Wednesday 8th April: Heading North

Back in Spitzerbergen but with 24 hours of daylight - extraordinary! But stunning with blue skies and the mountains and half frozen sea in full view at the moment. It's only a few degrees below zero at the moment so we are hoping for a cold front to come through - I can't believe I am wishing for colder weather!!

A huge attempt to get to the plane after Philie and Vatches amazing wedding - so so touch and very embarrassed I had to dance to 'Doing it for the Girls' with the band in front of everyone as my north pole dedicated song! David Attenborough kept me company (a few rows in front) on the flights from London and should be in base camp when we are there, and David Hempleman Adams was chatting to us last night, so we are in the very best company - obviously including all of our little team; Inge Sohleim (Norweign Arctic legend) Henry Cookson (need not say more), Danny, Kevin, Sals, Farz and, Lou & I being the girls. All fantastic people and we are very excited to be going on such an adventure with them. It's also great Lou and I have the advantage of all our training to keep an upper hand on the boys. As well as almost feeling like locals being back in Svalbard again only 3 months later.

We've done phase 1 and are fully kitted up, food sorted, pulks packed, more fur brought for our jackets and now waiting for our flight to be dropped off on the ice as there is a blizzard. All keen to get out there and raring to go. Hoping walking on a frozen ocean will be less dangerous than ski doo-ing which we did yesterday. Lou was a complete speed demon and took on the boys including Henry and I was out of control, so much so I went up a super steep slope but gave too much gas at the top and gained 6ft of air which was interesting. Especially as I had just been caught stuck on a sheet of ice going up a less steep slope by some locals....humm I don't think ski-doos and I were meant to be.

Thinking of everyone and hope you enjoy following our hopefully smooth progress!

xxx

Sun 7th February: Guesthouse 102

Heads are a bit sore this morning but our sleeping bags are aired, our clothes washed and our bags packed. Off for a spot of last minute gift shopping (sealskin rug for Ness's bro Sean/ cuddly polar bear for my son Hamish etc) and then the airport for 1pm. Land 10pm London tonight, all things going well.

It's now really quite light and already we are noticing many more people around (everyone is young here - the average age must be 30, virtually no older people - perhaps it's too dangerous for walking sticks on ice?!) carrying powder skis and shotguns (by law, all must carry shotguns when out of town - those big, white bears are not so cuddly after all). Is a strange sight seeing people heading into town at night with shotguns slung over their backs but there we go. There's also zero crime here, which is a relief. (No fear of shoot-outs then!)

This is where we're staying: http://www.gjestehuset102.no/eng/aboutus.html It's 2km out of Longyearbyen and a gem of a find. Trond runs it, and has been amazingly good to us. We would recommend it highly, if you happen to find yourself out here - the gateway to the N Pole - one day.

See you all V soon! xx

Posted by Lou

Sat 6th February: Back at the ranch

We're back, we're safe, we're done!

It's been a great trip. We've learnt a huge amount and, importantly, have learnt that we thrive on expeditioning life. Phew. Bring on the North Pole in April!

Arrived back at the guesthouse in Nybyen (means "New Town") yesterday afternoon. Naturally, there was a mad rush for the showers. And naturally Ness and I both bagged the first ones after packing up/ hanging out (to dry) our kit in uber-quick time!! Which, also naturally, is most unlike us normally! Needless to say the shower was H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y. The best of my life. There were fears for my mental state after the team discovered I had gone for a second shower 2 hours later - but when they saw my hair, they understood: my rasta dreadlocks have been brushed out. Finally. Ali and I had right birds nests up top. Thank God I'm not going to return home a skinhead after all...

By 5.30pm we were in the sitting room celebrating Mary's (team Doc) birthday before heading into town for a pizza/ steak. Can't tell you how much we are anticipating dinner... Or how much we want to get home. Will never take family/ friends/ kettles/ anything forgranted again. So, so special to hear "my boys'" voices again and see them on Skype.

Now bring on that vino!


Posted by Lou

5th February 2010: Day 12, Adventdalen Valley – Heading Home - Claire Mcaleer

N78 11 34
E16 03 18
Distance travelled yesterday: 12.1km

Well, here we are at our last campsite on the penultimate day of our training expedition. It definitely seems like we are coming back to civilisation now. Having not been able to see any light at night other than starlight for the previous few days, tonight we can see the lights of Longyearbyen in the distance and even the mine that had become clear at the start of our expedition is now behind us, seen as an orange glow halfway up the mountain.

Marcus is leader today and decided on a relaxed style of leadership which apparently makes miracles work as even myself and Yolanda had our tents down and our pulks packed ready to go ahead of schedule. It snowed during the night so we all woke with a nice dusting of snow on our tents this morning and the skies continue to be overcast all day today such that even after the day got lighter our surroundings were distinctly grey and eerie still.

These conditions make it difficult to judge the contrast of the terrain ahead but as usual we ploughed ahead at a steady pace led by Ali our navigator at the front. Over the last 10 days we have definitely become more skilled at pulling our pulks at a steady pace and today while skiing next to Ali and looking back at the rest of our team skiing in formation I felt really proud of what we have achieved.

