fall 2022
FOLLOW sindre & TEAM ACROSS the GREENLAND ice
All preparations are made, training is done, permits issued, equipment bought and sent, everything is ready for adventure !
On this blog pages you will be able to follow our team progress through the Greenland Ice.
We will have daily reports, audio, photos, from the field , some days longer reports, on tough days it might just be an “All OK” message and campsite position, and we will post here as often as possible.
Ousland team.
Hello friends and family!
From the coasts of Greenland, Ousland Team 2 is reporting that the preparations are almost done and the spirits are high. We have packed everything we need for 30 days and we are just waiting for the boat ride tomorrow morning. Let's head in to the great, white silence.
Ps: The puppy is not joining.
Cheers from: Sindre, Ulrik, Haavard, Masatatsu, Dennis, Ali and Øystein!
Day 1: We have started the expedition
After an amazing boat ride, we worked like hell to carry all the equipment from sea-level and on to the ice. Tired group but the humor is strong. We will now get som well deserved rest before we enter the ice fall tomorrow.
Cheers Sindre and Team 2
Day 2: Hard start!
The night was rainy but the morning was sunny! With good spirits we started the day. We then entered a part of the glacier that was difficult to pull pulkas through. It can only be described as walking on a giant Thermarest Z-lite. Heavy pulkas, slopes everywhere, rivers and moulins. The team worked hard today! We have now camped between two challenging areas. Looking forward to the next day already!
Sindre and Team 2
Day 3: crevasses and meltwater channels
We woke up to a sunny morning and knew right away the day was going to be hot. Sunscreen and water was top priority. We passed several crevasses and meltwater channels and when in-between the ice walls we experienced the full power of the glacial grill. Hard day physically, but we are superhappy with the progress.
Cheers from Sindre and Team 2
Day 4: Flipping Pulkas
Today we had a day filled with variations. We started to walk zig zag between big crevasses that where snow-covered, but easy to see. Then we walked in small river canyons in the ice, and for every ten meter we had to flip back the pulkas that was flipping in every lump of ice. We are all eating good and feeling really strong. Just before we camped tonight we crossed a big river. That took some time, but at least we don't need to melt snow.
Cheers Sindre and Team 2
Day 5: labyrinth of rivers and crevasses
Out of the meltwater and in to the void. The day started in between a labyrinth of rivers. Luring pulkas over with out getting the equipment wet was a demanding task, but we succeeded. Then there was another round of crevasses. This time a little bigger, and snow-covered. But Team 2 has the coolest heads on the ice, so there were no problems whatsoever. Before we could reflect on what's behind us, we were on skiis and walking in to the white. Towards the meat part of the expedition!.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys
Day 6: Fifty ten
The fifty ten. We started the day by shaking off snow from the tents. There has been snowing quite a bit during the night, but now there were sunshine. Our jobb now is to walk as much as possible, without depleting our reserves. A good way to do that is to walk in 50 minutes and rest in 10 minutes. These 50 minute intervals is also known as "legs". Speaking of legs. Our legs felt heavy today because the snow were sticking to our skiis. But Haavard brought a lot of skin-wax! So he saved the day. We did 9 "legs" today and we are happy to have started the skiing part of the crossing.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys
Day 7: This is your life now!
The wind had ones again shaken our tents and accumulated big snow piles between them. Our work day started at 0800, and we brushed of the snow and the cold. First few legs was in whiteout, but then the sun came out and gave the land contrast. The day got hotter and hotter. Such went the day. Our life consists now only of walking and resting. Still all smiles in the tents. We did 20 km today.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys
Day 8: Madness in the White Desert!
The weather was supposed to be nice, but it turned out it was too nice. Sunscreen-covered faces gasping through the legs longing for the next break, and water. No jackets, no hats, no gloves, the relentless arctic challenge. The lunsj was long, and we enjoyed it. Suddenly we saw a camp getting attacked by a polarbear, but something was not right. Must have been the heat-stroke. The latter half of the lunsj was enjoyed with a treat. A big thank you to Aurora and Ellinor from the whole team for making us these amazing cookies with name tags to go along. Thank you very much.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys
Day 9: Cold winds over the eternal cold planes!
Winds are rumbling through our camp in the morning and we decide to do a half days of rest. Snow has been building up between our tents so when we finally get out at 1200 we have to digg to find the bottom of the tents. Facemasks and ski-goggles on and we keep a steady pace through the cold, wind-ravaged glacial landscape. We do 11,5 km in 5 legs.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 10: Hot and cold!
