Early start and storm preparation on Greenland expedition

Extra early start and a long day

Good morning, as announced yesterday, we left extra early last night and wanted to put in a very long day. We succeeded; it was a very long day. We walked one shift more than usual. Normally we do a maximum of 7, and today we wanted to do 8. Since today was actually the last day that reasonably calm weather with good visibility was forecast before a few days of bad weather arrive, we really wanted to take advantage of that. But after that famous noodle break we mentioned before, the pace dropped a little bit. It turns out there are some heavy legs here and there. In itself that’s not a problem, of course, but with an extra shift, we’ve actually covered a normal daily distance now. That was also partly because we were facing more and more headwind.

Practicing with the wind and preparing for the storm

That headwind was useful in the sense that we used it to get ready for the storm passing through on Sunday. So we all built a nice wind wall to set the tent up behind. We practiced how to build a wind wall using the pulks. We also practiced how to set up the tent quickly, properly, and sturdily together in stronger winds.

Consultation with basecamp and adjustment of the plan

While cooking afterwards, and after some back-and-forth consultation with basecamp and checking the weather report, it was decided to follow a slightly different alternative program over the coming days. That means that after recording this vlog, I’ll be crawling into bed as soon as possible, as it’s around 7 o’clock. We’re going to get up at 1:30 AM tonight to be able to leave around 4 AM.

Looking ahead to tomorrow and the conditions

We have to do a bit more now. It’s going to snow and be very windy all day tomorrow, but it’s around 0 degrees. That means we have to pack all our gear well and make it waterproof. That’s going to mean we need a bit more time to get away. We’re going to try to do a day with a maximum of 6 shifts tomorrow. After that, we’ll see. We might get stuck after 2 or 3 stretches, or we might end up stuck 100 meters away. But we’re going to give it a try anyway.