UKH

After years of having it on my bookshelf, I finally picked up James Cracknell & Ben Fogle's book on racing to the South Pole. And obviously, having an attraction to non-technical suffering, immediately decided that it sounded like great fun. A reading of Shackleton's 'South' hasn't helped.

An expedition to Antarctica seems likely to remain beyond my means and environmental conscience, however the idea of crossing Greenland is jumping out as a plausible alternative and a good longer-term ambition to work on. Not really looking for any specific information at the minute, just inspiration. Does anyone have any tales?

In reply to tehmarks:

No tales, but the arctic club are a good sources for funding.

In reply to tehmarks:

I'm confused. Did it encourage you or put you off? It should do the latter.

In reply to montyjohn:

As I don't plan on traversing Greenland with several tens of tons of stores and a large party of men and dogs from one ship to another across ground that no person has ever set foot or ski on before - no, I can't say it has put me off.

As an inspiring tale of exploration when exploration really was that, and of remarkable leadership and individual perseverance in the face of tremendous adversity - yes, that does make me want to go off and do adventurous things. Of course it does. Does it not make you want to go off and do adventurous things?

In reply to tehmarks:

You could watch this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Ice

Currently on Netflix...

In reply to tehmarks: I work with people who have, and have an ex who's crossed it.. so it's a very do-able goal, Hows your xcountry skiing? It's a lot of flat skiing on skins

In reply to tehmarks:

My post should be read as a joke. I really don't need any encouraging to questionable holidays. But I know I'm not normal.

In reply to tehmarks:

A couple of colleagues did an arctic 'race' there a few years back It was for novices, and was xx days skiing with pulks, and they had a near-death experience with a polar bear.  Article in the local paper. here:- https://guernseypress.com/news/2005/05/23/out-in-the-cold/

In reply to tehmarks:

Wicked! Sarah McNair-Landry has crossed it a couple of times, there are some good articles and films about it, e.g. https://www.redbull.com/us-en/explorers-5-into-twin-galaxies

In reply to tehmarks:

The bear threat would probably worry me the most. I'm not sure what the situation with permits is, but you would definitely need a high calibre rifle and some training in how to use it.

In reply to Strife:

Or take a few even bigger bears that you have a friendly relationship with 

In reply to Strife:

That would be my biggest worry for sure!  I'm not keen on using guides etc but going there solo would definitely scare me... not sure I'd sleep well at night!

I know of one person on here who did a crossing in a group and discovered at the end while waiting for pickup that they had the wrong ammo for their gun!  Luckily they saw no bears.  Imagine discovering that half way through... 😳

In reply to Strife:

This is the one factor that puts me off Arctic adventuring - not so much a worry as a moral issue. My desire to have fun doesn't trump another animal's right to live, and I don't like the idea of putting myself in a position where those things might come into conflict.

Is the bear problem generally confined to the coastal areas, or is it entirely plausible to encounter a polar bear 'properly' inland?

In reply to wbo2:

Never strapped cross country planks to my feet in my life...

(But that is eminently fixable)

In reply to J72:

Easier to take a companion who's slower than you

In reply to Toerag:

You know Steve and Simon?  My missus was on another team on that race and we skied across Baffin Island with them a couple of years later.  No polar bear encounters, luckily as you're not allowed firearms in Canadian national parks.

In reply to tehmarks:

Used to be just coastal, but there are more and more reports of bears being found in the interior due to limited food.  Not sure what they're hunting there, but there's definitely some chance these days.

Going in winter doesn't help either as the males can still be out.

In reply to tehmarks:

Didn't Andy kirpatrick do this at some point? Maybe have a trawl through his blog?

In reply to wjcdean:

probably, but it wouldn't be a stand out as it's quite a common thing to do.

You don't go in winter - there's a season

It's expensive as you need to put a deposit down for the helicopter (it's not free)

You don't need to be good at skiing as you're on crosscountry skis with skins swcrewed on, and they don't glide so well

You need some tractor tyres to practice hauling a pulk (drag them up and down the beach)

Cross Hardangervidda first and see if you fancy a month of it

I went and did some actual climbing instead

In reply to Strife:

I’ve not done a Greenland traverse but have worked on the ice sheet a huge amount, and the wider Arctic even more. On the coast there is some bear risk, but this is much, much lower than other Arctic areas like northern Canada or Svalbard. The population around Greenland is really low, unless you’re right up in the North - it’s just not a great habitat for them. If you start your traverse from Kangerlussaq or Ilulissat both are actually pretty far south in terms of bear range and habitat. On the ice sheet there’s virtually zero polar bear risk, there’s simply nothing to draw them up there. To put it in more real terms: in Svalbard or Arctic Canada I’d always take polar bear protection with me (read: rifle), in Greenland I’d barely think about it unless I was in and around Qaanaaq which is a weird place to do a traverse from anyway. There are a few more on the way coast I think, but I’ve no direct experience there to share.

In reply to tehmarks:

Some friends did this about 7 years ago with a commercial outfit mostly made up of ex-Norway SF bods. They'd skied across Svalbard the previous year. The first few days were spent gaining height and worrying about bears and the final couple of days were spent descending and worrying about bears. The three + weeks in the middle were spent "feeling like a pea on a dinner plate." 

They trained by going for long walks in dragging tyres behind them. Not for me but each to their own, if you like the idea of monotonous suffering then go for it, the feeling of relief when the coast comes into view must be profound.

