Ice&Ocean UPDATES
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current time in Greenland:
update 24 / 27 sept 07
WE SURVIVED! On 24 Sept we completed the first completely Kiwi team crossing of the Greenland ice cap. Due to the extreme cold we weren't able to get any written updates out on the last couple of days of our amazingly challenging adventure. So we've now uploaded the last couple of days worth of drama with heaps of pics and video...check it out... more... update 23 / 23 sept 07
The final straw. Too tired for words...the video says it all... more... update 22 / 23 sept 07
CURRENT POSITION, JUST 3.9KM FROM EDGE OF ICE CAP! It's been a heart breaking few days (again!). 48 hours ago we were hoping to give you the 'we've finished' update...but it wasn't to be - yet. more... update 21 / 17 Sept 07
Lordy we can't seem to appease the weather gods here at all. Yesterday we woke to strong winds and heavy snow falling. We packed and got ready in the tent and sat there until 1230. The winds had eased a little and we decided to give it a go and make some of the vital distance we now need to finish before our food runs out. The new snow had killed what was, the day before, a perfect sliding surface for the sleds. We hauled through the new wet snow and they felt like they did on day one. We made a measly 8km for our efforts. It was heart breaking. more... update 20 / 15 sept 07
Well it's been a trial for sure. Apologies for the lack of updates but everything froze or died. We have seen so very little sun on this trip I couldn't charge any batteries. We made our way across the top of the ice cap in constant snow storms dumping lots of powder - all very nice to look at but hell to drag a sled through. Check out the video we managed to get out today... more... update 19 / 14 sept 07
We're hoping that we're now out of the freezer at bit, although we still spend as little time as possible stationary unless we're in our sleeping bags. Fingers last about 30sec uncovered. more... update 18 / 11 sept 07
It's 1pm in the afternoon and we're taking a lunch break. Been a few long, cold, challenging days since the last update. This one was done by phone again as we've seen so little sun over the last couple of weeks that all batteries except one AA were flat. But we got a little much needed sun this morning to charge the satellite phone. more... update 17 / 6 sept 07
The day started brutally cold. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable nights either of us had ever had. We shivered through with almost no sleep wearing every piece of clothing we owned. The temperature was around -20C but the issue was the humidity. We were in a freezing cloud and super cooled water droplets were freezing to everything outside and inside we were hurting. more... update 16 / 5 sept 07
A bizzare day that could have been a figment of our imagination. As per usual, it seems, the weather turned bad again and was snowing all night. We got up and packed up and hit the road with zero visibility and hoods done up tight. more... update 15 / 4 sept 07
An update by phone this morning as there's been no sun seen for a few days now, and the laptop batteries are dead. A couple of days of 20 foot visibility during the day, but clear skies and howling winds throughout the night. A challenging couple of days. more... update 14 / 2 sept 07
We were forced to stay put in a ground blizzard again. The amount of snow being shifted buy the wind was incredible. We hunkered down and hung on through a long day of listening to the wind howl and the snow scream past the tent. more... update 13 / 31 aug 07
It was another windy night last night the tent was encrusted in ice. The morning was whiteout again and still blowing hard - which made for a slow start as we prised ourselves out of the rimed up tent. more... update 12 / 30 aug 07
Yesterday was without an update. We couldn't afford to get anything out in the tent as everything was wet. We thought we had left any possible wetness once we got more than 50km inland. Greenland had other plans. more... update 10 & 11 / 28 aug 07
We were rudely awoken around 4am by spindrift snow piling into the tent through a broken vent. Life was quite miserable for a couple of hours as the ground blizzard raged and we, and everything in the tent were covered in powdery snow - which soon began to melt. more... update 9 / 26 aug 07
We survived the strong winds that threatened to tear our tent to pieces yesterday. The wind was a pittarak (katabatic) - caused when the high pressure in the middle of the icecap moves at great speeds to equalize the low pressure at the coast. more... update 8 / 24 aug 07
Finally - yesterday afternoon we cleared the maze of melt water streams, crevasses and hump 'n' hollow we have been trapped in for the last week. more... update 7 / 24 aug 07
Well we thought we had it cracked. We climbed all morning in hump n hollow and cleared that. We got into a lot of melt water streams which took some solving - and we cleared that. more... update 6 / 23 aug 07
Another incredibly hard day in convoluted terrain with a lot of climbing. The glacier surface is criss-crossed with streams and melt water channels which means we have to stop and work together to lower the sleds down one side and haul them back up the other - very very tiring work. more... update 5 / 22 aug 07
Unable to move for 2 days now. Heavy rain and wind have kept us battoned down. more... update 4 / 20 aug 07
Brutally hard work getting schooled up in the way of the Greenland icecap! We pulled, pushed, wrestled and cajoled our 100kg sleds all day for only 6km of headway. more... update 3 / 19 aug 07
We are underway!!! Finally we are on the ice cap after much trepidation about the sheer weight and size of the pile of food and equipment. more... Update 2 / 17 aug 07
The random road that is travel is, well, a random one, especially in this day and age. more... Update 1 / 3 aug 07
It's going to be a great journey and we hope you get loads of your friends to sign up for updates. Please check out our sponsors sites and who they are and what they are about - without them none of this would be happening... more... |
