2 weeks on...

2 weeks on and the memories of the crossing that stay with me are the good and happy ones. The evenings in the tent, the rest day on Friday May 13th, waving the French flag on what we called the summit of the ice cap although we still seemed to be going up for another 10 days after it (...), interviewing Petter on the "sofa" (i.e. our sleeping bags on the sled...), Norwegian national day, the biltong and mashed potatoes, our outings in Tassilak, and many many more... 


I try to apply the lessons that I learnt on the ice to my everyday life, especially the ones about "thinking positive" and that "I have a choice". This trek has definitely made me closer to my friends and given me a lot of self-confidence. Where I endlessly hesitated before, now I am much more straightforward and trust my instinct more. I also learnt that what is perfect for me, can be far from perfect for someone else, therefore I should not let myself be affected so much by other people's opinions, as, at the end of the day, I am the one living my life. 


I feel really bad as every friend I meet is so full of praise and admiration, and thinks that what I have done is an unbelievable achievement. I don't see it that way. Of course it was very difficult, but the proof that it was feasible is that I did it. It is true that I am no professional athlete, might be older than most people who do this trek every year and had quasi no experience of nordic skiing. But I am also (hopefully) wiser, and much more honest and tougher with myself than when I was younger. I also have the time and the means to go to the gym and train. And, from a mother's perspective, to be able to do this trek while raising money to help other children to get education and team spirit was a great motivation and fulfilment. 


Hopefully I will find the time to write a book, and Petter will be able to do a movie about this expedition. My daughters want me to do the same for all my previous treks and challenges and have a sweet idea about doing it. I have my journals and love rereading them. What started as an yearly 10-day escape from my life as a housewife in London has turned into wonderful memories of walking in the desert, going up the great wall of China, dogsledding, crossing Greenland, mountaineering, rock-climbing, trekking in Corsica and I am sure that I am forgetting some. I am very fortunate to have been able to do this while at the same time helping disadvantaged children. 

But for me, the real stars are my wonderful friends and family. Because at the end of the day, they are the ones who give me support and sponsor me year after year, trusting me to find the right charities and allowing me to enjoy the challenges without guilt, making me and a lot of children very happy at the same time. 

So a big thanks and three cheers to all of you!!

Back in my London life

First let me really apologise to all of you who follow me on this blog for not giving any news for the last week, but going back to London was quite hectic and more difficult than I thought!!


I came back to London from Reykjavik as planned last Thursday evening, May 26th. We landed at 8pm and on my way back from the airport, I had the impression that I had landed in a tropical country!! London was SO green and the trees had so many leaves. After not having seen a tree (or at least not one with many leaves) for a month, it was a very strange feeling. The traffic looked diabolical and I was glad not to be driving (which for anyone who knows me is unthinkable...). I could not wait to see Nicholas and Christophe, but then again, their enthusiasm and exuberance was difficult to cope with in the evening as I had lived in such a calm and recluse world! I had so many things to tell them, but so did they!!


Back home, my renovation works on the house had started and the next day, the builders were there, and I had a meeting with the designers about fabrics, wall colours, etc... My mind was 1000s of kilometres away, but I forced myself to concentrate. After all, if I want to come back to a finished house in September, I can't afford to waste time. So I hope that all the decisions I took on the Friday morning are good ones... but then again, I had already pre-decided many things before leaving for Greenland, and I had loads of time while skiing to think about the project. The friend who is helping me is also really fantastic. She has lots of ideas and energy and is always within the budget!


As it was a long bank holiday weekend, I insisted to go to the country with the boys who were very reluctant at first. There have always a party to go to, some friends they have to see, etc.. But we left on Friday night with the dogs who I was so happy to have back again (they look in great shape and very happy. I am so lucky that Barry looks after them. If anyone needs a dog walker, he is the best and please ask me). Valerie came on Saturday and stayed until Sunday afternoon, and it was very nice. We talked a lot with Valerie about what I had gone through, my feelings and emotions, the lessons learnt, and the fact that I found it difficult that everybody wanted to talk to me and see me, and I needed some calm to regroup!! So as the weekend went along, I slowly re-entered my life and became a Mum and busy London housewife once again!! Since then I have seen many friends again, and I really enjoy it.


So what did I learn from this trip? Well I could write a whole book about it, but very briefly here are some points:


.  I should try to think positively as much as I can as it really does give energy. On the ice, if I let anything make me angry or think negatively, it did act like a brake. The sleds started to weigh a ton, and everything took more time. On the contrary, focusing about the positive and my goal, helped me to keep my spirit up and made things easier. (for example: one day, snow was building under one of my boots, making my ankle wobble, the snow was very warm and I had to constantly stop to scrape my half-skins, and to top it all, one of my sleds was tipping as it was badly loaded. I was fed up and almost exploded, but then, I thought: "what good will it do?". So I cleaned my boot, removed the skins, reloaded the sled, and life was good again. 


. Going back to happy and fond memories is a great way to give you a boost, make you happy, and make time go faster. Thinking about your loved ones and friends too. 


. I had always be quite cynical about life and people, but I realised that most people were very keen to help and support me. I just had to ask for help. So I have decided to be less shy and proud and ask for help next time I need it. I am not talking about asking for sponsorship money, but more like everyday life. I actually discovered the true value of friendship during this trip and I was and (am still) overwhelmed by how many people read this blog, send me messages while I was on the ice (although unfortunately I could not read them), and have since got in touch to congratulate. Thank you so much to all of you, you will never know how much you helped me.


. But the first lesson, must be the incredible power of the mind. I physically really reached rock-bottom on day 4, and thought that it was the end as I could not even contemplate to eat or drink without feeling sick. I was shivering non-stop, cold, and without energy. But then, seeing my guides concerned and trying to make me eat, made me realise that it was our expedition, and that what we started together, we had to finish together. And somehow, from somewhere deep deep down, I focused on this goal and found the physical strength to bounce back. So now I know that it is true that "when there is a will, there is a way!".

