2019 Expedition: Commenced on 16 April 2019.
Start Point: Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland.
End Point: Isortoq, East Greenland.
Distance: 575km.
Duration: Crossed the ice cap in 25 days.
Team Size: 4 persons (David, Maarten, Ewa and Sean)
11 April 2019 - Our expedition is close to commencing! Our first day on the ice will be Tuesday. Now leaving London!
16 April 2019. Expedition has commenced and we are ready to go!! This morning (10am local time) our 4WD snow truck will take us up to the starting point (Point 660) of our expedition across the Greenland ice cap. Weather looks good for the next few days with lots of sunshine (temps approx -5c to -15c) which will make crossing the ice mogul/crevasse fields a tough but rewarding experience with amazing ice scenery. No skis at this point for the next few days - just the ice crampons until we reach up onto the ice cap proper.
Start Point: Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland.
End Point: Isortoq, East Greenland.
Distance: 575km.
Duration: Crossed the ice cap in 25 days.
Team Size: 4 persons (David, Maarten, Ewa and Sean)
11 April 2019 - Our expedition is close to commencing! Our first day on the ice will be Tuesday. Now leaving London!
16 April 2019. Expedition has commenced and we are ready to go!! This morning (10am local time) our 4WD snow truck will take us up to the starting point (Point 660) of our expedition across the Greenland ice cap. Weather looks good for the next few days with lots of sunshine (temps approx -5c to -15c) which will make crossing the ice mogul/crevasse fields a tough but rewarding experience with amazing ice scenery. No skis at this point for the next few days - just the ice crampons until we reach up onto the ice cap proper.
17 April 2019. Out onto the ice! First night on the ice after a solid day picking our way through the ice maze that borders the ice cap. Fairly warm conditions means we have little streams to negotiate that run through the crevasses - with some stunning scenery out to west coast. Breakfast now - some more maze picking ahead - and than heading to the 'runway' - an inclined section of ice that will take us up to the ice cap.
18 April 2019. Great progress today - we are well across the ice field now - 9.2km made for the day. Some snow falls helping across the icy conditions. Current progress we will be on the skis by the weekend.
18 April 2019. Great progress today - we are well across the ice field now - 9.2km made for the day. Some snow falls helping across the icy conditions. Current progress we will be on the skis by the weekend.
20 April 2019. Onto the skis! Yesterday covered 20km in sunny conditions with little wind - so the conditions were good for skiing. Fairly cold conditions (max -15c during the day) - but otherwise a nice day for skiing. Heading south-easterly for the next few days until we reach an old US radar base (abandoned) - approx 143km from our current position.
22 April 2019. Last two days of 22km skiing per day have us well on our way across the cap. We are now only 98km from the radar station (our current heading) at an elevation of 1480m (starting point was 660m and the highest point is 2500m). Tough snow conditions yesterday meant a broken ski pole in the morning - thankfully we have a few spares so this hasn't slowed us down. Winds picked up today - gust up to 50mph from the south with the tent buffeting about a bit so should be interesting morning! Spirits are high with a few more days ahead to the radar station and a well looking forward to rest day once we get there (@ 20-25km per day in 4 days time).
23 April 2019. Another solid day of skiing (23km) across a solid hard packed ice surface - fairly windy and cloudy conditions but nothing too problematic. Things are moving nicely for the group - everyone is pushing hard against the elements and we are making great progress. For the next few days the weather looks similar to what we currently have (snowy, windy, sometimes cold (-22c degrees tomorrow forecast maximum!)- then then sunnier warmer conditions towards the end of the week.
24 April 2019. Tough day yesterday with heavy headwinds throughout the day which made for heavy going. We still managed to do our average distance of 23km today - and with conditions easing towards the end of the week things are looking good and spirits are high. We have covered 128km in total now (so about 1/4 of the way across). We are pretty high now also (1811m alt) - approx. another 700m elevation gain till we reach the summit. On we go!
26 April 2019. The last 2 days we have covered 40km so we are now only 12km from our intended first stop - an abandoned cold war US radar station. We should be there early afternoon- and everyone is looking forward to some R&R for the rest of today and a chance to explore this large site (and nice to get out of the wind). Temperatures have warmed up (well comparatively!) now below minus 10c - and we can see the station which makes navigation easier. The last two days haven't been without some drama though - with a binding coming loose from one of the skis. This meant an unscheduled stop midday yesterday - putting up the tent and working to reattached the binding to the ski (via drilling new holes into the ski with a hand drill) and screwing the new screws into the ski (& setting with epoxy). The binding held together well for the afternoon session of skiing so hopefully this is the only equipment hiccup we run into. The day prior to this we had very cold conditions (-25c) - and total whiteout with frozen googles with the arctic winds coming from the north - needless to say that was a rather long day...!
