Final preparations for Greenland expedition completed

Preparations completed

Yes, here is another new blog update from the expedition team. And actually, well, what else is there to say? I think all the preparations are done. I’m sitting here now with Karin on the roof terrace, because we’re actually kind of done with it all. At least, we’re done with the preparation. Karin came over early this morning and we went through the permits together to see if everything is clearly stated. We printed and laminated the emergency numbers. We checked if all the emergency numbers were correctly stored in the satellite phone, and it’s a good thing we did, because I had forgotten one digit in one of the phone numbers. We fixed that right away. It just goes to show, it’s better to check things beforehand than to be standing on the ice sheet later and find the phone doesn’t ring. That would be a bit of a shame.

Packing list and shipping

We went through the packing list ad nauseam, probably for the twentieth time, just to see if we really have every item. Did we pack every peg, every guy line, and every multi-tool? And did it arrive? Yes, it arrived, because I’ve been in touch with our contact person Chris in Kangerlussuaq. He confirmed that all ten boxes, which I sent a few weeks ago weighing 20 kg each, have all ten arrived in Kangerlussuaq, on the west coast of Greenland. So there’s quite a bit of mail waiting for us there.

Route and terrain

We have, of course, gone over the route. I’ve done the route four times myself, so I have quite a few photos of the Greenland Expedition. Together, we went through the photos and photo books in detail—as we do with everything—to see what the situation looked like at the time. With climate change, things can change quite quickly, but in broad terms, it pretty much matches what we have. Namely, the first two days involve lots of hills and a kind of ice dunes, maybe some lakes and some rivers. After that, 20 days of relatively flat terrain. What it will actually look like, Karin will tell you when we are there over the coming month. And then the final days, a terrain with some crevasses here and there, and eventually the expedition ends in Isertoq.

End scenarios

The end scenario has also been discussed, as there are several possible scenarios. The best scenario would be to continue to the small fishing village on the east coast of Greenland, where only 120 people live: the village of Isertoq. That’s possible if there is still sea ice. Then we can cover the last few meters over the sea ice. Another scenario is that there is no more sea ice and we get picked up by a boat. In that case, we’ll be picked up from the edge of the ice sheet and taken straight to the village of Kulusuk. Then you have a third scenario: there is ice, but it’s not strong enough to carry us. Then the boats can’t sail through it, but people can’t walk over it either. Then the third scenario is activated, which is being picked up from the ice sheet by helicopter. In our eyes, that’s the least fun scenario, because you haven’t done a full crossing. But on the other hand, you’ve already been at it for 28 days. I think by then you’re thinking more about when you can take a shower than thinking: I want to do those last two kilometers as well.

Final details and flags

So we’ve discussed everything from A to Z once more in detail. Everything that’s in my head is now either in Karin’s head or on the notes form. And finally, the mail also arrived today, as I ordered four nice little flags: a Greenland flag, a Dutch one, a Danish one, and one from Great Britain. So there’s a flag for every nationality involved in the expedition. You’ll be seeing some photos of those soon. We’re going to have another cup of coffee and then we’ll say our goodbyes. After that, the next update might come just before the plane takes off.