Arriving in Isortok in style behind a dog sled

Petter and Per-Thore

Most people urge me to write a book about this experience, and I might do this, but it will take me a while to do so. It is still very raw and I have to think about it more. I have so many memories, so many emotions to sort out. I am incredibly glad that I did this trip as it was very beneficiary for myself as well as the charities I chose. Should I have done this before? Maybe, but as one cannot rewrite history, it was probably the best time in my life to do it. But one thing is sure. I truly believe that this would be a hugely beneficiary gap year trip. As it dead flat, white and there is absolutely nothing to look at for 20 days, and that we always think about something, it is like a mental retreat. Very interesting! Although, I must admit that many days were spent fantasising about... food!! The dried-freeze rations tasted all the same in the end, and the last days, our ultimate treat was biltong with mashed potatoes!! So we talked endlessly about food, exchanged recipes, favourite restaurant names, etc... 

In Iceland!

Hi Everybody,

Thank you so so much to all of you for your amazing support throughout my expedition and also for so many lovely messages congratulating me on successfully completing the crossing. It was an truly unforgettable adventure and although it was incredibly tough at times and I seriously questioned my sanity over embarking on such a project.... I am so glad I did it.

It taught me that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want. Somehow your body will find the physical resources to do it.

Many times I believed that I was at the end of my strength and could not go further. But then, one look at my 2 guides was enough to pull myself out of any negative thought. We were a team and I had to keep going because I also knew how much this meant for them. For example, when after the second evening that I did not touch my meal as I was so tired and I really reached rock-bottom, they turned around and told me that if we wanted to cross Greenland, I HAD to eat, I understood that this expedition was not only about myself and my goals, but that I was jeopardising their expedition too, and I could not do this to them. And right there and then, I had the full justification for supporting "Right to Play"!! Team spirit was my motivation, it made me find the strength and gave me the confidence I needed, and now we are three great friends!

It is also amazing how much thinking about happy lovely memories made the going easy and the hours go fast, and how negative thoughts or anger always slowed me down and brought self-doubt. And we had a lot of time to think, so I trained my mind to think positively. I thought about my lovely friends, their messages, music, letters, presents and sponsoring, and all the people reading this blog. I thought also about the great charities that I am helping and the wonderful work that they do with children. I thought about my family, my children, Klaus, my parents, my siblings, realising how their full support for this project had made it so much fun to plan and organise. Any of them could have easily spoilt my enthusiasm by giving me some bad conscience and make me feel irresponsible to be quasi unreachable for a month, but instead they encouraged me. And I cannot put into words how grateful I am to them and how much this means to me, because it gave me the possibility to do what I am passionate about, which is to help give some children in the world, a chance for a better and brighter future.

Re-reading this blog entry makes me realise that my re-entry into my "normal" life will be probably a bit difficult as I have so many thoughts and emotions to digest!! So please be patient with me! I will try to do my best to keep the blog alive by adding pictures and more thoughts!

Here are some pictures and hopefully more will follow:

pulling my sleds on the ice cap

Congratulations Sabine from your Norwegian Friend

So impressed was one of Sabine's friends when they heard that she had just completed her incredible challenge ski-ing 550km across the Arctic Circle, that Children in Crisis and Right to Play have just received an incredible £5000 offline donation in sponsorship of our Extreme Mother.

If you would like to sponsor Sabine, please go to her Virgin Money Giving fundraising page now: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/sabinediederichs  

Extreme Mother - Finishes her challenge of a lifetime

I have just received a text message from Sabine.  Her first to me in 22 days!

Sabine and her guides completed their challenge last night at 7pm Greenland time!! She is OVER THE MOON!!!

The challenge was very hard right up until the very end.  But they managed to hitch a ride back to Isortok from a local - Greenland style this involved them being pulled acrossed the frozen fjord behind 10 dogs. Absolutely terrifying as Sabine could here the ice cracking beneath their weight, and see the water moving beneath them...

The team's next challenge is to get back home as the only way from the east coast of Greenland is via Iceland and the rather large volcanic ash cloud (or of course to turn back the way they have just come - though I do not think Sabine will be up for that idea!!).

I would like to wish Sabine and her guides a HUGE congratulations from everyone at Children in Crisis and Right To Play - she truly is one incredible and extreme mother!

Day 20 - Nearly at Isortok...

Again very cold wind from the North and the sky is cloudy this morning. So we start well covered up but at least the snow is cold and holding so the going is easier. For the first 3 hours, the conditions are stable, but by the 4th hour, the wind has died and it is hot. The weather is really unpredictable in Greenland. However as soon as we takwe our jackets off, the wind starts blowing again from the ... South!! But soon it abates too and again it is really warm. The snow melts and sticks to our half skins. This drives me crazy as at the same time, I have some problems with one of my shoe which collects snow under its sole, making it very unstable and one of my sled keeps tipping due to bad loading.. I must say that I nearly lost the plot and was ready to cry. But in the end, I gathered myself, took off the half skins, reloaded the sled, and life was good again! After 10 hours, we set up
camp, and here we are, eating our freeze-dried food (veggie shepless pie, and mashed poptatoes.. Yum! Yum!).

In 2 days we should be in Isortok and I must admit that I can't wait. The last days have been very boring! 10 hours every day for 7 days, in the same landscape, just waiting for the mountains to appear and the downward slope to start. But we are going down, but so slowly that we don't feel it!! Never mind, tomorrow night we should
have our last camp just above the ice falls and it will be a change to see something else than this wide white barren expanse!