In reply to George Ormerod:

Yeah, I've worked with them for years. Good lads they are .

In reply to ianstevens:

Yes, but these days, polar bears are seen every year around Kangerlussuaq. Probably something to do with climate changes. Some carry a .30-06, just in case, when crossing.

In reply to wjcdean:

Didn't Andy kirpatrick do this at some point?

In his podcast, Psycho Vertical, he talks about crossing Greenland on skis with a pulk. Pretty tough experience as I recall. I just skimmed through the episodes and couldn't find the right - his show notes are perfunctory - but I remember the episode was thorough. One thing in particular I remember, he recommended pigging out on pies ahead of the trip as the body needs more calories per day that one can reasonably carry, so he filled his clothes to bursting point pre-trip and they were hanging off him by the end.

In reply to Stefan Jacobsen:

I suppose it's only fair for the bears to get tooled up as the humans so often are.

In reply to Toerag:

Small world! 

In reply to tehmarks:

Essential, jaw-dropping and highly entertaining reading: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/the-first-crossing-of-greenlan...

In reply to MisterPiggy:

Yep, you need to fatten up; and it's also the reason why people in their 40s and older make good arctic explorers, they tend to be bulkier than younger people.

In reply to Toerag:

Despite being known as quite the pie-eater I've never really resembled one, being 5'8 and 60kg soaked-through. That said, I just did a month of walking up hills with a backpack this summer on fairly limited rations and didn't collapse of starvation, so maybe there's hope.

In reply to tehmarks:

Stupid question for the thread: are cross-country skis really that more efficient with a pulk than shuffling along on an alpine touring setup? I appreciate that they're not the right tool for the job - but I can't imagine there's much glide on cross-country skis if you've got a 30+kg sledge tied to your waist?

In reply to tehmarks: People use a fjellski, which is a bit wider than a normal cross country ski..  one recommended ski is the Fisher E99, which I have , and it only barely fits in an XC track.

You'll be on skins most of the time, so not much gliding

In reply to tehmarks:

The negative camber on XC skis means than there is a lot less drag when sliding them forward as they only touch the snow at tip and tail. The smaller surface area of the skins and lighter weight also help. 

I understand that the season has got much shorter so a few years ago several teams ran into problems when they got three quarters of the way across only to be confronted by impassable meltwater rivers.  With only a quarter of their food/ supplies left, it was not feasible to turn round and retrace their steps. I believe this led to issues finding insurers who had been hit by some massive payouts for rescues.

I am really impressed by the guys who kite across - often covering masssive distances each day.

In reply to wbo2:

And the reason not to use the touring skis I already own would be entirely a weight thing, I assume? A quick Google suggests the weight difference is a bit more than I'd first assumed.

In reply to Mark Bull:

Ah that makes a lot of sense, thank you.

In reply to tehmarks:

Touring boots aren't that helpful either, you won't need the stiffness or the weight.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Packrafts or Pulks that can be used as canoes, maybe. 

In reply to OwenM:

There was a good film doing the rounds of the outdoor/mountain film festivals a few years ago of two guys crossing Greenland. They had a pack raft (or maybe kayaks) but the key thing was they had a drone for filming which proved invaluable towards the end for surveying the way ahead.

In reply to Toerag:

I realise this is a lighthearted comment but I just wanted to note here for the record that it's not true.

Most of the major polar feats have been achieved by a person younger than 40. Any preponderance of people over 40 in polar adventuring is more to do with money than ability. Any of the older polar achievers of recent years, like Mike Horn and Geoff Wilson, succeeded because of experience they gained before they turned 40, not because they're lardy.

Putting on lots of fat beforehand is usually not a good idea. It can hinder training (which is more important), makes your clothes tighter (leading to chafing, 'polar thigh' etc) and throws your body out of whack. Just train hard, get your gear right and plan your nutrition properly.

In reply to OwenM:

They're also blister makers and wildly unsuitable for the job, as I found out a few years ago!  Proper expedition BC boots are like walking in normal hiking boots.

For those who say there isn't glide... well its not strictly true.  For the start, full skins will probably be needed and they won't glide.  But once on kicker skins, the glide makes a difference.  Even if its just a few cm per step, it adds up over weeks!  With a 30 kg pulk on flat firm snow, I can get a substantial amount of glide (couple of feet... enough to really speed along).  Normally much less though.

In reply to Damo:

Not quite true... Geoff was a Polar novice (though an experienced kiter and general badass).

See any polar explorer speak (or articles on Explorersweb etc) and they all talk about putting on weight before because they simply can't carry enough calories per day to maintain weight.   For stuff under 1 month though, it's not enough to fuss too much about.

In reply to crayefish:

Umm.. I think Damo’s too modest to do this:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Gildea

In reply to crayefish:

Why the hell would I want to do that? 

https://explorersweb.com/crossing-antarctica-how-the-confusion-began-and-wh...

Amundsen was 39 when he reached the South Pole. Erling Kagge was 29 when was the first to ski solo to the South Pole, 27 when reached the North Pole unsupported with Borge Ousland, who was also 27, then 34 when he kited solo right across Antarctica unsupported, Rune Gjeldnes was 33 when did a similar journey triple the distance and only 26 when he crossed the Arctic on skis. Rob Swan was 29 when he reached the South Pole in the first of the modern-style ski journeys.  Wally Herbert was 34 when he reached the North Pole, the first to do so on foot.

In reply to rsc:

So Damo’s actually got an Antarctic glacier named after him… 😃