficiency, according to Arnaud. You probably had to be there for this to be funny, but we coined the word restitude - and today, we decided our team name, team restitude.

We finish off todays blog with Arnaud’s most used saying; “so in an ideeeaaaal world, you’d… (enter any clever expedition trick)”

Ps, here is a picture of Petter, restituting. - Team Restitude

Day 4, may 10 (N67.1645, W49.0316)

Okido!!

The day started with ice under the sled, making the first hour quite tough. But when we realized and removed it, it went much easier. Still some sticky snow under the skis for some of us, quite annoying! Trying all sorts of tricks.

Reached camp in beautiful sunlight. Arnaud tried to push Annik’s extra food on all of us, not very successfully. Starting with 7x50 minutes tomorrow, supposed to be windy.

- Petter

Day 5, (67.0971 N, 48.7101 W)

A little bit of wind.

We got our first taste of taking down the tents and camp in a decent wind. Lunch was a solitary affair, each person hiding behind their pulka trying not to let their noodles and chocolate fly everywhere! There was little chat, especially during the afternoon skiing with almost whiteout conditions.

The wind eased off to let us have a sunny evening camp. Will (Scotland)

Note: We have found our chief navigator, the German machine Michael who led us in a straight (ish) line. He admirably broke the trail all day today into the headwind! Although we have our suspicions on his motives when he said the bearing of 145 would lead him straight to his house!

Day 6, May 12 (67.0039N, 48.3626W)

We had our first day of decent skiing conditions where the snow pack allowed our sleds to actually glide!

We went through all 4 seasons of weather today with wind, sun, complete cloud and then now snow is falling in the camp.

The team is finding its rhythm more and more and we are all getting more efficient for it. Which makes Arnaud very happy (and proud). - Will

Ps. Here is a picture of Michael, our chief navigator, with his beloved compass holder.

Day 7, May 13th (66.9249N, 48.0639W)

Tough day but good day!

Pulling sleds was quite heavy today due to lots of fresh snow. It was also a very warm day, which meant that we were back to our normal expedition attire - fishnets. Just lovely. Longest day yet in terms of time-on-skis, 08.00-16.40.

I felt quite strong today(!), a good feeling of just toooiling on. But when I think about it, it must be because I had spa day yesterday. I mean, washing-ish, cleaning-ish and becoming fresh-ish. The guys wouldn’t understand, haha.

May 13th: Gratulerer med dagen pappa min! - Annik

In picture 2, you see me restituting.

Ps. Team restitute’s updated guide rules:

Rule nr. 1: Arnaud is always right.

Rule nr. 2: If Arnaud is wrong, go back to rule nr. 1.

…eeexcept if it is a question about the weather, then Lars Ebbesen is always right.

Rule nr. 3: There is no need for more rules (ideally).

Day 8

We were relieved to wake up to colder conditions this morning, which meant that our pulks were gliding across the cold snow, and we managed to achieve over 20km today.

The air temperature has dropped as we have gained more altitude, meaning hopefully we have put all of that warm sticky snow behind us.

We had some sun this morning and we caught a glimpse of our very own “Lawrence of Greenland” (see picture) who has been following us! -

Will and all of Team Restitude

(Song of the day; Håkan Hellström: A vil bara va med dej - Annik)

Day 9, May 15.

Sastrugi, sastrugi, sastrugi.

Well, today was today. Trying to describe the skiing conditions, here it goes: Imagine the most uneven surface, and then you scramble it a little more - and then you freeze it. And for the fun of it, you add some soft powdery deep snow patches in between that you have to plow through. Add some headwind. And you ski in those conditions from 08-17 and try to cover much distance. Hallelujah. - Team restitude. Ps. Michael sends his greetings to Birge.

Day 10, May 16: Arnaud is proud

Strong headwind all day, gust up to ish 15 around lunch. Lots of whiteout. Challenging.

First serious build-up of ice beards, see picture. Over 20k logged.

We’re all looking forward to hopefully catching a glimpse of DYE2 in the distance tomorrow. And to dive into our second 10-day-food bags!

- Team Restitude

Ps. The strong headwind, sastrugi and sunshine this morning, made me think of skiing in Antarctica. That was preeeetty cool. - Annik

Day 11, May 17th: The Norwegian national day!

