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Greenland Expedition - April 08
Greenland April 08 - Read all about our Greenland 08 trip!
Greenland 08 - The story so far!
I wake with the ambient light from out side as the new day begins, it’s still early and pretty cold. My breath clouds in the still air of the tent exiting through the small hole that I have created for breathing whilst snuggled up in the cosy confines of my thick down sleeping bag. I lie here waiting for the moment when I know I’ll have to face the cold and start the long process of melting snow for our early morning drinks and breakfast.
Lying here thinking about it is actually worse than actually getting on with it, in reality its not actually that bad, once the stove is lit and the pan of snow is on I can crawl back into my bag and the stove will heat up the tent making getting up and dressed for the day less of a chore.
Our Camp was below the rock buttres just left of center.
Life here in Greenland is reduced to the simple basic necessities. We sleep when its dark, we wake with the light, we melt snow and eat when hungry, we maintain our camp against the elements and we climb, ride and play all day. We play cards by torch light, we gaze in awe at the incredible views all around us everywhere we go and we watch with amazement the Northern lights that flicker across the night sky each and every clear night at 8:30 on the dot.
A plan his hatched!
I first saw Greenland from the cockpit of a plane (back in the days when it was possible to go and sit up front with the pilot) whilst flying to the States to ride the summer pipes at Mount Hood in the early 90’s.
I’m sure like most people who have flown this route I couldn’t quite believe my eyes as this vast frozen landscape passed slowly beneath the plane. Frozen seas stretched as far as the eye could see, the endless ice broken only by the chain of jagged mountain peaks that surround Greenlands inner ice cap and make up the East and West coasts of this massive eternally frozen land mass.
From this moment onwards I knew that one day I would need to visit and explore this vast continent and climb and ride within its peaks.
Ben and Al enjoy the beautiful landscapes in Greenland.
Not one to rush into things, (unless its buying some electronic gadget that when I get it home, I’ll no doubt find is non compatible with anything else I’ve compulsively bought) some 15 or so years later I left Chamonix with one of our regular BC guides Jonny Baird (back fresh from a recent ascent of the Eiger North face) and one of our regulars Ben Taylor (with whom I had just spent a great few days riding on a BC custom course), destination Greenland.
We left Chamonix under a thick cloak of fresh powder and set off into the unknown with a heap of kit, a vague plan and a borrowed map….
Damians story!
Damian flew in to Iceland from Japan via Heathrow terminal 5 and so obviously wasn’t going to have his bags with him. His board and a small amount of kit arrived in time for our flight to Greenland the following morning but unfortunately the majority of his kit including boots and Snowboard pants would never be seen again.
After a whip round we manged to kit him out with everything he might need except for the aforementioned boots and snowboard pants.
With an 11am flight booked and a local snowboard shop in Rykjevik opening at 10am we saw an opportunity and Damian shot off to get the remaining essentials. All was going to plan with the shop opening on time. Damian found a boot, tried it on and things were looking good. The shop assistant goes to the storeroom to find the other boot and bang! The plan fails, no key for the storeroom and so no boots for Damian.
Damian flies out with us anyway, hopefully his bag will turn up later and in the mean time he can hang out at the base camp and at least be with the team.
The small twin prop plane leaves on time and we’re Greenland bound when half way through the flight we are informed that we will have to turn back due to an electrical failure!
Under normal circumstance this technical problem might have been an inconvenience maybe even a worry, for Damian however this could come at no better time, a second chance had been called!
On arriving back in Iceland Damian once again sped into the town center, this time arriving back just before the plane was to depart with new boots and snowboard pants!
His 2nd bag last seen at Heathrow T5 was never to be seen again!
Damian climbing a peak high above our Base Camp.
Dog sledding!
The small Inuite village of Kulusuk situated on the East coast of Greenland is, unlike many of the westernized areas on the west coast, a very traditional place. The small colourful wooden houses here are surrounded by teams of noisy sled dogs gathered together in tight packs. Life here revolves around hunting and fishing to feed both family and dogs.
The inuite village of Kulusuk.
After a night in Kulusuk we load our gear onto sleds and our journey into the wilderness begins.
It is amazing to see how effective this traditional form of transportation is. Pulling each sled is a team of 8 dogs. Each dog seems to know its place in the pack and is constantly reminded not to cross this invisible boundary by those ranked above it. The fights within the pack can be incredibly vicious and would surely be to the death in some instances if it weren’t for the swift intervention of the dog masters boot or whip. Inner pack fights are only out done by rival pack fights, that sometimes occur when to dog teams cross paths or are stationed too close together.
We used the local transport to get to our camp site.
These incredible creatures are definitely working animals and seem to love the harsh environment that they live in. It’s cold as we travel across the seas ice, the dogs are panting but as our sled man tells us, not because they are tired but because they are too hot. It is a mild day for Greenland at –7C and beautifully sunny, the perfect day to begin our journey and establish our base camp.
When we arrive at our chosen site I bravely stroke our lead dog, he seems to like the attention so I ask our sled man his name, thinking that the lead dog must surely be a prized and privileged animal, ‘no name’ comes the reply. The rest of the pack start to come forward for some attention so I move on before they sense my growing concern at being slowly surrounded by what is essentially a pack of wild wolves.
Base camp
Our home for the duration is made up of 2 small tents situated either side of our big mess tent. It is essential that all the tents are well sheltered from the harsh winds that can blow here (the Katabatic wind off the ice cap is said to be ferocious and can blow in excess of 160kph) so we have dug each tent platform deep into the snow and built high walls around them, only the very tops of the tents are visible over the tops of these walls.
Home from home.
Our Base camp is well situated on a flat glacial shelf a couple of hundred meters above the frozen sea ice with high peaks behind us and to both sides. It is an incredible place, everything feels over sized here and we feel very small, insignificant yet very privileged.