As the valley opened up on the route home we had our closest encounter yet of several caribou. It was at this point that Howard had decided to delay our progress home by getting us to simulate skiing in whiteout conditions by tying up to together in our lines and staying close to the person ahead of you. The caribou watched for a while before heading off uninterested and we continued to experiment with ways of tying ourselves together.

The grey conditions also made distance perception rather tricky today and it was slightly bewildering to find that although we could see the spot we were heading for quite early on in the day it never seemed to get any closer until a few hours later all of a sudden we arrived.

We have reached the road back to town now and decided to make camp next to an old disused building which would once have been used when the mining industry here was more active. Simon has built a Taj Mahal style luxury snow latrine to celebrate our last night camping.

Tomorrow we will trek the last 7km back to the guesthouse where I’m sure there will be lots of queues for the showers where we can all get ourselves properly clean. I think everyone’s looking forward to getting back for a nice meal that is not rehydrated and a warm bed with no bear watch to wake up for. The mood of the team is buoyant, we’ve all learned a lot and I think it’s safe to say that we have all enjoyed ourselves and worked well together.

In case this is the last diary entry I’d like to say a few ‘thank yous’ to our staff, Howard, Em and Mary for keeping us safe and happy and to the rest of the team who have shared this experience with me, thanks for being such a great bunch of people and here’s to many more years of adventure and exploration.

4th February: Day 11, under Trango and Marmot – Ness Lindsay

N78 11 09.8
E16 16 26.7
Distance travelled yesterday: 10.9k
Average speed: 2.9km/ hr

From the dulcet tones of Lee snoring to the very cross and assertive wake up, or rather "get up", call from Simon at 7am for our planned early 9am departure (I’m sure Simon enjoyed it a bit too much!)...

At least it had been a mild night, so getting up wasn’t too painful and with Lee as leader ('leading from the top') it was already a big day. After a brief meeting, a few friendly reminders from Howard, our guru guide, about shovel hygiene (it is vital that the shovel used for the loos - the aptly named "shit shovel" is NEVER used for shovelling snow into our stoves!!) and final dashes to the loo, we were off just after 9.30am – our earliest departure to date.

After a couple of kilometres heading right and west up the valley and some animal spotting (still yet TBC whether it was an Arctic fox, wolf or caribou - dear) Howard called us to a halt for a little hauling exercise. An hour and a half later, all pulks and people had been hauled up to the top of the 80ft valley wall, thanks to with some over-excited crevasse kit use. (Howard then told us about a much simpler and quicker way of getting up the slope!)

A lunch-bothy stop at the top and we were off again to find a spot to belay us down to the valley floor again. After a brief discussion, each person was tied up and sent off over the edge, some were lowered more quickly than others!!

Unfortunately there was a small omission of bringing down Howard’s skis and an ice axe, which meant Howard had to climb solo back up and bring them back down himself - sorry Howard, we promise to make it up to you!

With us quickly cracking on pulk-pulling along the Valley and Phil and Mark back navigating in front, we caught up some ks before finding camp for the night just after 5pm, having had time to add our own impromptu assault course down a slope and various freestyle methods of getting down it with the pulks at our heels, most involved getting acquainted with the snow!

The camp routine is getting slicker and more designer loos were erected - I never knew there were so many different ranges!

It’s been a very mild night and it’s strange to be in sight of the lights of the coalmines and orange hue of Longyearbyen in the distance again. I’ll miss the starry skies, night-time lightshows, frozen snowy white valleys and hills. At last for me it’s time for an early bear watch then bed. It’s hard to believe there is only one more night on our snowy mattress and with our tent partners: what will I do without hot blackcurrant drinks made by Lee every morning?! Oh well, I’ve got 20 hours to decide what my last rehydrated meal of this mini-expedition will be... Oh the dilemnas!

Good night and sleep well all.

P.s. Lee’s leadership tip of today: “The leader is only as good as the people around him.”

This post was written by Ness Lindsay.

3rd February 3: Day 10, Adventdalen Valley - Ali Kershaw

N78 11 29
E16 30 37
Distance travelled yesterday: 10k.

Getting up for bear watch is never a great feeling when you climb out of your toasty sleeping bag, but once you are out and a hot drink in hand it never feels too bad and last night’s shift was particularly enjoyable, as not only was the sky littered with more stars than I have ever seen but Dom and I were treated to two hours of nature’s very own lightshow with constant green dancing auroras which filled the sky. The two hours spent staring into space on reflection were probably not our most diligent bear watch to date but certainly one of the most enjoyable.

Today has been another great day with clear skies most of the day and spectacular views around us. We packed up as usual and set off at Dom’s request, who is leader today and I think everyone was very pleased to get moving after last night, as it had been the coldest night we spent here so far.