We started the day with Annik and Petter singing the national anthem. Annik had brought Norwegian flags for all that we attached to our poles - making the whole day a ski-parade! Everyone was proud to be a Norwegian today (there was no other option).

Today was also a big day as we finally saw the little dot in the horizon (DYE 2). We were quite stoked, until we suddenly found ourselves in an unexpected two hour hill climb

In camp, we had a big party. All flags in tent, pølse i lompe (hotdogs), ketchup, sennep, roasted onions, regular whiskey, posh scottish whiskey, smellbonbon’s (with hats and bad jokes and all), freshly made toddy-lollipops. And to top it off, we did drink (eat) egg liquor, baked in small cakes, graciously brought to us by Michael the German machine.

We’re all going to bed now. It’s 8.30. Waaaaay past our bedtime.

- Team restitude

Day 12 - DYE 2

We could see todays goal right from the start, the Cold War era early warning radar station DYE 2 (now abandoned) was on the horizon.

We skied for less than 5 hours whilst watching the great radar dome ball getting bigger and bigger. Then we set up camp just beside the station and prepared for tonight’s heavy wind.

Exploring the inside of DYE 2 was like going back in time with bedrooms, offices, chairs, store rooms, tins of peanut butter, sacks of flour and even the boxes of eggs still left from 1988 in the kitchen! Will

Note: Tonight was “cheese night”, we shared some cubes of cheddar beautifully presented on the wooden cooking board and as we are not savages, matches substituted cocktail sticks, very glamorous.

Day 13, Skiing over a United States Air Force runway

We had a leisurely start after a rest morning while we waited for the wind to change direction. Then we set a new course with a bearing of 120 degrees which we will keep on for maybe 2 weeks(?)!

In our path lay a military runway for the training of American pilots. As you (our avid readers) will know by now, we let nothing stand in our way, so skied straight across it. The American runways caretaker (1 couple look after it from April to August) David, came to wish us safe travels on his skidoo. This was the first human we had seen since leaving Kangerlussuaq.

The social occasions continued as over the horizon came a group of 6 Germans (see picture) skiing from East to West, there was good chat. A strong snowy tailwind pushed us on all afternoon and good miles were made.

Your faithful tent bloggers, Will and Annik

Note: today I (Will) had a first “spa day” which on the Greenland Icecap consists of 6 wet wipes and a change of socks/underwear.

Day 14: Record breaking day

We covered the most amount of kilometers today, 24,5! And it was all uphill!

Wind in our backs, changing conditions. Not much to say today. Except that Michael built a fantastic toliet.

Ps. Petter sender 1000 klemmer til Saga og Sixten: Dere er best!

Day 15, Michael’s Birthday

Celebrations all round today with not only a slight tailwind but also it was Michaels Birthday !

A strong day was had through the cold conditions and then we all convened in one of the tents for a wee birthday party. There was cake hand carried from Germany, Underberg digestif liquor, whisky and above all a poem written for Michael along with a pair of locally made seal mittens that are “soft as kittens”.

The party spirit was not dampened by the incoming news of bad weather tomorrow, so much so that we shall be up at 4am to get some miles under our belt before the worst of the weather arrives for us to make camp early.

From all of the party people on the ice cap

Note: This dream is definitely alive! - Annik

Day 16, May 22: First serious mask (ice wax) day

We were really crazy today, alarm at 4, takeoff at 6. Strong headwind plus the cold made it challenging to find a good rhythm & correct clothing. All skied with facemasks today, and it was kind of fun to see the odd shaped ice forming on/under/in the masks.

We made camp right after 12, before the wind increased significantly. Multiple team members experienced serious beard loss due to an “ice wax” when the frozen masks were removed. Otherwise a slow evening in the tents. There was a blind whiskey-tasting session at some point.

- Team

Day 17, May 23: Tent day

We had a hope to ski a few hours in the morning, and also in the afternoon if the wind dropped, but that didn’t happen.

In order to travel from one tent to the other (3m apart) to speak about our weather strategy we had to get dressed in multiple puffer jackets and goggles. Imagine driving down the motorway in heavy snow at 80 km/h, then put down the window and stick your head out! Oh yes, and it’s -16degC air temperature outside.