Day 19 - Leading the way across the white ice

Sunny but very windy and cold when we wake up this morning. The same north wind. We start due east and PT leads the first hour, followed by Patter. I lead for the third hour and it is so hard with these snow conditions. We have to go on a compass as all we can see is the white ice all around. I don't like compasses so I asked PT to put me on course and correct me if I deviate. But I manage to find marks on the snow, and a cloud here and there and manage quite well to keep a straight line. I am very happy when the 59 minutes are over.
As the weather is really quite unpredictable in Greenland, by the 4th hour, the wind has stopped and we are baking. We go on in our thermals, but even so we are feeling the heat. The weather stays nice for the rest of the day, and after 10 hours and another lead for me, we set up camp for the night.
We are 60 kms away from the ice falls and then it's a half day until Isortok (or so they say...). So fingers crossed we should finish on Sunday!!! What an incredible experience...

Norway's National Day!!

Very poor visibility today but no wind. We start again in this powder snow, and again our progress is slow and tough. I think that we won every step that we have done so far. We really should be going downhill by now, and feeling it, but no! We are working as hard as ever. Per-Thore and Petter take turns at the front again, and it is a long hard day. After 3 hours it starts to snow, then stops. A cold wind blows for a couple of hours, then stops, and like the last 2 days, the evening turns out to be beautiful with the sun coming out just in time to take some pictures and do some filming. We have done 32 kms in 10 hours, not bad due to the conditions!

It is Norway's national day today, so the boys have taken out their flag and are singing their national anthem while I film them. Then I conduct an interview of Petter as it is also his first Greenland crossing. PT refuses to be interviewed as long as there is no beer in front of him... (guess we'll have to wait until Isortok!)

It looks like the night is going to be very very cold as a cold wind has started to blow. We are freezing while having dinner and I change the Compeeds on my heels (a new blister has appeared...). Hopefully tomorrow morning the wind will have died, the sun will be out, the snow hard, and finally we will be going downhill and will be able to take off the half skins on our skis, and gliiiiiide!! (No big hope though....).

Day 15 and 16

Day 16

Blue sky today but really cold. We set off again in powder snow, and again our progress is desperately slow. The boys take it in turn to break the trail and I admire them as it is really not easy! The sleds are definitely sinking in the snow making it difficult to keep a course, so they are skiing and at the same time checking the compass and GPS often. We set up camp after 10 hours of skiing, frankly mostly slightly uphill. It is frustrating as we should be going downhill to Isortok! Well, hopefully tomorrow, we will start skiing down for real!
We are totally fantasizing about food. We talk about it non-stop. Antonia, Lucy and Rebecca beware, the boys are dreaming about the canapes of the party!! They also dream about a beer, and I know what will be our first port of call in Isortok!!
Apparently the weather is going to be good for the rest of our trip, with possibly the exception of tomorrow when we might have some wind and clouds.

Day 15

Very frustrating and hard day today. We have deep powder snow and our skis and sleds sink in it. Every step is a mission and we only cover 26kms in 9 hours. Per-Thore and Petter take turns at the front to break trail, and I am in second position so that the track is a little bit easier for the one who has come off the lead. Unfortunately we have just gotten the news that the weather is probably going to worsen and that the wind will blow in our faces. So it looks like tomorrow will be another very hard day. What is also very frustrating is that we should be going downhill which should make it easier with the sleds, but it does not feel like it at all.
Anyway we are really tired and off to bed to have a good rest and try to put a long day in tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Valerie!

Today is Valerie's birthday, the eldest of my lovely children. It must be one of the first time that I don't celebrate with her and it makes me a little homesick. Today is also Nicholas's apposition at St Paul's. He got his nomination for physics, and I am also very sad to miss it. But I know that they are well looked after by Klaus and that they are 100% behind me on this adventure.

We had a good and a bad surprise when we woke up this morning. The good surprise is that the wind has died.The bad surprise is that now a lot of fresh snow is lying on the ground and that it is very tough going. Our skis go deep in fresh snow (about 10 cms), and our sleds don't glide well. It is really hard work. It is probably made worse by the fact that we didn't move yesterday and our muscles are very stiff. However we plough on for 9 hours (I put my skis exactly in Per-Thore's tracks so that they don't sink too much) and cover a respectable 30+ kms. All day the sky has been cloudy nd the light has been very flat, making the snow look a menacing grey. However, as soon as we stopped for the night, the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely evening. We did some filming.

I must say here that I am unbelievably grateful to Brynje for fitting me from head to toe with their clothes. They are unbelievable. My jacket is totally windproof and very soft to the touch and to wear. The balaclavas, neck warmers, hats and thermals are wonderful, very warm but extremely breathable. And my tent clothes are great. It makes a huge difference to be comfortable and warm in this environment, and the Norwegians certainly have quite a lot of experience in polar expeditions.

Day 13 - A well deserved day off..

We woke up today to a raging wind and a very limited visibility. This would not be a problem would the wind not be blowing directly in our faces. As we have been skiing so fast and are actually 4 days ahead of schedule, we decided to stay where we are for a day and hope that the wind will have died by tomorrow. So we take it easy, eat some of our food, as anyway we have much too much, and drink plenty of tea and coffee. I also took the opportunity to change my clothes (the boys keep exactly the same clothes from top to bottom for the whole trip... Hmmm!).
Maybe I should tell you a little bit about my teammates. Per-Thore is 45 yuears old (we celebrated his birthday in DYE2, and he is a former Norwegian army special forces. He went to Bosnia, the Middle East and Somalia. He is the ultimate born leader and tough guy. The only person he is afraid of is his wife (who, I am told is the prettiest and nicest person by the way..). He is now big into dogsledding (he has 80 dogs) and organizes weekly trips out of the arctic town of Alta. This is how I met him last year. Per-Thore usually skis in front, sets the pace and the pauses. He chooses the route and places to camp. I feel really safe under his leadership and appreciate his calm. It helps that he has a wicked sense of humour.
Petter Thorsen is 44 years old. He is a former Norwegian army Seal. He is a great friend of Per-Thore and they complement each other to perfection. He is a real chatterbox and when he is with PT, they talk and laugh non-stop, unfortunately in Norwegian... He organizes the camp, food and keeps an eye on the material. He is also our cameraman and does a stellar job. He films, interviews, take pictures, and nothing is too tiring or difficult for him. He is an amazing skier. He is also really kind and caring and if he sees that I am tired and slowing down, he will stay with me and it helps a lot.
I feel very safe with the two of them. I know that they were very concerned when I started to have a blister on day 1 (the only one by the way), and were even more worried when I was so tired on day 3 that I could not eat or drink for 2 days. But they really managed to motivate me without scaring me. And I rallied and now feel perfectly at ease in this most inhospitable environment. I know that I owe them a lot and I am convinced that I would have given up, if it would not have been for those 2 toughies who in fact are much softer than they look.