A cold breeze from the north is freezing the poor expedition-members trying to go to the toilet in the morning. It is supposed to calm down during the day we tell our selves. Then just a few legs out in the day and we are taking of jackets, hats and gloves. No wind an burnig sun does something with the snow and all our skiis were clumping. Lunsj was nice, though. We did 20 km in 10 legs today.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
DAY 11: Always sunny during lunch!
All was white. The line between heaven and ice was gone. The navigation was a challenge. How hard is it not to walk in circles? It's very hard. Snow starts falling, sticks to our beddings and our jackets, because it is mild temperatures. But we have to walk. But as soon as it is lunch, the snow stops and sun comes out. For 1 hour we are enjoying life. Masatatsu is sleeping, Øystein is listening to nordnorsk rap, Ali is telling observational jokes, Ulrik is laughing, Haavard is adjusting his pulk again, Dennis is explaining how a birds brain works and I'm trying not to calculate km, fuel, food and days. Lunch is over and it starts snowing again. Then in the evening, the low temperatures comes. Good night.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 12: Hard day!
We woke up to a lot of snow and whiteout. The first 6 legs were done in complete white nothingness. Still no lower temperatures to dry the snow, so everything got wet from the snowdrift. Lunch was not sunny today, so we ate lunch in the tent. Real heavy after lunch because there was lot more snow on the ground. And warm temperatures.. When we arrived at camp we had our usual Saturday gathering. That was nice. The whole team says hello.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 13: Ali is blogging!
Today Sindre has a day off from blogging. So today's guest writer Ali writes:
It's the end of day 13 and a series of (likely non-coincident) inflection points lie before us in the coming week. Our ration packs will be half eaten, the highest elevation of our trip will be reached, and - depending on our location, the wind will do a clean volte face overnight. We know this from our logistical and meteorological mastermind in Oslo, Lars, who also says that we are travelling in a "bubble" between storm fronts: catching tail winds but never in the thick of it. Of course, weather wizardry from afar still needs local interpretation, and for that we have our wise and talented guide Sindre. He coaxes the best out of us and he helps us to gently traverse this captivating, pearlescent landscape. We are beyond lucky to encounter the beauty of Greenland firsthand.
Speaking of bubbles, today's moderate winds meant that we had lunch in the large tent, minus the inner portion. Tent rotations are happening tomorrow, so the horse trading parlour game has started... who will carry which shovel? And other high stakes considerations.
Back in the wind, we extended the day modestly in order to mitigate the effects of soft snow. We had a whiteout day, and with low visibility conditions thoughts naturally drifted inwards. For my part, I would like to send my love to Innes; Nelli, Leon and Clara; Julia; Thom and Jess; Tom, Joelle and Sean; and Vita. I also wish a long and happy marriage to Alison and Chris.
Cheers from Ali and the Spice Boys
Day 14: Hard days work!
We were awoken by strong winds hammering the tents. Around 0700 it was to strong to walk in, but one hour later we were able to try. The team did excellent when taking down the tents, no easy task as failure here would be catastrophic. So went our day, with heavy winds and relentless snowdrift. In each break we needed to clean the bindings from ice because the snowdrift were piling up under our sole for each step we took. And the whiteout. The world-devouring whiteout! What does a horizon look like again? Well tomorrow there will be more winds. So we zip up our sleeping-bags and brace ourselves for tomorrow!
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 15: The breaks aren't allright
More winds and no contrast or horizon. The team are stomping through the whiteout with heavy winds in our backs. Just walking and walking. Before we used to long for the breaks. Back when they were, yes, a break, but now the walking are more pleasant. Fixing the bindings, trying to eat with snowdrift in your face, trying to go to the toilet! It's not easy I tell you. Well at least we got suksessterte in the lunsj. So a big thank you to Øysteins mom for the suksessterte, it saved our will to go on. So we did a good distance today. 20 km on 9 legs.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 16: The rest of the day!
As the sastrugi are both building and disappearing with the wind. Team 2 takes a well deserved rest day!
Day 17: Day 17: There be days like this!
We had fully charged batteries this morning and went out in to a beautiful day. Sun and glittering snow, with a tiny draft from the north. We even did our lunch outside in the sun laying on our beddings. Skiing conditions were not great because of lots of sastrugi, but we had good speed. Set up camp in a flat, nice place and relaxed after a good day where we walked 20 km in 9 leg.
Then a special announcement from Haavard: Kjære verdens beste Liv Hilde, gratulerer med 15års bryllupsdag!
