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.