Ice Warrior

Purposeful, worthwhile, extreme adventure

Expedition Dispatches

Ice Warrior Team away!
3rd April 2007    
N 77degs 58.3mins E 015degs 50.4mins
The team left Longyearbyen at 1400hrs. They were dropped off by sno-cat at 1615hrs 20km short of planned drop off. This was due to the fact that it had rained a couple of weeks ago and the driver was unsure of the integrity of the terrain ahead.
They then Skied for an hour and set up camp at 1730hrs. Camp admin and practice setting flares and bear early warning wires.

Weather: Clear blue skies and minus 14 degrees.

All well and excited and eager about what lies ahead.

Reached the start point
4th April 2007    
N 77degs 50.1mins E015degs 43.0mins
The team had a quiet night. Broke camp this morning at 0830.
Weather overcast with fluctuating wind.
The team covered 16km today (an Ice Warrior 3 team record!!!!) and have now reached the point at which they should have started.
They set camp at 1645 amidst strong winds on the North side of the Fjord. No Bears yet.
Jen x

Windy
5th April 2007    
N 77degs 47.1mins E 016degs 17.4mins
The team has been struggling against very strong headwinds all day, up to force 5.They have travelled 14.5km across the fjord on good ice.
The team stopped for the day at 3.30pm local time and set up camp fighting the winds.

6.30pm sat down to big hearty meal of re-hydrated food with a special treat of “Bread and mini eggs “ !!!!

They are discussing their favourite meals………..already!
All in good spirits

A sign of things to come?
6th April 2007    
N 77degs 40.7mins E 016degs 33.5mins
Woke to a much calmer day. Set off at about 8.00am. Saw about a dozen Ptarmigan and several Reindeer.

Relatively easy pull over bare ice with white snowy moguls.

They reached a sombre realism as they approached a glacier. A deep powder incline of the snowy Dragon.(their words not mine….is insanity creeping in?!?!)

They were fooled several times into thinking they were at the top; only for it to continue.

Dictated by Martyn Stott to our Operations Director, Julian Morgan.

Smell is getting to them.
7th April 2007    
N 77degs 31.9mins E 016degs 36.5mins
The team set off at 0900hrs and continued up the glacier; and then up a second glacier. Clear sunny skies with spectacular views.
No Bears yet.
All very tired but in good spirits.
Tonight’s treat is Mackerel paste….

“Ants medicated foot powder is reminiscent of the smell of napalm in the morning” Not my words once again (me thinks cabin fever is setting in)!!!!

Happy Easter to family and friends!
8th April 2007    
N 77degs 25.3mins E 016degs 48.5mins
It was a cold night. Awoke after an Easter lie-in at 7.00am to clear skies.
0845 struck camp, headed down the glacier at a good fast pace with the going good to soft. Then crossed an area of moraine.
Had a glorious 25 minute sun drenched lunch break.
Uphill climb all afternoon from 1230 to 1750 pitched camp at 250 meters.
All very tired but in good spirits.
The goal tomorrow is to reach the coast and Polar Bear country.

Happy Easter to all friends and family through the website.

Julian

Cold but beautiful
9th April 2007    
N 77degs 23.5mins E 017degs 23.7mins
Jenny reporting to Julian:

Broke camp at 0900hrs and were faced with an uphill slog until lunch.

Were rewarded after lunch by being able to sledge down the glacier on the other side!!

The views were “Baffintastic”

Camping tonight on the glacier snout. Glorious sunshine and bitter cold.

Anticipate “Bear action“ tomorrow.

All well (but perhaps a little jealous when I told them of the balmy Easter temperatures we are having to endure in the UK!!!)

Julian

Bears!
10th April 2007    
N 77degs 28.5mins E 017degs 53.0mins
Awoke to Polar Bear tracks close to camp!

Shortly after setting off they had 1st Polar Bear sighting at 0910 of 1 Female with 2 cubs!!! All were in awe at this wonderful sight.

Came off the Glacier down to the Coast and 1km away they had their second Bear sighting.

This time a Male scouting for food….Thankfully the team were not on his menu.

After lunch the first seal sighting but he did not hang around long.

Overall a great day for wildlife spotting and all were in awe of the surrounding nature.

