Greeenland spring 2014 photos
Here we have some photos from the "East coast or Death expedition", as the team called themselves after Nansen's famous phrase!
Hi, this Are, speaking for the expedition.
We have finally reached our destination in the East coast!
Our position is N 65 36.453, W -38 51.361. Our elevation 103 m above sea level. We will be picked up from here tomorrow and on our way to Isortoq, back home and civilisation !
Yesterday we skied for 14 hrs and covered a total of 35 Km. The weather was very good, no wind at all, just beautiful. And then we had a little celebration on arrival to campsite.
We are all very happy that we have achieved our goal and fulfilled our dreams. We have performed very well as a team and we are very satisfied with that too, and with the memories of what we have left behind. As Gunnar said yesterday, the expedition will continue forever and ever in our minds.
We all want to say hello to family and friends for their support, and to everybody who has been following us on the blog.
So, as I say, we are all glowing with happiness, and somehow wishing that this feeling will never end.
Our best regards to all from the East coast of Greenland : )
Hello, this is Gunnar speaking:
Our current position is N 65 53.210, W 039 15.347, elevation is 1321 m.
Today we covered a distance of 34.4 Km. Tomorrow, we cross our fingers, our expedition will be over, although it will continue forever and ever on our minds.
And so, on behalf of the rest of the team, I would like to express our gratitude to our leader and guide Are Johansen. He is always enthusiastic and positive, his messages are given with authority but always on a friendly way, and he’s also a very good team member.
Thank you very much, Ale, from all of us.
Today we have seen the mountains. We had nice weather all day, with just a little bit of wind. Still the skiing was very tough as the snow was very loose. We had like 10 to 25 cm of snow all day. Another tough day, and we expect to have a very long day tomorrow.
Our position is N 65 52.158, W-40 00.712, elevation 1332m
We send regards to all of our folks from here, in the Greenland Icecap.
Regards,
Are.
We are on camp 20 tonight. Our position is N 65 58.903, W-40 47.236. Elevation 1824 and distance done today is 30.7 Km.
We skied all day in very rough conditions. Difficult and a lot of snow and strong winds. The wind blew throughout the whole night and most of the day. Lots of sastrugi and always falling through the snow. A hard day...
We are now in the tents and it seems the wind is calming down. Feeling really good inside our homes.
Gareth turned 28 today and he wants to say hello and send regards to his Mom and Dad, who are always very glad to celebrate birthdays at home.
It was a special moment when 2 thirds of the day behind us we passed the Arctic Circle and we went below 2.000 m elevation as well.
We are now melting water and eating whatever we can get our hands on. Outside is a beautiful tempest and all together we are having some beautiful days her in the Greenland ice cap glacier.
Regards, Are and team.
Are, speaking on Iridium phone from Greenland:
This is our report for today:
Our current position is N 66 04.082, W 41 25.736. Elevation 2030m beyond sea level (We can hear laughs, and several voices in off saying they hope it is beyond sea level...)
Today we covered a distance of 31.5 Km. Beautiful day, almost too hot. No wind and sun out all day. It has been just amazing, maybe the most beautiful scenery so far on this trip.
All of us are enjoying in this good weather. Our lapses flew like nothing today, and it was really easy to walk.
At night we are celebrating a double birthday: not only Bill’s 60thbirthday, but Gareth’s as well, which is tomorrow, and he will turn 28. This goes to companions and friends so they remember him.
We have been eating cake and maybe, maybe, we will have some Irish whisky later, I don’t know...
We hope the weather stays good, and if everything goes as planned we will be down by the shore for pick up Saturday morning.
Everything is great right now !
Cheers and good night.
Today the sastrugi seem forever, but we did have the nicest day. Sunshine all day, smiley faces and happy feet !
There was almost no wind, for a change, and we covered a distance of 31.5 Km. Our current position is:
N 66 09.290, W-42 05.164. Elevation 2187.
Tomorrow is Bill Hanlon’s birthday, and we will throw a party in the tents to celebrate. Wishing all the best for him,
Are and the rest of the team : )
The team had to wait today for another storm to pass. They started the day about 5 hours later than usual, but they are fine and spirits are high as they prepare for the night, says Are.
The weather forecast is good for the next few days. There is a high pressure system coming out of Canada and that will produce favorable winds, helping them along the way.
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After this short report Are called again last night. Their position at 02:00 am Western European time was:
N 66 14.929, W -42 44.717. Elevation 2380. Distance covered 25 Km.
They waited out the storm (as he told us in the morning) and started late, noon in Greenland because of the storm but then the weather cleared up and it was fine afterwards. They are very glad that they put a good distance behind in spite of the weather and that they are on schedule.
Everyone is in the tent, they are happy and in a good mood and they will be back to normal tomorrow. Weather at the end of the day was beautiful, warm, but pretty cold at night. He confirms the high pressure forecast and hope that it will last for a while.
Regards !
Our position is N 66 15.932, W-43 51.195. Elevation 2480. Distance covered 26 Km.
The topic today is still ascending towards the summit. We started with very foggy conditions in the morning, which improve a bit later on. Then the wind started blowing after lunch and now is around 15-20 m/s. But we are inside the tents having dinner and we are happy !
Everything is as it should be on a long expedition.
We have to say we are very happy that soon we will be going downhill instead of upwards every day. It feels that we are now going home : )
Regards,
Are.
Bill report from the Ice on 22 May.
Our position is N66 18.527, W-43 51.481. Elevation 2475 m, distance covered today 24.7 Km.
A good day on the Ice. We woke up to light winds which increased as the day went by and we got closer to the summit. We are almost there now. These are katabatic winds coming from the East.
Everybody is doing well, enjoying the trip very much and we are working very well as a team. We are very excited due to the fact that we are getting close to the summit (it’s been quite a few days of uphill...) and then we will be heading down towards the East coast.
We are all doing this trip for different reasons, I am on it for basic health international, a foundation dedicated to taking medicines to remote parts of the world, and this definitely a remote place.
We send our best regards to all family and friends from all the team.
Bill : )