Here is a brief summary of what happened in the two storm trapped and isolated tents.

Tent 1: Will, Michael, Arnaud Michael headed straight for his sleeping bag and seemed to sleep all day, only to wake to drink chai masala tea and to go and rescue some porridge from his sledge outside for tomorrows breakfast. Arnaud had our minds working with a stream of riddles and mind puzzles which passed the time well. Whilst Will had noodles for lunch and a lovely afternoon nap while listening to a few chapters of Harry Potter audiobook.

Tent 2: Petter, Annik All day in sleeping bags. Annik read some Walden, slept and ate lots of sour red candy. Re-listened to a podcast she had heard many times before and had Mitt Allt by Florence Valentin on repeat. Petter read some Pelsjegerliv, gave crosswords a chance and did some calculations on time and distances remaining.

- From all of the sleeping-eating-team

Day 18 Sunny summit day

After spending a day and a half being cooped up in the tents hiding from the weather we were raving to go skiing this morning, and the sun was out.

It was a very very gradual climb all day and we have made camp at the “summit”. I use the term summit loosely as it is more a large area, there are no grand signs or plaques here. It is the most un-summity summit.

Once again we find ourselves joining in the bigger tent and having a party and we even sampled some Cognac to celebrate!

- Will (beard)

Ps. Reading your summit-letter tonight pappa! (Annik)

Day 19, May 25: Re-appearance of the fishnets (27,5k)

The day looked promising with clear skies and no wind, but came with its challenges…

It was minus 20 deg C when we woke up, and as we started skiing, our sleds were dragging heavily on the frosty snow.

Everyone was taking off layer after layer, till some of us (Will and Annik) were back in fishnets again(!), sweating at 2500m altitude. Only for about an hour though, we were slowly really really cold.

After that episode of overconfidence, chaotic sastrugi made sure we had to put up a good fight for the rest of the day. The glide got better though. And the sun warmed our backs, very niiice.

- Annik

Day 20, Slight “downhill”

Now that we have passed the “summit” a very gradual descent has begun. So gradual that the only way of knowing is from the GPS elevation…

With the wind to our side and sastrugi under our feet the going was ok and a steady day was had. Although lunch was a tad blustery with spindrift snow collecting around us as we sat…

As we end our 3rd week the equipment is starting to need some attention with replacement of tent pole bungee cord, stove burner cleaning, pump maintenance, glove darning and tent fabric repairs keeping us busy in the evenings.

A real treat this evening however was adding Cognac to hot chocolate, we highly recommend!

Will and all of the team

Day 21, Some tailwind

As our fortune teller (Lars weather man) predicted, the weather was EXACTLY as predicted which was a nice mix of white out snow with this afternoon, and having an increase in tailwind. Once again sastrugi all day, except the visibility meant we only felt it under our feet, we couldn’t see it.

As you can see in the picture the tailwind was particularly strong at points and we tried to fly with our jackets open, minimal success however.

Will and all of team Cognac

Note: a big thank you to Lars for all of our daily weather info, we would be blind without him.

Day 22

If you haven’t googled it already, today’s picture shows what we mean by sastrugi. Snow gone mad. No order to the chaos. Quite some artsy formations here and there though, we have seen sastrugi looking like whales, dolphins, cobras, wolves and seals.

Had a lovely sunny lunch for once, one could even say we’re on vacation…

Apparently we are going downhill these days, but nothing today made us feel like that, except the GPS.

Quote Michael: “Let’s kill those sastrugi’s with short skins on our skis.”

- Annik and the sastrugi killers

Day 23: See day 22

We worked really hard to give the blog some new content today, but basically the day was the same as yesterday, see post below. Just a wee bit of a Cognac party this evening.

Note: Annik really likes to give out things, our personal father Christmas. She very kindly gave Will crackers loaded with salami, butter and cheese. Arnaud was the luckiest of all who got a 1kg bag of nuts.

Note Note: Michael would like to say to his wife that it is not all parties and he is tucked up in bed by half 8 every night.

Day 24: RECORD day!

We all thought this was going to be another “see the post above-“ type of day, but we were soo wrong. Temperature rose, fishnets were back and snow stuck to our skis again as we were battling the constant sastrugi.