They set up camp on the Fjord (sea ice) but the salty tea that ensued meant that at the time of this report 0800 (local) the team was breaking camp to move back to the shoreline for fresh snow and anticipate their second drinkable and thirst quenching brew to be at 2200hrs tonight at a new camp site.

All well and busy with the camp move.

Julian spoke to Cara

Team Record Distance!
11th April 2007    
N 77degs 30.070mins E 018degs 12.159mins
Martyn spoke to Julian
Moved camp last night as mentioned in yesterdays update, and travelled 4.5km in 1 hour 15 mins over new ice!! This gave a total distance covered yesterday of over 20km!

A great experience for the team and their first experience travelling on ice pans and new ice. Having arrived late at their new camp and consuming much non salty liquid they got their heads down at 12.30.

This morning was a lazy morning of liquorice, tea and a paper (!?!), an opportunity to dry the tent and catch up with personal admin. Temp minus 5 degs. Finally set off east along the bay at 11.30am.

They encountered strong side winds coming off the mountains and the 3inch ice they were travelling on was cracking audibly beneath them.

They headed for land and ahead was a hut and a few people who came over to greet the team on skidoos. It was a small film crew of 3 from the BBC plus a guide. Jenny managed to sweet talk them out of 2 boxes of fruit tea….very profitable encounter.

They scouted round the corner of the bay having been told of poor ice conditions and after lengthy discussions and due to the relatively warm weather, lack of any escape route and the inexperience of the team it was felt it was too risky to proceed so they doubled back .

The plan is to head inland up the valley tomorrow.

Sightings today, Bear prints, suspected Bear dens and even Bear poo !! (but no woods to be seen!!!)

The team camped early this evening ready for an early start in the morning.

They are hoping for a disturbance free night and good sleep.

Julian

Misty, white.
12th April 2007    
N 77degs 35.8mins E 018degs 07.9mins
Camped last night in a Polar Bear Hotspot…..but no sightings!

Early start this morning taking the valley route North. Snow was good and the team made steady progress, interrupted by a couple of very step sections which reduced them to a crawling pace.

This afternoon the route contoured a sizeable Mountain and in the end this proved too steep to continue so the team descended 100 meters and made camp.

It was a day of difficult navigation with most of the time spent in near whiteout conditions.

Temperature is very warm at about minus 1 degree. They are therefore yet to see their surroundings which the map assures them are spectacular!!

All in very good spirits but tired.

Julian heard from Matt O'Brien, team leader.

Snowbound!
13th April 2007    
Same
The team has been tent bound for the past 24 hours due to whiteout conditions and very heavy snowfall. Between 1.5 and 2 meters of snow has fallen!!

The team took this opportunity to carry out general repairs and dry out equipment.

(The team is used to being confined to camp as during their Arctic training last year in Resolute Bay Canada, they were forced to spend over 3 days confined to a tent due to atrocious weather)

All are well and hopeful of clearer conditions and an early start tomorrow.

Up and down - great day.
14th April 2007    
N 77degs 42.14mins E 017degs 52.89mins
Awoke at 5.00am fully refreshed. Weather clear and sunny with a light breeze from the SW

Struck camp and were away by 7.30am

Headed North up “Thomas Breen” in fast although slippery conditions. Excellent progress and they covered an amazing 13km by 1315hrs.

After a brief descent they were faced with a long climb up “Innisonna” It was slow going aiming for a coll between two mountains of 675meters and 665meters respectively.

The vertical gradient proved too steep and they had to resort to ropes and manhauling over the summit. It took 1 hour to pull the pulks 200ft.

They descended down the next glacier and set camp at 5.30pm celebrating another 16km day!!

All fit and healthy.

Ant gave the report to Julian

Tent bound
15th April 2007    
N 77degs 43.398mins E 017degs 58.126mins
Early 0545am start for Jenny and Matt on cooking duty. However with heavy snow and zero visibility they soon retired back to bed.

0930am re-awoke after Sunday morning Lie in, however it was to be another day tent bound.

The team entertained themselves by digging a large hole in the snow….inside the tent!! They contemplated emptying and lowering in a pulk, filling it with warm water and having a communal bath!!

However the sky cleared, the plan was aborted and they had an early supper. At 1900 with snow lightly falling in the evening sun they set off for an evening ski.