Day 12

Yesterday night was the coldest we had so far. It is really horrible to wake up and find that all the area around your mouth has been covered in frost. It is so cold and I really don't want to move.
We woke up again to a beautiful day (Happy Birthday Pierre!!) sunny and warm and took off in our thermals again. The first hours we broke off all our speed records with an average of over 4 kms an hour. This was fun but I started to get tired after the 5th hour. So we slowed down a little. We reached the summit (it is a big name as the ice cap is totally flat...), and took pictures with our national flags. That was fun. As soon as we were finished, we noticed that the weather was changing and some cold wind started to blow. So out came the jackets, gloves and balaclavas, and we went on. We stopped after 30 kms and set up camp, as there is really no need to go too fast. We will only get stuck in Isortok. As it is, we have changed our tickets to go to Iceland, but now we face a big problem as all internal flights that we need to take in Greenland are full!! We are trying to find a solution, but it is not like there are many daily flights!

Day 10 and 11

Day 10

Brrrr.... Today was really cold (-20 C) with a really bitter wind. So we started with balaclavas, face masks, and the lot! There was a track which was visible in the snow and as, for once, was ready first, I took the lead The snow was good and we were really fast. We skied like this for 10 hours, and covered an amazing 34,1 kms. As it was really very very cold, we didn't hang out during the breaks and that helped our speed. We set up camp and once inside, with the stove on, it was much warmer and cosier. The evening turned out really nice as the wind died and the sun shone.
Our progress may seem very slow to some people, so let me explain how you could get a feeling for it (in fact this is how we train for such a trip). Put on a pulling harness and about 2.5 meters behind, attach a tyre to it (a good size tyre, as it is the beginning of the trip... something like the back tyre of a Lamborghini). Then find a nice beach, take 2 walking poles, and start dragging your tyre for 50 minutes at a time. Then take a 10 minutes break during which you must drink and eat plenty. And you can go on for 8 to 10 hours a day for 3 weeks. If you need to go to the toilet, try the freezer!!!! I know, it is irresistible.... As I am nice, I'll let you go back home at night, and will not force you to eat freeze-dried food. Jealous? I knew it..

Day 11
Well, you never know what to expect in Greenland when you wake up, and this morning it was fresh snow! But amazingly the outside temperature was really warm. So we set off in our thermals and followed Per-Thore who has the GPS and compass. We thought that we were going to do a short day of 22 kms, but after 8 hours we had covered 27 kms, which is really good. So we stopped, the weather having become much colder. We set up camp and we are now thinking that we could finish the crossing in 19 days instead of 23. Unfortunately this would probably not mean going back home sooner, as there are not that many flights from where we arrive on the east coast But at least we will be able to put some weight back on!!

Thank you so much to all of you who have sent me music, pictures, messages and presents. It is so nice to sit here in the tent and open them at random. I enjoy each one of them and it keeps my spirits up. I can't wait to see you all again, and thank you for helping me and the wonderful charities that I am supporting.

DYE 2 - Exploring the Radar Station

After a really hard day yesterday when we walked 33 kilometers uphill in 10 hours to reach DYE 2, we took it easy this morning. I was absolutely tired and freezing when we reached camp yesterday. It was terrible as we could see DYE 2 since the day before, but bit took forever reaching it. There is a scientific camp next to it and a huge runway on snow delimited by flags. For a long while, we thought that the flags were other people pulling sleds and going the same direction as us... The things that tiredness can do to your mind...
So this morning, after a really lazy time in bed, we went exploring DYE 2. This enormous radar station was built by the Americans during the cold war, and it looks like something out of a James Bond movie. It is absolutely enormous and there is a huge metal structure underneath to support it and to allow for ice movement, I presume. We went inside and found offices full of documents (even microfilms), bedroom full of furniture and garbage, a kitchen so dirty and full of rubbish that it was unreal, a larder full of food, storerooms with all kind of electrical equipment, even an infirmary with medicines. I believe that the station was abandonned in 1988, but it looks like it was all its occupants fled. It is really a shame to have such a garbage dump in the middle of Greenland!
We left the place at 2 pm and walked for 5 hours in a beautiful sunshine, no wind, and it reconcilied me with this trip. I must say that yesterday night I really questionned my sanity and wondered why I had put myself through such a tough challenge. But tonight I am happy again and I am now going to sleep as we have a very long day tomorrow.

Still uphill... but still going!

This is Lucy from Children in Crisis - I have just received an answerphone message from Sabine out in the Arctic.  She has had a half day today to rest after a really long day yesterday.  

Day 8 (Sunday) was a really heavy going day for Sabine.  The team spent over 10 hours trekking uphill. After ski-ing for 33km, Sabine and her guides thoroughly exhausted had to set up their tent.  Sabine spoke in her answerphone message of how she had to use her last ebb of energy to warm up her aching limbs, melt some ice for water for cooking with that evening and crawl into her sleeping bag. 