Hooooweeeever! We would like to point out that our enemy has now become our friend. The sharp edges of the sastrugi now functioned perfectly as a snow scraper for the snow sticking to our skis. Also, we enjoyed practicing our downhill skiing skills on the backside of the sastrugi ridges (until the sleds rapidly catched up with us, can be chaotic..)

Note: Our longest distance skied so far! 32 kilometers! - Team stinky fishnet

Day 25, Wet then hot

The temperature has rocketed up, we all awoke to the pitter patter of rain on the tent roof. Thankfully the rain subsided and left a “hot” but cloudy day.

For us hot is anything above -5degC! So, I’m sure now, as the avid readers will know that with the heat comes those awesome fishnets we wear. See photo of the self proclaimed king of the fishnets, Will, complete with chest compass holder. - Will (king of the fishnets)

Note: Despite all maps, GPS, navigations, common knowledge and Arnaud’s insistence that we have been descending since the summit, Annik does not buy into the fact that we are going downhill.

Day 26, Hot fear

Stung from the heat of the sun yesterday we were braced for another scorcher (hot hot hot). We prayed to every god that a cooling breeze would blow and the call was answered with a slight northerly all day, fantastic.

Mountain peaks appeared over the horizon to the right providing a fantastic scene for our afternoon viewing. With rain forecast tonight we have zipped up the pulka bags and settled into our tents for supper and hot chocolate. Will

Note: our tent was visited by a hot sauce gremlin as she was seeking the remnants of said hot sauce bottle. The expedition must end soon as the hot sauce is running really low.

Day 27, Smoking hot descent

With the potential forecast for rain we were braced for a wet day, however the clouds held their water and parted to reveal a fiery sun. Quickly stripping down to our fishnet base layers once again we continued on.

After a sunny lunch with mountain peaks visible ahead the gradient started to go down which lead to a speedy descent of around 800m altitude loss over only a few hours. With all going to plan tomorrow being the final skiing day we set up the tents looking down upon the mountain peaks poking up through the sea fog below us. For us this a HUGE change in scenery as it is something not completely white snow (see picture). - Will (has now seen enough sun for a whole Scottish year)

Note: Annik finally admits we are going downhill.

Day 28, The end

What a day! We descended another 600m to get down to sea level with bags of tail wind behind us, the speed was unlimited. The terrain was varied as we skied, sat on the pulkas like toboggans, slid on our backs and walked our way down. We came across 2 other expeditions who had been sat waiting in their tents for 6 days for transport off the ice (we gave them our remaining food as they had run out) and nice chit chat was had.

In our path stood a moraine (rocks and debris piled high at the end of a glacier) which took several hours for us to carry all of our pulkas across this rocky muddy mess. Next came the 2km of slushy sea ice which was more like water skiing as we sank up above our ankles in icy salt water, very odd feeling! Finally the last hurrah was reaching a small rocky island with a sea ice edge which truly was the sea.

We have come so far (570km skiing) but could go no further by foot and so our noble steed arrived in the form of a boat to take us to the tiny hamlet of Isotoq.

Will and all of the team signing off

Note: We are all so thankful and happy the trip was a great success thanks to our brilliant guide Arnaud, 10/10, would recommend!

A post Script

Greenland reminded everyone in the team that this is a true expedition in a truly remote area with very scares infrastructure.

The way home became another adventure in the adventure.  Bad weather made use of helicopter impossible. But as a luck of stoke a huge storm not long ago crushed a lot of the ice close to shore. The following western winds pushed all that out a bit and created the possibility for small boats to push through. The locals here are phenomenal hunters and seamen. So, believe it or not, for the first time in more that 35 years, we were able to transport from Isortoq and the ice-edge to Tasiilaq by boat in the spring. THAT is an immense experience!

In fact, they used boats both over to Tasiilaq AND on to Kulusuk for the flight to Iceland. It was a lot of hard core pushing and showing ice away to create a path and try not too be stuck. – Guess they all understood how Nansen had to fight to get through the packice and reach shore…

Now, everyone is home and, we hope, happy and hungry for more?

We at Ousland are really impressed. Big Congratulations!!!