27 April 2019. A nice short skiing day (12km) yesterday and we have arrived at the radar station on day 11 of our expedition. The afternoon was spent relaxing, having a look around the large abandoned radar station site - together with ice runway - & reassessing our equipment (specifically checking on that loose binding we had a few days ago). We'll head off this morning on an east south east direction with some sunny skies projected later in the day and for the next few days (and some nice warm temps! (0c to -5c). Approx 360km to go- we're looking good to complete well on time!
22 April 2019. Last two days of 22km skiing per day have us well on our way across the cap. We are now only 98km from the radar station (our current heading) at an elevation of 1480m (starting point was 660m and the highest point is 2500m). Tough snow conditions yesterday meant a broken ski pole in the morning - thankfully we have a few spares so this hasn't slowed us down. Winds picked up today - gust up to 50mph from the south with the tent buffeting about a bit so should be interesting morning! Spirits are high with a few more days ahead to the radar station and a well looking forward to rest day once we get there (@ 20-25km per day in 4 days time).
23 April 2019. Another solid day of skiing (23km) across a solid hard packed ice surface - fairly windy and cloudy conditions but nothing too problematic. Things are moving nicely for the group - everyone is pushing hard against the elements and we are making great progress. For the next few days the weather looks similar to what we currently have (snowy, windy, sometimes cold (-22c degrees tomorrow forecast maximum!)- then then sunnier warmer conditions towards the end of the week.
24 April 2019. Tough day yesterday with heavy headwinds throughout the day which made for heavy going. We still managed to do our average distance of 23km today - and with conditions easing towards the end of the week things are looking good and spirits are high. We have covered 128km in total now (so about 1/4 of the way across). We are pretty high now also (1811m alt) - approx. another 700m elevation gain till we reach the summit. On we go!
26 April 2019. The last 2 days we have covered 40km so we are now only 12km from our intended first stop - an abandoned cold war US radar station. We should be there early afternoon- and everyone is looking forward to some R&R for the rest of today and a chance to explore this large site (and nice to get out of the wind). Temperatures have warmed up (well comparatively!) now below minus 10c - and we can see the station which makes navigation easier. The last two days haven't been without some drama though - with a binding coming loose from one of the skis. This meant an unscheduled stop midday yesterday - putting up the tent and working to reattached the binding to the ski (via drilling new holes into the ski with a hand drill) and screwing the new screws into the ski (& setting with epoxy). The binding held together well for the afternoon session of skiing so hopefully this is the only equipment hiccup we run into. The day prior to this we had very cold conditions (-25c) - and total whiteout with frozen googles with the arctic winds coming from the north - needless to say that was a rather long day...!
27 April 2019. A nice short skiing day (12km) yesterday and we have arrived at the radar station on day 11 of our expedition. The afternoon was spent relaxing, having a look around the large abandoned radar station site - together with ice runway - & reassessing our equipment (specifically checking on that loose binding we had a few days ago). We'll head off this morning on an east south east direction with some sunny skies projected later in the day and for the next few days (and some nice warm temps! (0c to -5c). Approx 360km to go- we're looking good to complete well on time!
April 2019. The past two days have been great skiing conditions (sunny conditions with warm temps (zero to -5c) and good snow surface) enabling us to cover 52km over the last two days. We're not quite half way across the ice cap but getting close - we should be halfway (in terms of distance) in the next day or so. Also at a quite high altitude now - 2300m - so not far from the highest point of 2500m. Everyone is in good spirits - & although there are some minor bumps and bruises (some minor foot issues, back pain etc) everyone is powering on. Thankfully there hasn't been any sastrugi (wave like ridges caused by high winds) to negotiate either. On our way out of the radar station we saw some Hercules aircraft coming in to do touch and go's on the ice runway - quite a sight!
01 May 2019 (Morning day 16). 46.5km traveled over the last two days - yesterday was very tough conditions with 110km wind headwind gusts pummeling us throughout the day - everyone did amazingly well. We managed 21km yesterday which was remarkable given the circumstances. Snow walls were the order of the day when setting up camp last night which protected the tents from the wind. We are now over half way in terms of distance (278km traveled, 265km approx to go - and we are currently sitting right in the middle of the ice cap). We are also at the highest point of 2500m - so all downhill from here on in. Winds are forecast to reduce over the next couple of days which will definitely be a welcome relief.
03 May 2019 (Morning day 18). We have covered another 50km over the past two days (elevation 2400m) - in mostly white-out conditions, although the wind has dropped thankfully. The strong south easterly winds have eased - and we are now heading direct to the Inuit village of Isortoq - about 220km from our current position. On our current average speed we expect to arrive there in 8 days time (Friday afternoon next week).