With three to four more days of uphill skiing to go, Sabine is really looking forward to when the hills flatten up.  On Sunday they spent the day following the tracks of a snow mobile - all Sabine could think of was how much she wished the snow mobile would come and pick her up...  Although everything around her is so incredibly beautiful, the challenge is immensely tiring and Sabine is finding it much harder than she thought she would.  But, in her answerphone message Sabine thanks all of her friends, family and supporters for sponsoring her and believing in her as she is having a life changing experience unlike anything she could have ever imagined.

The first 3 days!

Me and one of my guides packing up our kit before setting off.

We left point 660 at 11.30 and started to ski up the glacier.The first 200 meters were really bad. I fell, I screamed, but then it got better except when we had to go up on blue ice: no traction, sliding sleds and it reminded me when I broke my knee ligament on ice. But I guess you get used to everything so I managed 6 hours on that horribly difficult terrain.

We sat up camp and after a good nights sleep I was ready to go.

There is a lot to do in the morning and everybody has his task. Between waking up and skiing it takes about 2,5 hours.

Although the morning was still on glacier with blue ice it gradually became less steep therefore easier. The last 4 hours of skiing was a treat. No wind sunny and flatter. Setting up camp was fast and after dinner we slept.

When we woke up we had a bad suprise. It was very windy and cold. I put on my balaclava and goggles and we set off. I don't know if it was the wind or the fact that I couldn't see much but I felt totally exhaausted. After 10 hours of skiing I crashed and and I have never felt as tired in my life. Without my to PT"s I would have called the helicopter to rescue me 10 times today.They are really caring and pay a lot of attention my my physical and emotional state.

So far we have been doing 54 km uphill with heavy sleds which is very good and I am proud to be doing it for the two charities I have chosen. My childrens messages kept me going yesterday while I was listening to Brandan's music list, Emma and Koy letters were great fun and Clair's present made me feel glamorous. And tonight I am opening YoYo's letter "by the way YoYo you are mad wanting to go to the south pole. But you are adorable.

Busy in Greenland... finally!

What a wonderful feeling this morning to board the Air Greenland plane! Finally I am on my way.

I met Per-Thore in Copenhagen yesterday night and shared a nice meal in the hotel. Then I went to my room and went through all my bags about 20 times.. (no, I am NOT AT ALL stressed...), and finally went to bed knowing that I was as well organised as I will ever be!! This morning after a nice breakfast, we boarded our plane and had a very nice flight to Kangarlussuaq. It was cloudy over Iceland and also half way over Greenland. We met Petter at the airport (a very grand name for this dump), and went to our lodge (absolutely nothing whatsoever comparable to the wonderful Tordrillos lodge..).
There I found my sleds (Petter made a nice cover with my charity and sponsor), harness, skis, shoes and all the equipment I left with Petter. We spent the afternoon packing everything in million of bags and distributing them in the sleds. I have a bag in which I have packed 7 smaller bags with all my food for 1 day), another bag with spare clothes and medicines, another one with my valuables, and my "tent" bag which has all everything I need in the evening and night in 5 bags (washbag, pegs, journal, IPod and my bag of surprises and letters... Yeah!!....)

Valerie (my daughter) made me laugh so much yesterday as she gave me a "courage" bracelet with a card with the following message "I don't do silly mistakes, just very very clever ones!!!" I loved it. Of course she did not buy it in reference to my challenge, but because she knew it would make me laugh and she was right. I burst out laughing in the plane causing some people to look at me a bit strangely!

Petter is trying to come to grips with the beautiful Nikon camera. He has some problems with the sound and the quality of the image.
I have problems downloading my blog from the internet! Well I will try to sort it but I have the feeling that the solution will most probably involve the lovely Lucy at Children in Crisis!

BIG NEWS!! We are leaving tomorrow and not Monday. We have finished everything and got all the autorisations. So why wait? I am really happy and can't wait.

Next time you will get some news from me, I will be on the ice!!
Lots of love to you all!

Sabine
www.extrememother.blogspot.com

Almost gone!

So tomorrow is the big day!! My bags are packed. I rushed through a pre-royal wedding London this afternoon to find extra Nikon batteries, a good lapel microphone and some biltong, and almost went mental!! The traffic was absolutely crazy and to make matters worse, my taxi could not find anything better than to drive... in front of Buckingham Palace and down the Mall!! Suicidal.... When I asked him why he did this, he enquired if I knew London well!!!!!..... (grrrr.... do I really have SUCH a strong French accent????). You should have seen his face when I replied that I've been living here for the past 25 years.. Ha! ha!

But I am not going to let myself get too upset by this as I had two wonderful news today which made me soooooo happy, one regarding sponsorship, the other regarding Corsica.

Tonight, thinking about it all, I must say that I feel really blessed with my life. Not only because I was born in a loving family from educated parents and in a peaceful country (quite a lot of advantages over the children I want to help with this challenge... but also because of my wonderful friends!

First with my wonderful family. 

My children have always been the greatest source of joy to me. 

They are simply too good to be true. Too many qualities to name here. 

Then my parents who were always very supportive have become even more so recently. My mother has written the most touching messages to me and I love it. 

Klaus who is a wonderful family man and a great father, has really touched me with his generosity. 

And then with my friends. 

The one I knew well and knew I could count on and who have supported me since I started those fundraising challenges long ago.

The others that I know less well, but who have turned out to be equally amazing! Sponsoring me since day one and sending me messages of support.

Like the man who I don't know but who is a friend of a friend and who has sent me messages since the beginning of my blog and who today sent me the most amazing song on children!

Or, the very recent friend who has sponsored me very generously and who writes witty messages of encouragement.

The family who has decided to give me a sustantial donation from their family trust,

The ones who can't give me any money but who write, give useful advice and pray for me and are really touching with their  thoughtfulness,

All of those who have sent me a mail with a surprise attached to it, so that my children could print it and put it into an envelope

Roxy and Lucy's lovely dogjogger who brought this amazing chocolate to my house so I could take it with me to Greenland,

My chiropodist who had a card made specially for me.

