Report 9: The Greenland Icecap Crossing the Nansen Route
Sept. 6, 2024
Right now I am inside the tent listening to the only program I seem to have left downloaded, an interview with the Norwegian football star, Ole Gunnar Solskjer! Yet another Norwegian! Two in the team are Norwegians, like my tent buddy Anders, who is right now sitting in his special chair reading a fantasy book, one of 17 books in the series I hear! It seems like a blissful existence.
There is just a nylon tent between us and a full raging snowstorm. Our sleds are completely covered and outside, visibility is nil. This is a 25 m/s killer wind, that is, if things go wrong.
It is at times hard to believe that we are four people waiting out a storm in one of the most inhospitable and desolate places on earth. We are the only humans in this neighborhood. Imagine flying over Greenland for hours, from the east to the west, and suddenly in this huge white sheet of nothingness are two bright, red tents. That’s us!
So what to do on a day like this? So many necessary things! Keep eating, keep drinking water, dry all the gear, cut fingernails, look after my body issues, such as my recurrent cough, a small frost nip on the cheek, a couple of blisters; dry all the clothing items: socks, liners, face-mask, and gloves for example.
We eat a lot of snacks in those hauling breaks. Chocolate, chips, nuts, and cookies to fill up the needed carbohydrates and hopefully each night we get 7-8 hours of good sleep.
The upcoming days will be brutally hard, with huge distances to cover since we only have food for 35 days [and this is day 28]. I hope I have what it takes!
The good thing with a storm like this, is that it blocks all other sounds, like snoring and the small talk of our neighbors! Next report!
We have to continue to eat on days off, otherwise our bodies have no fuel for tomorrow, which will be a hard 30 km day, and likely to end at midnight. So a day passes quickly!
I really needed this rest.
Garmin InReach transmissions by Mikael Strandberg
Edited by HHannah Pierce-Carlson
This is a Kensington Tours Expedition
Here´s a link to the map, where you can follow dad and Anders. https://share.garmin.com/EXPLORERGLOBAL
Thanks to