05 May 2019 (Morning day 20). Not too much visibility over the last couple of days (a bit like skiing in a white ping pong ball) - but we still covered 55.2km which is great result. We have about 160km to go (so three quarters of the way to the east coast!). We saw our first sign of life for the last two weeks when a flock of geese was spotted overhead. As we make our approach to the coast we'll need to keep an eye out for other forms of life that are up here - specifically polar bears - they generally hug the coastal areas of the ice cap but can be known to wander into the ice cap up to this sort of distance. An overhead warning shot with the rifle will almost certainly send any inquisitive bear on his way rather quickly. Warm conditions yesterday (around 0c) - meant some 'sticky' snow conditions - but only for an hour or so in the middle of the day. The finish line is in sight now - with our projected date to arrive down from the ice cap onto the east coast to be Friday afternoon (just in time for Friday afternoon drinks :)- so another six days skiiing.
07 May 2019 (Morning day 22). After contrasting last two days (one tough day with wet snow resulting in all our clothing/goggles getting frozen and us being very cold) followed by a nice day with good visibility and light winds - we covered 54.7km over the two days. This leaves us only approx 100km to go to the bottom of the ice cap - of which hopefully the mountains on the coast will be in sight today/tomorrow. With the warm conditions the snow surface was sticky at times - but firmed up in the afternoon. Very windy conditions this morning outside of the tent - but expected to ease into the afternoon. Our current altitude is 1840m - so we expect some nice downhill skiing to get down to sea level (and together with the light sleds) will mean probably another 3 and half day of skiing (with the forecast for sunny conditions). Not far to go!
09 May 2019 (Morning day 24). 45km to go! Another solid couple of days skiing with cross winds on Tuesday - which eased off into the evening allowing us to admire the rolling hills of ice with a nice cup of coffee/hot chocolate once we had set up. Getting close to the end now - today we should ski to the edge of the ice cap and part way down the glacier - camp for our final night - and then ski down the final section of glacier tomorrow, across the sea ice to either the village of Isortoq, or if the sea ice has melted - to the the edge of the sea where we'll have a boat pick us up to get us to Isortoq (which is actually an island in the summer months when the sea ice has melted). Sean and Maarten have tested the rifle yesterday (hopefully will not be needed!) & we've come down to 1600m altitude. Yesterday (Wednesday) was a strange day in that the morning had very strong northerly winds - which meant us struggling to get the tents down with wind gusting up to 80kph at times. By midday the wind dropped off - & a very cold thick fog had rolled in masking any visibility to within a few feet - but then just disappeared by the afternoon. Yesterday we also covered 35km with some fast downhill skiing at times. Today we'll head south east - for one last day on the ice cap (30km) - and then make our way down the glacier - with intention to make final camp somewhere half way down the glacier.
10 May 2019 (Morning day 25). 15km to go down the glacier to the sea and another 7km across to Isortoq! Yesterday was a stunning day with amazing scenery of the mountains to the north, the surrounding glaciers and the sea ice to the south and east - the cameras/video cameras certainly got a work out! Waking up this morning to foggy conditions and although there appears to be plenty of sea ice on route to the Inuit village of Isortoq (where are heading to and our finishing point of this expedition) - its still not clear whether we can ski the full way to the village. We'll know a little more later this morning/noon as we make our way down the glacier. Everyone's in great spirits leading into what is likely our last day on the ice cap - sad to leave our ice home of the last three weeks, but looking forward to completing this amazing journey (and something to eat other than freeze dried food!).
11 May 2019 (Morning day 26). Success! We've made to Isortoq and completed our crossing! As suspected, the sea ice had melted and we required a boat trip for the last couple of km's into the village. Everyone is immensely glad to have made it, relieved, tired and looking forward to some R&R (and lots food/drinks) in this picturesque village. The last half day had its challenges of its own involving scaling down some rocky/icy peaks to the waters edge. But the last effort was worth it - by late yesterday we had arrived at the end point of our expedition 25 days after we had commenced. We'll now have a few days to relax in this village and catch up with some of the locals (our helicopter out is this coming Thursday). Congratulations to the team - an amazing effort to cross in such a quick time. At times conditions were very harsh - making the achievement all more remarkable. Well done!
Follow our journey on the red link below (google maps) or Google Earth link below!
Current Location
Google earth route Link (requires Google Earth for KMZ files):
2019 expedition Google earth map
01 May 2019 (Morning day 16). 46.5km traveled over the last two days - yesterday was very tough conditions with 110km wind headwind gusts pummeling us throughout the day - everyone did amazingly well. We managed 21km yesterday which was remarkable given the circumstances. Snow walls were the order of the day when setting up camp last night which protected the tents from the wind. We are now over half way in terms of distance (278km traveled, 265km approx to go - and we are currently sitting right in the middle of the ice cap). We are also at the highest point of 2500m - so all downhill from here on in. Winds are forecast to reduce over the next couple of days which will definitely be a welcome relief.