With Mary and Mark setting a perfect pace for the group we climbed our way back up the valley we had passed through yesterday and sadly it’s time for us to head for home. I say sadly because the last few days have given everyone the chance to really see some beautiful scenery and I know many of us would have liked the chance to go further up the valley. However we were hampered at the beginning of our expedition by the bad weather and so last night’s camp will be our furthest for this trip

I think everyone enjoyed today’s walk, with perhaps the exception of poor Yolanda who wasn’t feeling great but battled on like the true team player she is and I know that everyone hopes the clear weather we have had for the last two days continues.

At about 4pm we started looking for a suitable stop to make camp and as we were looking we came to a stop where we could make out the movements of a large animal ahead; we lost sight of it in the darkness which was quite eerie put proceeded to prepare ourselves with flares at the ready and, although we don’t know if it was a bear, I for one will be slightly more nervous on bear watch tonight which will be from 3-5am.

We’ve made camp and the usual hustle and bustle of camp can be heard from everyone sat in their tents: stoves are roaring away heating water for dinner, drinks and water bottles; ice axes are chipping away to make room for ice screws and guy ropes; people are chatting, reading, or writing diaries and the occasional yell for "Who's got a shovel?" or "Water?" (fuel is precious so spare hot water is distributed to the team for drinking or filling flasks or hot water bottles), can be heard.

So what have I learnt whilst I’ve been here? Well, lots. But some thoughts I have for now are...

I’ve learnt that I:

- I hate the wet cold ice on my sleeping bag in the morning
- I love walking through the spectacular scenery we are surrounded by
- I’m a lot happier in my own company when skiing single file than I thought I’d be
- I miss daylight
- I hate getting up for bear watch
- I love the time on bear watch to appreciate my surroundings in silence whilst everyone else sleeps
- If I spill my food, I can just wait for it to freeze and flick it off!
- Dehydrated ration packs are a commodity that can be traded
- How much I miss Charlie (boyf), friends and family
- But most of all I’ve learnt that for me surviving in the cold is going to be a challenge but one that I’m keep to pursue.

To me this has been the last big stepping stone on a 2 year plan of getting to the point where I can undertake a polar journey, although I know that it will be tough, I’m looking forward to the next step of my Arctic adventure.

Thanks to Ali Kershaw for this post.

2nd February – Day 9 - Eskerdalen Valley - Louise Cameron

N78 12 46
E16 54 55
Distance travelled yesterday: 10.7km
Temperature: -22°C

This is what it’s all about! Today, Day 9, was magical - really great. My excellently efficient tent mate Simon was team leader and more than rose to the challenge. After a 7am wake-up call, he had us all in the meeting room (the big 8-man tent) by 9am, fed, watered, flasks filled and pulks packed ready for the morning meeting. Soon after, we had tents down, were harnessed up and moving out, with Nessy (navigator) heading the charge and Simon leading from behind.

It was with mixed emotions that we left camp as realisation dawned that a week today we will be back home and at our desks. Of course we can’t wait to see loved ones and friends (who are more and more in our thoughts as the days go by) and return to creature comforts (steak, red wine, showers, baths, beer and pizza, seem to be the most vocally missed). But as it was such an incredibly beautiful morning we also savoured the moment as we realised just how special it is to be here.

At last the eternal night/ twilight is lifting; we woke to a vast expanse of light blue and a gently cloud scattered sky and were teased by a suggestion of the sun behind a distant mountain.

This, combined with a nose-dive in temperatures (ironically, none of our thermometers seem accurate - they read up to 8 degrees differently - but this morning was noticeably colder with a real bite in the air) and another good dusting of light powder snow last night, meant that we were all eager to get on the move and spirits are high.

Nessy kicked out of camp at quite a pace, turning right (heading East) back into the valley. Adventdalen stretched out before us in all her magnificence – a rolling white wilderness of low mountains either side and a long, snaking, wide frozen river ahead and behind. Watching the group walking down the valley in parallel lines was an impressive and endearing sight; we are beginning to feel like the Ice Warriors we all hoped we might become.
Some six hours later we had made good ground passing through the Brentskaret and into the Eskerdalen Valley heading towards Sassendalen. We are beginning to work quite efficiently as a team now and only stopped for three short (5 min) water, loo, and nosebag breaks today.

At 4pm, having covered almost 11k at a speed averaging 2.7k an hour (it sounds slow but it really isn’t – on skis, pulling the pulks uphill), we stopped to camp behind a "pingo"(knoll) which proved a welcome shelter from the wind. Already night was closing in and we needed head torches again.

Now it is 9pm and camp is quiet apart from the crunch of "bear watch" feet outside. Skidoo tracks and an old mountain hut are the only signs of life out here, along with reindeer trails and the odd sighting of Arctic wolves.

I'll be up again at 1am for my two hour stint under the galaxy of stars outside (v v beautiful tonight - breathtakingly so), I’m going to snuggle down in my sleeping bag and bid goodnight. I’m going to fall asleep dreaming of my boys and hoping that tomorrow will bring another day like today… Thank you Jim, Howard, Em, Mary and TEAM!