Emma my expedition doctor who came all the way to my house to deliver her surprise card,

Sophie who gave me a good luck bracelet,

All the people at CIC and RTP as well as Antonia who work so hard for my campaign, 

And all the others too numerous to name who have given me wonderful memories to take with me.

I will not be bored pulling my sled as I will be thinking of each and everyone of you and it will bring a smile to my face (too bad for the wrinkles...) as it always does. I just wanted to say a big 

thank you 

and let you know that you are the most wonderful friends and that I was very lucky the day that my path crossed yours and I hope that  I will be able to transfer the energy, love and support you give me to the children I thrive to help and whose lives I would like to improve!

My schedule

I am planned to leave London for Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, the day of the Royal wedding!! By the time I board my plane, Kate Middleton will be reborn as Princess Catherine. On Friday night I will meet up in Copenhagen with Per-Thore and we will fly to Greenland on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon will be spent going through all our equipment, food and clothes. On Sunday we have to show everything to the authorities in Greenland and get formal approval to start the crossing. They really want to make sure that we are very well prepared and that the chances of having to do a Search and Rescue operation for our group is reduced to a minimum. 

And on Monday, off we go! 

I do not know until when we will have phone contact from then on, but our satellite phones will work. I will try to update my blog as often as I can, but was already warned that emails don't work all the time. I'll do my best. I should fly back to London on May 26th.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who gave me or sent me a surprise to take with me across Greenland, or who simply wrote the most lovely and encouraging messages and mails. It made me quite emotional. I think that I will have enough surprises (but please don't stop sending them, I need your support) to open at least an envelope everyday if not many more while listening to some beautiful music wrapped in my warm Tordrillos jacket. Doesn't it sound like heaven?! I WILL really look forward to my evenings in the tent... And if I slack during the day, I even have plenty of workout playlists to help me keep a steady rhythm... 

All of this will bring back to me some of the most wonderful and happiest memories of my life, of loved ones and great friends, and will  give me strength and warmth. I am going to miss you all so much, but you will be with me in my thoughts, and I look forward to put back on the weight while boring some of you to death with my stories over lunch or dinner for many many months to come!! 

I will end here with the very encouraging quote from Bernard Pivot that my mother sent me when I told her that I doubted my physical fitness: 

"the body is so famously proud and vain that it doesn't want to forfeit its owner while an important game is being played". 

(in French: "le fameux orgueil du corps qui ne veut pas lacher son proprietaire quand se joue une partie importante")

Hopefully, it is true!!

3 days to go!!

I finally uploaded Petter's little movie on You Tube so that the few of you who don't have Facebook can also have a laugh!

Here is the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZz8fxLSU9k

I can't believe how time flies!! I am going to go to the gym this morning as I feel so unfit. Then I have to go and try to find the few items which are still missing. An IPod, beef jerkies (difficult to find here but I have seen signs for a South African butcher near Richmond Park and will go there), and some of Tesco's delicious trail mix. I will start packing tonight and I don't know how everything will fit in my bag. Thank God, I have two big sleds in Greenland...

I wonder what will go through my mind during the trip as I will have 9 hours per day where I will be in my bubble (knowing me it will be less as I am such a chatterbox and poor Petter and Per-Thore will have to listen to my constant bla, bla, bla....). Until now, I must admit that a certain anger has been a very efficient fuel during my past challenges, especially trekking. The less happy I was in general, the faster I walked. That way, I had to concentrate so hard on where I put my feet that I could not think too much about my life... 

But, I also always wanted to write a book. Will the inspiration come on the ice cap (or will I have to go to the South Pole or to some other lost place for that)? I also have a zillion ideas for setting up a charitable structure to help children and animals. Maybe I will be able to sift through all of those and come with a workable plan. After all, I have two solid, no-nonsense men with me for 3 weeks and they will be able to make me think realistically. All inequalities in this world really make me angry, but even more so when it affects children and their education. It is a reality, but I find it an injustice, that good education is very expensive and that a lot of good parents with clever children just can't afford it. Shouldn't our taxes cover good education? 

Maybe I just found the anger which will fuel me on the ice!!! 

I might do the crossing in 1 week........

Greenland reality TV style!

A TV company (I don't want to say the name as I don't want to jinx it...I know it's silly, but that's me!) has come back to me and they want us to film my crossing "reality TV style" with the idea to perhaps make a documentary. They want me to be as candid as possible, especially telling about the things and people I miss the most, what drives me mad, the tough moments, the screams, the tears, and of course the laughs. I am sure that this will be another excuse for Petter to interview me as I just wake up in the tent in the morning!! Such a lovely hairstyle! For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook and therefore couldn't see it, Petter my guide made a very short "Indiana Jones" style movie from my training in Norway, and my hair looks like if I had just been electrocuted. The funny thing is that I am totally unaware of this.. (I wanted to upload the movie here, but for some reason, it is taking hours and I need to go to bed!). 

So off I went to a specialised photographic shop in London and spent a little fortune on a beautiful Nikon camera with all options and accessories as well as half a dozen 32GB memory cards!! But hopefully, if the movie/documentary comes out well, Antonia and her team will be able to get an English TV company interested in buying it, and the funds raised will go to the two charities which would be great.

Thank you to the FEW of you who have sent me a surprise! To be honest, please make an effort. Many many more of you need to do this!! Please send me a joke, a cartoon, a letter, whatever to make me smile after a hard day's work. You all know that I laugh quite easily and have my email addresses, so it shouldn't be too hard...

It's only five days until I go and my mind is starting to play games making me doubt myself! Am I fit enough? Did I train well enough? Will my body sustain the effort? Will I be able to pull so much weight uphill the first two days? Will I get blisters? Frostbite? And on, and on... I can't really say this in front of my children as I don't want to worry them, but I AM really scared of the physical side of the challenge. But at the same time, I can't wait to go... Does it make sense? Typical I guess...

