On solid ground and going back home
Our position:
Lat78deg25'52" Lon17deg21'56" Alt +15 m http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=78.431300&lon=017.365800
So we are down by the sea again. We started about nine as usual, at 600 meters, just under the cloud cover. But also today the sun shone through.
We followed the moraine all the way down. It was heavy going across the uneven ice in the meltzone with lots of small streams to cross, but we found good routes.
Due to the retreat of the glacier we had to walk 3 Km to the beach, two times because of the heavy load. We reached beach at 19:00, and there was the skydancer, our sailing boat, waiting for us.
Vince and Borge on solid ground
Hard going through the meltzone
The whole team on the beach
We are two days earlier than expected due to very good conditions and probably good planning. As far as we know no one has done this route crossing Spitsbergen and exiting down the Von post, but the satellite photos and waypoints were perfect. No major problems for us with the fantastic weather we had, but for the glacier it is a losing game. The Von post has retreated several hundred meters in a few decades.
Looking forward to share the photos and videos from this trip.
Astrid Furholt, Vince Colliard, and Per all have had some days to remember and I can only repeat myself saying that this is the perfect summer glacier crossing trip!
