White-out in Greenland: Rest Day Full of Snow and Stroopwafels

Day 11 of the Greenland Expedition: a Rest Day in the White-Out

Today, Sunday, August 24, marks day 11 of our expedition across the Greenland ice cap. It’s a day of rest, as we haven’t covered any distance. The reason? A total white-out. Visibility is literally zero; we can’t see a hand in front of our faces due to the dense fog and snowfall. We even have to be careful not to wander too far from the tent, or we won’t find our way back.

A Snowy Night and Outlook

Last night, it snowed heavily, with no less than 30 centimeters of fresh snow. And although some light snowfall is expected tonight, we hope to continue our journey tomorrow.

The Culinary Side of the Expedition

Yesterday, I talked about our dinner, and Susana reminded me that we also have stroopwafels with us, in addition to our vitamin tablets and electrolytes. These are essential because all the water we drink comes from melted snow, which contains hardly any nutrients.

How to Spend a Rest Day?

On such a rest day without internet or social media, it feels like waiting for a bus with a dead phone battery. We spend the day checking the weather via our app, boiling water, reading, and mostly sleeping. This morning, I slept in until half-past eight and even took an afternoon nap. It’s wonderful to let the muscles relax for a while.

The Organization Inside the Tent and Pulka

Our tent is small but organized. We’ve developed a routine: get up, eat, pack, walk, pause, and repeat until we stop around half-past one “in the afternoon to set up the tent and eat. In my pulka, everything is neatly arranged: at the front is a drybag with extra clothing, followed by a large bag for items I don’t need in the tent. Behind that are three fuel bottles, and on top is my tent bag with daily essentials like food and clean clothes. Inside the tent, there’s also order. Susana sleeps on the left, I on the right. Next to me are all the items we need to sleep comfortably and get through the day. Everything has its place so I can grab my things blindly at night.”

An Organized Chaos

Although it sometimes seems chaotic, everything is fairly organized. Now Susana is calling that the soup is ready, so it’s time to eat. Tomorrow, we hope to make progress again and cover about 25 kilometers, but every kilometer counts in these conditions. Until the next update!