Well by this time next week, my sled should be packed, and my harness, skis and poles ready for action. I should have my permit and the authorisation to go in hand and next Sunday night, I should be in Kangarlussuaq, spending my last night in a comfortable bed for a while!! 

  

A bag of surprises from my friends to cheer me up!

It would be a wonderful help for me if as many of you could send me a surprise with a message to open while I am on the ice. It can be some jokes, a picture of something you know will cheer me up, a poem, an invitation, whatever you think will help me keep my spirits up and that I can print on a sheet of paper! The more I have, the better it will be. I will put them in a bag and randomly pick one up every evening. Unfortunately, I can update my blog and call briefly some evenings, but cannot receive anything! So you have to do this before Thursday April 28th!!


You can send them to my private mail: sabinediederichs@googlemail.com (sabinediederichs@hotmail.com works too) with SURPRISE written as title so that I don't open it. I will ask my children to open it, print it and put it in an envelope with your name and any message. Thanks in advance!


Please, please, be many to do this. I count on you. Apparently the weather has been very difficult in Greenland and many expeditions have had to turn back because of frostbite and wet equipment. With my two seasoned Norwegians, I don't think that it will happen, but we might not escape the very cold and bad weather. So I need to have something to look for when I come back to the tent in the evening (something else than loud snores and freeze dried food!!!). 

9 days to go! Great news!

Three great news today! 
. Lovely Dee who did my promotional video has had her baby, a little boy called Noah. 
. The Right to Play have managed to get Chelsea Football Club to give me a shirt signed by all the team as a sponsorship incentive. I am going to put it in a draw in which the names of all my individual sponsors will go (however much or little they gave), and draw it on July 6th when I have my charity evening. 
. Lucy from Children in Crisis and Antonia have been busy organising the Party and have done a fabulous job. It will be in a lovely place with an auction, coverage by a magazine, goodie bags, celebrities, the lot... I'm soooo excited.
Now the only thing left to do is... for me to cross Greenland!! (argh...)


I really can't wait to go! I feel that I am in good shape mentally and physically. To go to Alaska was definitely the right decision. I miss the snow. It is very difficult to train and to get motivated in London when the weather is so warm and beautiful. When I pull my tyre in the park, not only everybody does look at me like if I were a Martian, but there are millions of people, dogs, babies, bicycles and ice-cream vans everywhere and it doesn't make my life easy!! So probably the best is to stop training and put on some weight and fat for the trip and tuck happily into eclairs, croissants, chocolate, and all my favourite snacks (I have become an addict of Pitta chips and to my delight found them in Wholefoods). I can't believe that I am doing this before the summer but apparently I will lose a lot of weight on the trip!  


Only 9 days left and I am running through town to get the last things for Greenland. Petter has been giving me a list of bags and thermos to buy. Now, not only do we have two bank holiday weekends back to back in the UK because of Easter and the Royal wedding which means that Royal Mail will have a ...royal excuse to mess deliveries up (sorry, I couldn't resist!), but most internet companies having limited stocks, I now have orders with 5 different companies (yipieee!!). So I have been busy trying to chase these orders to make sure that the goods will be here by next Friday. Not easy in normal times, really hard while on jetlag!!


I have also been given many useful personal tips by fellow explorers (I love describing myself as an arctic explorer...), on sun protection, electrolytes and Vitamin C, blister control, well being, dry bags and hygiene (this is the really disturbing aspect of this trip...), so now I have purchased a zillion little things of which I am probably going to use a tenth, but at least, I will have the choice on what to take with me on the trip. I count on my two fellow guides to go through all these ruthlessly in Kangarlussuaq, as otherwise my sleds will not only look like over inflated balloons, but will also weigh a ton!! But I will definitively follow David Marchi's lovely idea. He said that I should ask some friends and family to give me a surprise (small and light) that I will take with me on the trip and I open one of them randomly perhaps every three or four days to perk me up. I have already two music lists and can't wait for my kids's surprises. I added my personal treat (a sample bottle of my perfume..)! If anyone wants to send me something to take along from them (photo, poem, letter, whatever), please do so and send it to me at sabinediederichs@googlemail.com (I'll try not to look at the attachment and will ask one of my children to print it and seal it in an envelope! Maybe write surprise for Greenland as mail title so I don't open it...)

Back from Alaska

After a fabulous week of training in Alaska, I flew back to London. It will be difficult to go back to training on rollerskis in the park again, after the beautiful cold Alaskan snow. I had only one sled there, which means that it tended to sink in fresh snow thus making it more difficult to drag. But the harness I used and which was sitting tightly right under my hip bones was more comfortable than the shoulder harness I used in Norway. I found that it was much kinder on my back and made me use my legs more. The last day of training I decided not to use my poles at all and found out that it was actually great training for my technique. I must be careful not to use my arms too much as I need them for digging the snow when putting up the tent, but instead let my legs do the work as this is the right way to cross country ski. I could do this as I was on a track all day and the snow was pretty hard. The 50 minutes of effort/ 10 minutes of resting routine is also much easier now, and at the end of the week, I was really well organised and the rest time was plenty enough to eat, drink and recuperate. Of course, it probably did help that we ate very well in the evenings with plenty of delicious fish, crab and meat, so I had enough proteins and calories and so did not get tired from the exercise. In the mornings, I tried to have a similar porridge than the one we are going to have on the trip, and it worked very well.

Just 11 days to the start of the trip!! It is really coming fast now, but I feel that I am ready. My clothes from Bryjne should arrive at Petter's home any minute now and I am confident that they will fit perfectly. As I was leaving the lodge, Bret, the manager surprised me with a present. A big warm jacket to wear during the trip, and I must say that it was a very pleasant surprise as just looking at the Tordrillos logo will bring back some wonderful memories and make me very happy, which is what I will need when the going will get tough. I just need to buy some last food items and then I will have everything I need.

