Greenland Expedition 2010

Pictures, finally

Terje With Lunndal — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:20:05 +0000

I finally received some pictures. It’s only a subset of all the pictures taken with the SLR, and they’re in reduced resolution, but it’s all I’ve been able to obtain. When I combine them with the few images shot using my compact camera it looks like most of the trip is covered. You can view the images by exploring our photo album or simply start the slide show.

I would like to apologize to those of you who have been waiting, for not being able to share the images from our trip sooner. Thanks for your patience, it’s much appreciated.

Pictures coming this weekend

Terje With Lunndal — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:44:03 +0000

Now that we both have had time to settle in after our return from Greenland it’s time to share the pictures from the trip with you. 95% of them were shot using Christians SLR camera so I’m waiting for Christian to share them before I can publish. He will do that this week so I can publish this weekend. Can’t wait!

Back in Norway

Terje With Lunndal — Sun, 16 May 2010 22:30:04 +0000

First of all I would like to extend our gratitude to all of you who have been following us on our adventure. We are especially grateful for all the words of encouragement you have posted as comments to our dispatches. This means the world to us. Thank you so much!

We both arrived in Norway on Saturday but did not have a chance to update the blog yet. I promise I will provide an update real soon now, to let you in on the details of our exit from Greenland. We just need to unpack and settle in with our loved ones first.

Again – thanks for your support!

Terje and Christian has left Greenland

Petter Skodvin-Hvammen — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:17:40 +0000

Here is just a brief update to inform you all that Terje and Christian was picked up by a helicopter yesterday. According to Clara, they’re on their way to Copenhagen now. I am sure Terje will fill you in on the details once he has gotten some rest and cleared his mind.

Day 7 – Waiting to be evacuated

Terje With Lunndal — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:10:42 +0000

Since Terje’s knee has not improved after a day of resting and medication, we’ve had to make the decision to abort the expedition. As of now, Terje is not able to pull a pulk, and it is naturally too much for Christian to pull all four of them. We therefore have to be evacuated by helicopter. Right now the weather is not good enough for that to be possible, so we’re waiting for better conditions.

In the meantime we’re stuck in the tent, having a quite hard time, since we’re both feeling rather bad about not finishing the expedition. We’re corresponding with the authorities on Greenland, and we’ll hopefully be flown out tomorrow, if the weather allows it.

Day 6 – Bummer

Terje With Lunndal — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:33:34 +0000

In the beginning of the day Terje’s knee felt fine, and we were very optimistic for the first stretch. But after a while it started getting worse, and after the third stretch we had to make a full stop and set up camp, since Terje was no longer able to move with the pulks at all. He then had cinsiderable pain in the knee.

We chose to take a resting day where Terje took Voltaren and rested in the tent. We’ve been in contact with the Danish authorities and informed them of the situation, and we’re keeping contact with them, discussing how to solve this. More information to come.

Day 5 – King Christian

Terje With Lunndal — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:49:21 +0000

The day didn’t turn out exactly like we expected. Yesterday Terje started to feel some discomfort in one of his knees. During today’s two first stretches the pain increased. By lunchtime, after 5 stretches, the pain was so bad that Terje couldn’t walk. Christian dug into the first-aid kit, and found Voltaren and Paralgin Forte. After 20 minutes the pain was still bad enough that Terje wanted to stop.

Then Christian took over one of Terje’s pulks. He struggled like an animal in difficult conditions and deep snow with the three pulks. Behind him Terje pulled the one pulk he had left. After six stretches it was again flat enough for Terje to pull both his pulks alone, but this only lasted for a little over one stretch before the uphill terrain was back. Again Christian took over one pulk for Terje. This time Terje had to call full stop after 20 minutes, since he was in too much pain to pull even one of the pulks, and we set up camp.

We are now discussing alternatives. The plan is that Terje will take a very high dose of Voltaren as an acute treatment, and we’ll see how it looks tomorrow.

Day 4 – Out of the Icefall

Terje With Lunndal — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:48:06 +0000

Today’s first stretch brought us out of the icefall. That’s worth celebrating. The icefall has been a bit harder than we anticipated, and we’re happy that we now have it behind us. After this we moved into an area that is tilted slightly upwards, and has a flatter surface.

We’ve covered 231 altitude meters and eighth lengths today, and we felt this in our legs tonight. During the day we passed crevasses big enough to swallow a bus, but the snow bridges are thick, and we feel quite safe. We steered towards DYE II today, and broke off 10 km before Dog Camp, a known point on our route. We’re now about 150 km from the abandoned radar station.

Finally we want to say thank you to Clara for the great cake, it really saved us today when we were about to set up camp and felt completely worn out.

Day 3 – Crevasses and slush

Terje With Lunndal — Sat, 08 May 2010 23:45:38 +0000

We started the day heading southeast to get off a hillside abundant with crevasses. It looked safer further south, and we had seven good lengths in splendid sunshine. It was arduous work in the rough terrain. Because of pressure, the ice is forming waves, so it was again like walking on a frozen sea.

Due to the high temperatures, there is a considerable melting of the ice, and often had to walk around small lakes of meltwater. The snow is also quite rotten, and we step through it rather often. In seven lengths we managed about 9 km in direct line. According to the GPS, that is just over 22 km. The average speed has then been 4.2 km/h, a result we’re pleased about.

We chose to set up camp when Terje lost one of his ski poles down a narrow crevasse. It disappeared down in the deep. Fortunately we had brought one extra, and it probably won’t happen again. We are now very tired and will have dinner and then a good nights sleep.

Christian congratulates his brother, Fredrik, on his birthday! Hurray!

Day 2 – The Icefall flattens out

Terje With Lunndal — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:55:12 +0000

Although we haven’t covered much distance, we feel we have achieved a lot today. We walked for only 4 stretches today, since we are taking it slow these first few days. The icefall was at least as challenging today as yesterday. It was like moving uphill through a frozen sea, with waves up to three to five meters in height. When we at last reached the end of this difficult area it flattened out a bit.

This new terrain we’re in has crevasses that it is possible to fall into. Christian experienced this today, when he fell through a narrow crevasse with his lower body. Fortunately it was so narrow that there was no risk of falling any further. But the incident really reminded us that the skis have to be on at all times, and we have to be extra careful when moving through this territory.

Apart from this, the day has been fantastic. It has been sunny today, and we’ve both been in a cheerful mood. In the evening we talked to Christian Eide from Latitude Expeditions and got some hints on which route to choose next. Tomorrow we will cut southeastwards.