By 1950 they had covered 3.3km in a NW direction and only stopped for their daily Satellite report back to the UK.

All well

Julian spoke to Jenny

As good as it gets!
16th April 2007    
N 77degs 54.4mins E 017degs 15.3mins
After the call yesterday the team progressed to the top of Englefield Breen which they reached at 10.30pm. They struck camp and were in bed by midnight in light snowfall but howling winds.

Awoke at just before 0700 to great crisp Arctic weather of glorious sunshine and blue skies. Broke camp and headed down Englefield Breen.

A great morning for pulk pulling and sleeping bag drying! Glorious views and the team feeling – “This is as good as it gets!”

Visibility reduced making navigation difficult.

They reached the spectacular aquamarine snout of the glacier, a great photo opportunity, before continuing onto the Bay ice.

All in all another great day covering 20km.

The team celebrate with a cup of (dwindling supplies) hot chocolate.

All well

Julian talked to Cara

Bear Aware!
17th April 2007    
N 78degs 02.932mins E 018degs 40.209mins
Awoke to a cold morning and a surprise before breakfast. Matt heard a rustling outside and the team went to investigate. Less than 10 meters away was a 3.5ft tall, healthy Bear rummaging through Martin’s pulk !! It had made several puncture marks but nothing was missing. Mark fired several flares to send it on its way and the team got excellent footage as it retreated over the bay ice. It was fantastic to see the Polar Bear so close to, but a little worrying that it had managed to evade all the trip wires that had been placed around the camp as a matter of course as early warning signals.

The remainder of the day was superb weather with the occasional light winds and temps of minus 10 degrees. The going was good over the sea ice with about 6 inches of snow on top. The team were able to cover another 18.4km.

The team set up camp and at the time of the call had enjoyed their dinner and were just waiting for pudding!!.

They were all looking forward to a good nights sleep though a little wary now that they are in true Polar Bear country.

All well.

Julian spoke to Martyn

The Day of the midnight sun
19th April 2007    
N 78degs 16.15mins E 019degs 00.09mins
Awoke to clear blue skies and sun, broke camp and headed North to investigate the Southern slopes of the Bay for Polar Bear activity. At 11.50 as the team were approaching the moraine, eagle eyed Cara Jones spotted a Bear basking in the sunshine. The 5 ft female then proceeded to put on an amazing display sliding down the slopes of ice around her and ended up within 100meters of the team. After careful observation from both sides, the Polar bear on sensing the team were not a danger to her, curled up and continued her sunbathing. The team then retreated and proceeded around the headland so as not to disturb her further.

They set up camp at about 5pm for a couple of hours and a bite to eat the continued on to the northern end of the bay.

The team is currently heading north. All well and in good spirits after an amazing Polar Bear watching day.

Julian

T Shirt Weather!
20th April 2007    
N 78degs 14.1mins E 019degs 05.5mins
Set camp last night at 2200hrs with the intention of staying up till 2400hrs to see the midnight sun, however the sun sank below the nearby mountains at 2300hrs so they went to bed instead.

Peaceful start this morning, set off around the glacier fronted bay in glorious sunshine and used the beautiful turquoise ice as a backdrop for team photo’s.

Unfortunately they were not alone in admiring the dramatic scenery. There were hoards of skidoos buzzing about the bay. This limited the opportunity for Polar Bear sightings so at midday the team turned south and started heading down the coast.

The team were down to base layers and even had bare hands when they were out of the breeze it was so warm.

15 km were covered today.

At 1940hrs Jenny went outside to use the fortified toilet Martin had dug and a 5 ft male Polar Bear ambled past about 100 meters away. A great end to the day!!

Julian spoke to Jenny

Bears don't trip!
21st April 2007    
N 78degs 03.07mins E 018degs 56.6mins
Last night finally managed to see the midnight sun having been woken by the sounds of a scavenging Bear.

The Polar Bear was rummaging through their rubbish, having broken through the perimeter trip wires which failed to fire the flares. His snout had been up to the tent and his paw had torn the outer shell of the tent. The teams shouting managed to scare him off enough for them to ready the pistol and pen flares which made him withdraw further. He proved a persistent and cheeky fellow as he returned for the rubbish, but after firing warning shots he eventually lost interest, leaving the team to stitching repairs on the tent posting lookouts and clearing up of the rubbish.

