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Arctic wrap-up: Rain and world record
May 31, 2005 01: 55 EST
It's raining at the North Pole (or close to it) and Greenland had a world speed record. It all happened through the weekend:
One World expedition – Summer Arctic crossing
Rainy days
"It's Memorial Day. We're staying put in our tent today because it's raining. Puddles of water are pooling on our canoe covers when I look outside; special thanks to our waterproof Hilleberg tent with the high sides, it's keeping us dry here.
Seagulls are flying overhead, they don't seem to mind the wet conditions as they fly around our red tent over a sea of white ice pans. Raining on the 30th of May is normal for Minnesota, but here on the Arctic Ocean it seems quite early. It's more normal for July and August. Perhaps this is another sign that the earth is warming.
We hope that Memorial Day is drier where you are, and to our families and to our friends at Greenpeace we hope you're having a great weekend."
Franz Josef Land
The expedition has come in with a debrief, Check in for it later this week.
Adventure family Green Speed expedition
A world speed record
This debrief straight from Sarah:
"We were at the half way point! After only 5 hours of sleep we woke up. We had 275 km to go and 48 hours left on our clock. And not a breath of wind?.. Five days ago, we left the eastern edge of the Ice Cap and the clock started ticking. We had 7 days to break the existing 8 day record.
During breakfast the winds increased and we attempted to kite but no luck. Our kites would not even launch into the air. So with a couple of hours of the day wasted and the clock still ticking we switched to skis. After an hour, the wind picked up enough to travel with kites. We were off, however we had to work for every kilometer, weaving our kites forcefully through the sky.
Adventure Consultants
After a couple of hours of travel we came across a couple of old camp sites. Not long after we ran into a group from Adventure Consultants, New Zealand. After a quick chat and a couple of pictures, we moved on. We passed Dye 2, an abandoned US research center and a runway where they train Hercules pilots.
We traveled till the winds dropped and set up camp to melt more water to fill up our bottles. Once all bottles were full the winds picked up and we continued on traveling. We started to drop elevation fast, coming down hills where the katabatic winds increased. Dad was the one that felt the winds the most, getting lifted up into the air by his kite.
Only 24 hours left
We traveled on, switching kites more than once. Finally the winds dropped for a second time leaving us 75 km short till the end. Time was running short and we were all exhausted. David's eyes were sore, so we decided that we would sleep for 3 hours and rest. We woke up with no wind, so we set off on skis. Only 24 hours were left.
We skied for 6 hours before the winds started to increase. They were low?but we gave it a try. We had to work our kites back and forth to travel, but we were moving faster than we would on skis.
Breaking through the ice
We had to follow a specific route coming off the Ice Cap or else we would end up in massive rubble and ice fall. Time was running out so we took a short cut?.or what we thought would be one. We had another good session of kitting before the winds died.
We headed towards the VW ice road. With low visibility, navigation was challenging. We ended in a valley system where there was already melt ponds and rivers. We had to test the ice with our ski poles before crossing. David was the first to break through the ice getting both feet wet up to his knees. We continued on.
We decided to give it all we had
Our next obstacle was a lake of water. We went in circle for an hour, crossing our own path twice before finding a route out. Every direction we went we were halted by more water. The time was running out and the discussion was brought up if we should just camp, since the chance of making the end was slim. We decided to give it all we had and push till the finish.
Dad was the next to break through the ice, going in up to his chest. We kept traveling to keep him warm. We ran into a maze of disturbed ice. We traveled about 30 minutes pulling our pulks up and over the ridges till we stumbled upon the VW road. It was a huge relief.
The new record for the fastest crossing of the Ice Cap
We traveled down it at a quick pace. Half way down the road we lost visibility again and lost the road. Eric was the one that found it - feeling his way with his ski poles. We skied at a marathon pace, following the road, weaving back and forth between ice hills and over crevasses. Finally we saw land. We reached the end in 6 days and 22 hours, making the new record for the fastest crossing of the Ice Cap.
All blistered and sore, we are now in Kangerlussuaq repacking and resting before heading back across the Ice Cap - we just can't get enough. But this time it's for fun!
Sarah "
One World Expedition | Vancouver to Moscow | Adventure family Green Speed expedition | Franz Josef Land expedition
Image of Paul trying to figure out where to next, live over Contact 3.0, courtesy of the Green Speed expedition.
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| OneWorld expedition: It's over Jun 3, 2005 | | Vancouver to Moscow - 1 year anniversary! Jun 2, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: The Single ski Weight Watchers Greenland program Jun 1, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Rain and world record May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | 12 year old doing well on Greenland ice cap crossing May 27, 2005 | | Vagabond update - Polar bears, 200 candles and ice melting in Inglefieldbukta May 26, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Polar hygiene, and Napoleon on ice May 26, 2005 | | Contact GEO hits Greenland May 25, 2005 | | Iridium: "Invalid battery - matches found, 0" May 24, 2005 |
| | Arctic wrap-up: Adventure family kites 162 km, reaches halfway point May 23, 2005 |
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2004
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