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180 Degree update
INTREPID explorer James Hooper who, along with friend Rob Gauntlett, is taking aprt in the 180 Degrees expedition, has sent a personal account of the trip so far.
When we first got here we had an absolute nightmare with the helicopter, it seemed that even when the weather was perfect the pilot found some excuse not to fly like the sun's too bright or something!
Anyhow after a week at 78 degrees north and getting seriously bored twiddling our thumbs we decided that the only way we were going to get anywhere was overland and sea by dog sled.
Was quite surreal actually getting ready to go - walking into the supermarket up here and putting a rifle and bullets in your trolley along with some apple juice and a pizza!
Was seriously cold to begin with, and then we got delayed by a huge storm... never seen anything like it at the time, couldn't stand up outside or see past the end of my nose... then more bad weather but we carried on slowly north with the dogs, pretty difficult getting the massive sled over all the rocks and ice, almost broke my leg a few times getting stuck behind a block of ice and getting pulled by the dogs at the same time!
Eventually we got to the pole on April 7 and started out in (more) bad weather on the eight.
Very hard to begin with pulling our sleds, 100kg each, through deep snow and icy rubble blocks, then going through another storm which had blown apart the ice so we had to swim across some open water.
I was terrified, first there was this thick soupy icy water which you could barely move in and I kept having this image of a walrus (apparently there are lots up there) biting on my leg and dragging me under...
We then had to pull the sleds up onto the glacier and the first two days over the rocks completely ripped up the bottom of them, they were practically impossible to pull you felt like every step the tendons in your legs and back would snap I can only compare it to trying to pull a plough up a mountain!
Those few days were unbearably cold, I thought I'd got frostbite a few times and my breath was literally freezing on my lips as it came out my mouth.
Then another storm...... this time two days long but so much snow built up in the back porch we thought it was going to collapse on us during the night. Then we went onto the glacier and more huge effort to pull the bloody pulks uphill!
I have to say there's isn't much more mind numbing than pulling a dead weight hour after hour with nothing to look at other than blank snow! And a face full of wind blown snow...
Eventually we started descending yesterday and we found it was quicker to sit on the pulks and sledge down, was great to begin with but on the second time the hill was a little to steep and after sliding over some huge crevasses at about 60kmh my sled flung me off and then hit me and tangled me in its lines as we tumbled down the hill, was amazed I hadn't broken anything but I can barely sit down at the moment my bum is so sore!
Then we made the even bigger mistake of taking a wrong turn in almost hurricane force winds and found ourselves being pulled over an ice cliff by our sleds with massive crevasses on either side.
We spent hours pulling the sleds back uphill into the wind and off to the side to relative safety where we could descend down a steep snow slope.
We eventually were able to pitch the tent at midnight but the winds were so strong they flattened it as we tried to erect it and now all the pole are bent and some snapped - not a comfortable night.
We knew we had to reach a village called Siorapaluk - the northern most settlement in the world today so we left early this morning and continued to descend down the glacier in strong winds and after slogging it out all afternoon we're eventually here, happy to be alive after yesterday and even better smelling fresh from a nice shower!
We'll probably stay here another day to recover and then carry on to Qaanaaq which is about four or five days away and is the town we started from with the dogs, it seems like a beacon of civilisation at the moment!
Manager's update:
Monday 16th: The boys were tent-bound again for the day having woken to fierce winds which, with driving spindrift, reduced visibility outside to less than ten metres.
Consequently it was a day 'indoors' during which they managed to catch up on some sleep, film video diaries, write and generally try to keep amuse themselves. At least they had made up some good miles over the weekend with the help of their two Inuit friends who they bumped into on the return trip from catching an Ice Bear.
Tuesday 17th: More of the same. It is frustrating for the boys too as they are keen to get back to Qaanaaq to re-supply and take a shower!
Tuesday evening at 18.15hrs, Ice Maiden our sailing yacht finally left Southampton on route to Greenland with a stopover in Plymouth and southern Ireland. After a mammoth schedule of works, I was very relieved to see her cast off the pontoon at Shamrock Quay and motor off down Southampton Water.
Thanks to Ben at Marine Track for sourcing a RIB to go out and film her as she sailed off. Ben's company have given us sponsorship in the form of a GPS tracking system. It's real James Bond stuff.
I can track exactly where the yacht is to within 10m accuracy from anywhere in the word on my laptop! This technology will enable us to update our website several times a day so you can follow the boy's progress in detail both at sea and on land in the Americas.
Wednesday 18th: More wind and poor visibility, however, Rob and James were bored and decided to have a go at making some progress. They carefully packed and set off in difficult conditions which paid off as during the morning the weather improved and they ended up making ten miles with glorious sunshine and blue sky by late afternoon. It is now 24 hour daylight up there so they can walk into the evening if they wish without problem.
Thursday 19th: Another good day, the sledges are holding up and the boys were very focused on reaching Qaanaaq next week. It was James' birthday today too! Ice Maiden reached Plymouth for her brief stopover to collect supplies for the Ireland / Greenland trip – the four young crew all in their early twenties made a visit to Tesco to do a monster shop!
However, compared to the shopping Rob's mum did last week I am sure it will be small. It took one and a half hours to stow it al last Saturday, a sterling job by Nicky and Dave Gauntlet. The boys, their skipper and 1st mate will eat very well en-route to New York.
With a new generator installed, we were able to put a bread-maker on board so they can bake fresh bread each day, it's a real morale booster and the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the boat can lift your spirits in the worst of times. I know!
Friday 20th: Today the boys are hoping to make their descent off the glacier back to the coastal region on the south side of the peninsula. They will return to Sirapuluk for one night too.
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Weather for Horsham
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