After this disturbed night the team did not depart this morning until 0930am when they headed south making great progress in the sunshine. There was a weather front moving in towards their destination. At 11.25 they had another Bear encounter this time a female with a new born cub. She was not interested in the team and gave them a wide berth towards the glacial moraine.

A total of 21km covered today and they have now set up camp for the night. The team is currently settling down to Bear Watch and hoping the current storm blows over.

All well - Julian spoke with Cara

Chocolate support!
22nd April 2007    
N 78degs 06.093mins E 018degs 18.773mins
The team were lucky last night as the storm that had threatened, blew to the East. The overnight bear watch also proved negative. This morning the team had a lie in with a 0930 start.

The weather was overcast for most of the morning and the team got in a few good legs before lunch.

Over the past few days there have been frequent sightings of tourists on skidoos but today was the first time there had been any contact.

A group came over to say hello and after being told about the expedition and enquiring of any Polar Bear hotspots they departed leaving a welcome bar of chocolate and wished the team well.

The team camped early after another 17km day.

All well and looking forward to enjoying their last few days.

Julian spoke to Martyn

HAPPY ST GEORGES DAY!!
23rd April 2007    
N 78degs 14.24mins E 017degs 45.46mins
The team had a quiet and restful night. They were under no pressure to cover large distances as they are ahead of schedule so had a relaxing later start. They spent the morning reflecting on their experiences, the challenges they had faced, and the highs and lows of the past 3 weeks.

The team finally departed at 10.30am in glorious sunshine and headed for the moraine at the head of Elfenbrierbreen leaving the sea ice behind them. They meandered around the moraine (You don’t say that every day!!) negotiating a few steep climbs and made excellent progress. The team especially enjoyed the downhill stretches. Another warm day with the team down to base layers as they crossed the end of a frozen lake.

The team covered a great 20km and set up camp at the junction of Fulmerdalen and Sassendalen valleys.

They are all fit and well and settling down to their St Georges day black tie dinner complete with Union Jacks and tiaras @ 78degrees North (so perhaps not entirely sane!!!)

Julian spoke to Ant

Looking forward to treats!?
24th April 2007    
78 degrees 13.5 mins N 016 degrees 59.1 minutes E
Jim took the check call today and spoke to Jenny.
The team had a relaxed start to the day, finally departing at 10.30 am.
Weather was windy and snowy which left a bitter feeling on the cheeks. Cara and Jenny are hoping that all the blisters on their cheeks will be gone by Friday (return to the UK day)!.....hmmm.
They have travelled fantastically well down Sassendalen and are now "on the final straight". All are feeling really excited at the prospect of a shower and real food.
They joined what they called the "superhighway"; that is the main snowmobile route back into Longyearbyen today which, with the smell of gasoline fumes in the air, reminded them of home.
Jenny said she was looking forward to treats?! I think Matt must have told them I would have something for them. I denied all knowledge of such things ...of course.
I will be taking two journalists out to meet them early on Thursday morning for the pick up.
I'm really excited myself at seeing them all again.
Jim

Happy Birthday Cara!
25th April 2007    
78°N 11.030 016° E 15.577
After passing our original pick up point yesterday we continued to our revised rendezvous point down the Adventdalen Valley towards Longyearbyen. We were sharp to leave camp at 08:40 and made excellent time pulling our pulks for the last day. We had 18km to cover by 3pm to enjoy our last afternoon together and to enjoy some birthday celebrations with Cara. By lunch time we had covered over 12km and with a record leg of 5km in an hour and a quarter we made our campsite as planned and were tucking into our first hot drink and a hand delivered birthday cake within the hour. We had been treated by a visit from the Ice Warrior Leader, Jim McNeill, who brought us cake, baguettes and whisky. A very well deserved and thoroughly enjoyed treat. We ate the baguettes in the valley while a husky driver named Jan stopped to chat to us and invited us to stay the night at his hut. We are now sat around reflecting on the last 3 weeks together, fully loaded on treats, cake, whisky and our last rehydrated evening meal. We have one more night together in the tent before we are picked up at 6am in the morning to make our final preparations for the journey home. The reflections on our awesome experience will no doubt continue for many months. We would like to wish Cara’s twin brother Julian a very happy birthday and to all our families, friends and loved ones we will see you all soon.