Love you - Haavard
Day 18: To summit up, rain is wet!
We woke during the night because rain was hammering the tents. But when we got up in the morning, the rain had stopped. We the discovered that the tents and pulkas was covered in a 1 cm thick ice-sheet. They were totally glazed. First few legs was nice, there were sun and the surface was also glazed so we flew over the glacier. Then... then the rain came. Since we are at 2500 masl the rain imidiatley turned to ice on our clothes. Making this a challenging task. The rain just increased its power and togheter with the wind, some of the sleeping bags in the beddings got soaking wet. We hadd to stop for 2 hours to dry them and pack them waterproof. Then the last 5 legs went on a wet ice surface. It went fast but not nice. We past the highest point of this trip, so only downhill from here. We did 25 km today, so the team is wet, tired and happy.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 19: When it rains it sludds!
A wet night was behind us, and as we drank our morning coffee the rain started hammering the tents again. Put on wet socks, wet pants, wet jacket, wet shoes, wet gloves and start removing water from inside the pulkas. Probably 3 liter in each. We gritted our teeth started walking through the sludd (Norwegian for wet snow) Then something happened... The forecast didn't predict it, the team didn't believe it, but the skies broke up and the sun came out! All around us it was raining but we walked in a sunny bubble and could enjoy the rainbow framing our expedition! A good days work that resulted in 26 km!
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 20: One of the good ones!
Morning started with wet snow all over the tents and equipment and the team was clearly tired of all the wet. The first leg was heavy, but the precipitation stopped around 1200 and then the skiing was incredible. We flew over the surface enjoying the beautiful skies and enjoying our lunchbreaks again! We are doing great, and we have never been so happy about dry beddings before! We skied 26 km today!
Sindre would like to say "gratulerer med 98 års dagen, mormor" (4 september)
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 21: The eternal plains!
The night and the morning was calm and nice. Zero winds and dry weather was surely giving us a boost. We took down the camp and started searching for the radar station DYE II on the horizon. The skiing was good and the weather was better. We flew kilometer after kilometer, but the radar station was not showing up. Leg after leg and nothing in the distance. It felt like we were trapped in an eternal loop of flat skiing. Now we are sitting in our tents and we know it's only 18 km left to DYE II. So tomorrow we will see it. We hope!
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 22: DYE, DYE, my darling!
We didn't utter a single word, just staring into the white. Haavard had just seen something in the distance. There it was indeed, a white dome on top of a black box, barely visible through the snow. After 5 hours of skiing we were finally at DYE II radar station. Abandoned in the late 80s this building stands like a eerie time capsule from the cold war! We ventured inside and felt we were in a post apocalyptic novel. Old food, old furniture and even sigarette buts on the tables. After this absurd adventure through the remnants of an old military hay day, we got out into the sun and took a well deserved rest day. We had a gathering in the big tent eating dinner and having a good time. Now the aurora borealis is dancing over us and the radar station. Dennis is out taking pictures and the rest of us are gonna sleep.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 23: From the cold war to the cold plains!
We left DYE II behind us and started on a new chapter of the expedition. We have been aiming for DYE II for nearly 16 days, and we set the compass on a new course! Now our skiis point towards the glacierfall in the west. The day was the same as the many days before. 50/10s and flat, wide glacial plains. We had semi white our and some snow. We did 9 legs and skied 29 km! Happy group!
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 24: A thread of life through snow and ice!
We put an incredible amount of our physical ability, our energy and our will power to move ourselves across the ice-cap. We are constantly looking forward, pushing forward, seeking the goal in the distance. Behind us lies the only evidence that we were even here at all. In the face of one of the world's great and ancient glaciers, goes a thin thread of temporary tracks, telling whom ever might be watching that life walked here. But no one will see it, in a matter of moments the winds, the snow, the sun will make them fade away. The same goes with this crossing, it to will soon become just a memory, a thing of the past. Up front where the tracks are made our group is walking forward. Suddenly the group stops, a sound behind us. There we see a bird singing from the tracks in this inhospitable cold place. We stay like this for a moment, looking behind, looking at the bird, contemplating. "This must be a good sign" says Haavard! "No, it's
probably lost and will soon die" says Dennis! We stare behind us in silence, then we move forward...
Day 25: The Glacial Marsh!