After establishing our camp under perfect weather conditions we are then treated to 2 days of vicious snow and wind. Our Camp holds together and for the rest of our stay we have near perfect conditions.
The Daily Routine
Life here settles into a simple routine, we melt snow, we eat, we sleep, we maintain our camp and we hike and ride. It is important to constantly look after yourself here, boots and gloves must be kept dry and you must always think and work one step ahead so as not to get caught out. Here you can’t afford to make do, if you are cold you put something else on, if you are hot you take layers off, to sweat would mean that you might freeze later and with an ambient air temperature of between –7C and –17C this could become a slight problem.
Al, Dave and Damian enjoy a meal after a big day out.
After breakfast at around 9 or 10 we head out to climb and ride. We normally plan our routine one day in advance having checked the weather forecast by text with the sat phone.
Ben M, Dave and Ben T on a technical climb to a high peak.
Each day we climb and ride we scope out the possibilities for the following day. The terrain here is endless, one peak leads to another hidden behind and each descent takes us into a new valley full of hidden opportunities. We cover great distances each day and move very quickly without the added difficulty of altitude. On one particular tour we cover around 20Km with big ascents and descents along the way, in relation to the landscape all around us we have barely scratched the surface of what is possible.
Al and Damian lost within the huge landscape of Greenland.
We eat a picnic around midday either on a distant summit or in a magical bay beside the frozen sea. Every view is a picture postcard and it is impossible to take it all in.
Hike and Ride
The snow is mostly cold, smooth and firm, most of the powder has blown away and evaporated in the dry cold air although we occasionally find pockets and sheltered descents that still hold out.
Ben T scores a big descent.
Everything here seems enormous, each descent, each climb, everything we do brings a new experience, a new adventure and a new sense of achievement.
We climb most of the peaks surrounding our Base camp, some are quite technical needing ropes and crampons and involve exposed rocky scrambling and tenuous balancing across knife edge ridges or steep headwalls that protect the summits above.
McNab Guide Jonny Baird approaches another summit.
We can ride from the top of some peaks, on others we have to retrace our steps and balance our way back down. We get to ski and snowboard a bit of everything, steeps, narrows, wide open glacier and big rolling slopes leading to the frozen sea.
Descending down for lunch by the frozen sea.
From each summit a new landscape appears and we quickly make plans to explore each new area that we determine accessible.
Each day we ski, snowshoe and crampon our way up to a new high peak before gliding down some huge, smooth, never ending glacier to have lunch by the sea ice far below. On our return journey we always try to take in some extra height so that we get a 2nd big descent and normally we get to ride right back into the camp as the sun begins to set casting its golden glow over the frozen landscape.
The Northern Lights
As the sun begins to set we gather in the big mess tent to cook, eat and play cards.
At half eight every clear night we congregate outside the camp to watch the spectacular light show flickering and dancing across the silent sky.
The light show begins bang on the dot at 8:30 every night.
I’ve never seen the Northern lights before and its something I know I’ll never forget. It would be easy to have imagined these flickering spooky veils of light dancing and descending from the heavens were the spirits from another world. Some nights they move like storm clouds blasting back and forwards and circling above us, other times they are like beams of light shining down from the heavens. The colour and intensity varies and with zero ambient light the night skies shine down above us.
Incredible!
Wildlife!
Every now and then during the night a strange distant animal call can be heard and we all lie in our sleeping bags wondering if we really heard something, if it was the wind or we simply imagined it.
One of the first things we saw on arrival in Greenland was a Polar Bear skin stretched out on the wall at the airport. Not quite how you’d like to see a Polar bear but at the same time very impressive in terms of scale.
Meeting a Polar bear is a real possibility out here and for this reason we have been given a 12 bore shotgun and some vague instructions from the village chief.
Basically it seems that Polar bears firstly have no fear, secondly are very inquisitive and thirdly are, at this time of year especially, very hungry.
Once a Polar bear has taken interest in the camp and the tasty looking snacks that live and sleep there you’ve definitely got a problem on your hands and so for this reason we have the gun and some emergency flares.
When we are out and about during the day we have the flares with us as a hopeful deterrent (the gun is a little big and heavy for everyday touring and climbing) we have been instructed to firstly stand our ground, if the bear is to come towards us we should calmly fire a flare as it breaks 100m. If this doesn’t do the job the shotgun should be deployed with one shot being fired whilst the bear is still some distance away.
If the bear still persists, calmly reload the gun and stand your ground until it is now standing only a few meters away.
With only one shot in the chamber now you have to be pretty accurate. A chest shot is apparently best so wait until it rears right up to its massive 3 meters or more potential, lifts its head in an almighty roar and stretches its claws out for its final killing blow then calmly pop it one in the chest.
Be accurate as you don’t just want to piss the thing off and apparently they’re pretty resilient to getting shot anywhere else.
My theory of not being the slowest runner in the camp remains my key weapon. Survival of the fittest and all that!
Conclusion.
For our final night the weather changes again and another storm blows in.
Through out the night our tents are blasted by gale force winds resulting in one snapped tent pole and an uncomfortable night for some.
In the morning it is still blowing and we start to get a little concerned about our dog sled evacuation plan and so make a secondary plan to retreat under our own steam if need be.
We pack the 2 smaller tents and chuck everything in the big tent and wait for the storm to abate. At around midday, bang on schedule we hear the barking of dogs and through the easing storm our all terrain transport appears.
The sled ride out is once again a beautiful experience, the sun comes out and everything is bathed in an eternal light.
I try to take it all in, log it all to memory as our adventure comes to its conclusion but there’s too much beauty out there, too much to take in and I know that one day in the not to distant future I’ll be coming back!