Just as I was coming through my front door, I got a call from Petter regarding our trip's insurance. It seems that the Danish authorities are very strict now on the level of insurance we have to take, as they had to conduct much more Search and Rescue operations last year due to big lakes forming on the ice cap from the melting ice. Siometimes those lakes are so big, that, not only are they very difficult to cross, but all the equipment becomes wet which makes it impossible to continue as we have no way of drying anything bigger than what can fit with us in our sleeping bags! But we all called our contacts who were wonderfully helpful and ressourceful and it seems that we have solved the situation. I just booked my hotel in Copenhagen on the way out on April 29th, and my return flight from Iceland on May 26th. So it looks like I am all set!

Extreme Mother - Promotional Film

Please watch my promotional film above and learn about the extreme mental and physical challenges that I will be undertaking every day of ski-ing the Arctic Circle.  I also explain how it is my belief in the work of Children in Crisis and Right To Play that motivates me to undertake such an intense challenge.


Also check me out training on roller skis in London's Hyde Park, and getting to meet the wonderful Chemmy Alcott who very kindly gave me some excellent tips to prepare me for weeks spent in such an extreme climate.


Please do help me to make a life-changing difference to 1000's of children and young people across the world - sponsor me at: www.virginmoneygiving.com/sabinediederichs


Thank you for your support.

Alaska

After a rather complicated journey to Alaska, Chris having to fly 24 hours ahead of me, we are in Tordrillos, which is probably one of the nicest ski lodge around. It feels like a second home, with a very relaxed atmosphere and only 12 guests, and on top of it the food is absolutely delicious. Everybody is always so keen to help.  I brought my randonnee skis which have skins for traction. and they have rented a sled with a harness so that I can train for Greenland. I had booked my trip long ago, before finding out that the crossing would start within 3 weeks of this trip. Of course, not wanting to take the risk of injuring myself, I have decided to take this opportunity to train on snow for a week.


The setting is also ideal for Chris, as the heli-ski is probably some of the best ever, and there is plenty of space for training pulling my sled. Unfortunately the weather was too cloudy to fly the first 2 days, so there was no heli-ski. It did not affect my training though and I loaded my sled with 200 pounds and headed to the meadow. It is ideal as a full lap is almost exactly 50 minutes long, which is the length of a Greenland stint. I did 3 hours in the morning, came back to the lodge for lunch and went back for another 3 laps. The meadow is ideal as I can follow the track but can also cut into deep snow which is probably more similar to the first 2 days on glacier after leaving Kangerlussuaq. There are some old snowmobile tracks which makes it even more difficult to haul the sled. GREAT training!! Today I did 6 hours in a stint, about half of them in deep snow. It was quite tiring, and my feet are really suffering, but it is probably nothing compared to what it will be on the real trek.


It is really nice to see Christophe having such a nice time. He is totally in his element and very at ease with everybody. He had a wonderful day skiing today, and it looks very good for tomorrow.


I am going to go on the glacier with a guide training tomorrow as that will be the best training for the first few days in Greenland when we have to climb up the glacier to reach the ice cap. Hopefully the snow will not be too deep as I found out that it is extremely hard to pull my loaded sled in deep snow on the meadow so I cannot imagine what going uphill would be like!

My fundraising DVD is done!

Dee, Ronit and all involved with filming and editing a short fundraising message on a DVD have done an amazing job! Thanks a million for it!! Shortly I will put the link on my blog, but I need to check with the bigwigs if I can do this!! We have been greatly inspired by the "brains on bikes" DVD of the amazing Anne Feeley which I found very inspiring. Hopefully it will be a fundraising success as sponsorship is very very slow to come! 


It has been a bit of a struggle to find a lot of time to train back in London, with the weather being so hot, thousands of people, dogs and children in the park, as well as the millions of things to organise for May. As if crossing Greenland was not enough, I am also renovating my house and had to find someone who understood my taste, could do the work on a tight budget and time. I am confident that I have found the right people and that they will do a great job! I will have to totally delegate as I am coming back from Alaska on April 18th, the day Miranda goes on Holidays and I will be gone to Greenland when she comes back to London!!! Any serious issue will have to wait until June. Well there are priorities in life, and I'd rather give my time to improve children's lives, than to make my house absolutely picture perfect. 


I really look forward to Alaska, the cold, the snow, a sled and a frozen lake. Somehow I am so tuned to Greenland that I feel like a stranger in the hot weather! I hope that I will have the willpower to train long hours while I am there. I am certainly going to try and load that sled to the max, so that the uphill going of the first 2 days of the crossing will be less painful. Hopefully I will also get all the blisters that I should get for a month so that I know exactly where to put my Compeeds. Whatever I do, or however I try to prepare my skin, I get terrible blisters on my toes. But I am used to it, and thanks to the modern plasters, it is really not that tragic anymore and I can carry on walking. I don't know how the first explorers did though! Apparently it has been snowing loads in Tordrillos, so my son will have the time of his life. 

Brynje

Today has been a day of good news.


First Jatinder of "Embroidery by Design" sent me the final proof for my expedition logo and it is great. I love it. It has both my charities's names on it, my beautiful "Extreme Mother" logo and a short message about the challenge. It also states what this is about as well as the date of the challenge.
Lars has added my name as he likes to make logo quite personalised. 


Then Margaret sent me a mail telling me that Brynje would be happy to give me their clothes for the expedition. I am really happy as these are the best and most technical clothes that I have ever worn. I wore a mesh underlayer while training for 4 days which was just amazing. I was never too hot nor cold, and it dried amazingly quickly. So I am really very happy and proud to be dressed in Brynje and I must say that I am so grateful to them as it saves me buying all the expedition clothes I need, (and which really, because of the harsh weather and non-stop wear, have to be different and tougher from the one I ski with in the Alps), and this would have been quite expensive. So thanks a million Brynje!