We looked around us and everything was a camouflage of white and blue. The sun was shining in ice and water as far as the eye could see. Marshes, the voice from above called it. Masses of meltwater gathering between the glacier ice and the snow-surface making a slushmix of snow, iceand running water. It was possible for us to ski on it, actually pretty great! We enjoyed it very much considering we spent the first 2 legs of the day removing sticky snow from our skis and walking 1 km pr hour... But ice and water can be difficult also. Sometimes we crossed "valleys" in the terrain where the rivers had running water and piles of snow were making our progress difficult. But the views today were spectacular! Trying to find a campspot was not... A tired group is now sitting in their sleeping bags looking forward to some sleep.
Goodnight from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 26: Before the Storm!
The day started with easy skiing. We flew across the iced glacier surface with the wind in our backs. Today was an important moving day, because looming behind the distant hills was a dark cloud. Wind and rain was coming for us, and we needed to ski as much as possible so that we can afford a day with less progress. That day would contain many km of skiing through rolling terrain, but also a barrel, a big river, crevasses and a massive lake. In the end the rain came, and wet team members are now drying sleeping bags and underwear in the tents. Tomorrow the shit hits fan and we are ready for that!
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 27: The Challenge!
We could hear the precipitation banging on our tents, the wind was really strong and we prepared for a hard day. The share amount of wet snow coming with the wind filled, covered and buried everything out in the open. So needles to say the visibility was low. As we staggered through the white storm a hole opened beneath our feet. A crevass? Quickly, let's rope up! The next couple of hours were spent poking the snow in front of us and watching the rope so you didn't trip in it, but also making sure it was tight enough. Soaking wet we took lunch in the big tent, afterwards the sun came out??! Oh it was suddenly nice weather and we could see mountains in the distance for the first time in 22 days. We speeded up a little bit because we had good visibility, but before we knew it we were in a drainage area of the glacier. Every meter was hard earned, and the rivers were semi deep so we had to walk zig zag in between. Because of all these challenges we had to walk in
to the
night, crossing even more crevasses with headlamps. But we have to rest. Now we are sleeping between big crevasses as a shy moon is rising behind the clouds. Tired but pleased.
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 28: The day that ended to fast!
We had just left the crevass area and thinking we were out of trouble, but no. Suddenly the surface got bumpy and icy, and water running in every depression. Up and down with the pulkas, drag across a stream, pull them out of the water. Help each other, carry, lift, pull, drag, scout, jump, turn around. To say the least, this day has been exhausting. The legs went by like seconds, but the total km pr leg was poor. The last few legs we walked without skiis, because the surface was really icy and slippery, but also very bumpy. Suddenly the day was over and we desperately need to dry our socks. Rest now, fight on tomorrow!
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 29: The beginning of the end!
As hard we thought yesterday was, this day was going to teach us about hard. We set out from camp eager to head west, and we did for 1 hour. Then we hit a massive river flowing between us and the destination. It was wide and strong currents so crossing it was out of the question. So we had to go up stream until it get small enough to cross, that meant going backwards... Talk about a punch in the motivation!
But we just gritted our teeth again and just pushed on. And so after 3 hours and a lot of smaller river crossings, we were finally clear of the river. Then we started to fly across flat ice surface with luring mountains calling us in the background. We are now very, very close to the end goal of the entire expedition! We are now camped in the ice fall and as we close our eyes in wet sleeping bags, we can almost taste the beer...
Cheers from Sindre and The Spice Boys!
Day 30: The end of an adventure!
The rain and the wind were shouting outside the tents that this day would be rough. Soaking wet we started our walk on crampons through the ever rising glacier terrain. Soon we were inside the area that is known as Ragnarok. Crevasses, ice-peaks, big drops and many rivers flowing in every direction, this is no place for man. Let alone a man with 30kg strapped to his back! But besides the weather, besides the rough conditions, the climbing up steep sides and sliding down even steeper sides, the team went on. What a team! Broken crampons? No problem we shear crampons! Broken ski-poles? Here have mine, I can use only one! Upside-down pulkas? Stand still I flip it for you. Nothing could out match this team. So at 2300 local time on the 14th of September 2022 Ousland Team 2 (The Spice Boys) crossed Greenland in the light of our headlamps. We are now sitting in our tents, wet and tired, but the mood is on top. Tomorrow we will be back in civilisation, and there they have beer!
Ali has some words he wants to shear:
I would like to dedicate my participation in this expedition to the original "mindkind",
D.D.
With that it is over and out from Techno-Spice, Old-Spice, Gadget-Spice, Sleepy-Spice, Cod-Spice, Reluctant-Spice and Chief-Spice.
The Spice Boys!