03 May 2019 (Morning day 18). We have covered another 50km over the past two days (elevation 2400m) - in mostly white-out conditions, although the wind has dropped thankfully. The strong south easterly winds have eased - and we are now heading direct to the Inuit village of Isortoq - about 220km from our current position. On our current average speed we expect to arrive there in 8 days time (Friday afternoon next week).
05 May 2019 (Morning day 20). Not too much visibility over the last couple of days (a bit like skiing in a white ping pong ball) - but we still covered 55.2km which is great result. We have about 160km to go (so three quarters of the way to the east coast!). We saw our first sign of life for the last two weeks when a flock of geese was spotted overhead. As we make our approach to the coast we'll need to keep an eye out for other forms of life that are up here - specifically polar bears - they generally hug the coastal areas of the ice cap but can be known to wander into the ice cap up to this sort of distance. An overhead warning shot with the rifle will almost certainly send any inquisitive bear on his way rather quickly. Warm conditions yesterday (around 0c) - meant some 'sticky' snow conditions - but only for an hour or so in the middle of the day. The finish line is in sight now - with our projected date to arrive down from the ice cap onto the east coast to be Friday afternoon (just in time for Friday afternoon drinks :)- so another six days skiiing.
07 May 2019 (Morning day 22). After contrasting last two days (one tough day with wet snow resulting in all our clothing/goggles getting frozen and us being very cold) followed by a nice day with good visibility and light winds - we covered 54.7km over the two days. This leaves us only approx 100km to go to the bottom of the ice cap - of which hopefully the mountains on the coast will be in sight today/tomorrow. With the warm conditions the snow surface was sticky at times - but firmed up in the afternoon. Very windy conditions this morning outside of the tent - but expected to ease into the afternoon. Our current altitude is 1840m - so we expect some nice downhill skiing to get down to sea level (and together with the light sleds) will mean probably another 3 and half day of skiing (with the forecast for sunny conditions). Not far to go!
09 May 2019 (Morning day 24). 45km to go! Another solid couple of days skiing with cross winds on Tuesday - which eased off into the evening allowing us to admire the rolling hills of ice with a nice cup of coffee/hot chocolate once we had set up. Getting close to the end now - today we should ski to the edge of the ice cap and part way down the glacier - camp for our final night - and then ski down the final section of glacier tomorrow, across the sea ice to either the village of Isortoq, or if the sea ice has melted - to the the edge of the sea where we'll have a boat pick us up to get us to Isortoq (which is actually an island in the summer months when the sea ice has melted). Sean and Maarten have tested the rifle yesterday (hopefully will not be needed!) & we've come down to 1600m altitude. Yesterday (Wednesday) was a strange day in that the morning had very strong northerly winds - which meant us struggling to get the tents down with wind gusting up to 80kph at times. By midday the wind dropped off - & a very cold thick fog had rolled in masking any visibility to within a few feet - but then just disappeared by the afternoon. Yesterday we also covered 35km with some fast downhill skiing at times. Today we'll head south east - for one last day on the ice cap (30km) - and then make our way down the glacier - with intention to make final camp somewhere half way down the glacier.
10 May 2019 (Morning day 25). 15km to go down the glacier to the sea and another 7km across to Isortoq! Yesterday was a stunning day with amazing scenery of the mountains to the north, the surrounding glaciers and the sea ice to the south and east - the cameras/video cameras certainly got a work out! Waking up this morning to foggy conditions and although there appears to be plenty of sea ice on route to the Inuit village of Isortoq (where are heading to and our finishing point of this expedition) - its still not clear whether we can ski the full way to the village. We'll know a little more later this morning/noon as we make our way down the glacier. Everyone's in great spirits leading into what is likely our last day on the ice cap - sad to leave our ice home of the last three weeks, but looking forward to completing this amazing journey (and something to eat other than freeze dried food!).
11 May 2019 (Morning day 26). Success! We've made to Isortoq and completed our crossing! As suspected, the sea ice had melted and we required a boat trip for the last couple of km's into the village. Everyone is immensely glad to have made it, relieved, tired and looking forward to some R&R (and lots food/drinks) in this picturesque village. The last half day had its challenges of its own involving scaling down some rocky/icy peaks to the waters edge. But the last effort was worth it - by late yesterday we had arrived at the end point of our expedition 25 days after we had commenced. We'll now have a few days to relax in this village and catch up with some of the locals (our helicopter out is this coming Thursday). Congratulations to the team - an amazing effort to cross in such a quick time. At times conditions were very harsh - making the achievement all more remarkable. Well done!
Follow our journey on the red link below (google maps) or Google Earth link below!
Current Location
Google earth route Link (requires Google Earth for KMZ files):
2019 expedition Google earth map
