Greenland 2015: Busy Week

It all started with a telephone call one evening. We had got the Staunings group delivered and the next day was relaxed with all the staff looking at roped glacier travel systems and practicing driving whilst roped up. We then all practiced steep slope driving, going up down and across slopes and turning round on slopes as if you were going to get stuck.

Steep slope driving

Three journeys in the last week - 600 kms

Then the telephone call. The Staunings group had been avalanched in the afternoon and although no one was seriously hurt, all their skis had been lost and they were facing a 6 hour walk back to camp in deep snow. They got back after midnight very tired. Understandably they wanted out, but were uninjured apart from a twisted knee and various bruises and sprains. They were also safe back at camp with two weeks of food and fuel and effective comms.

Avalanche started at the top of the slope

A 6 hr descent without skis in deep snow

With these facts, we started planning the evacuation. We needed two days of fine weather to get over to them and recce a new route all the way up to camp to bypass the river gorge. We had dropped them short the day before in poor light when we were stopped by blue ice in the river gorge. We also had a group of 12 French military to transport from Ittoqqortoormiit the next day.

Traveling trough sea ice on the way to Ittoqqortoormiit

The trip to Itto. was fairly smooth running, just quite a number of stops when the poor overloaded Doos started overheating. We used a lovely fellow called Ole from the village, for a fifth skidoo who was very helpful and accommodating.

Ittoqqortoormiit

The French team on a rest stop

The weather for the next few days was not favorable to go back to the Staunings; good on Monday morning and then cloudy afternoon and bad on Tuesday with snow. After much discussion, we decided to go for it early on Monday and the four of us made good progress and were due to get to Gurreholm in about 4 ½ hours. 10 km from Gurreholm, the light went flat. Finding the track was almost impossible and it took us another two hours to get there.

Flat light forced us to stop

Refulling at Gurreholm

While refueling at Gurreholm the sun came out again so we continued, finding a new route round the river gorge and reaching the Staunings team by about 4.00pm The light was going again and two of us had to skidoo 3kms further up and then walk up on snowshoes to retrieve a rucksack they had left on their 6 hour walk out. It wasn’t until 7.30 pm that we got back to Gurreholm after nearly 12 hours of traveling.

Old boots at Gurreholm

Due to poor weather, we were now stranded for the next day at Gurreholm, a scientific research station built in 1937 and now a bit ruined.

Cooking dinner at Gurreholm

Most of the rooms are full of snow with only a couple fit for living. Four of the seven of us had to sleep on the floor which was pretty disgusting; covered in snow, water, ice, sand and food, but a tent mat made it a bit better for lying on.

A day spent in bags waiting for the weather to improve

Clearing ice from the tracks

Satellite phone call to check the latest weather

By 12.00pm on Wednesday the light became good enough to travel. We needed good contrast for the first section, which went over numerous valleys and in poor light we could easily drive over a cornice. After 5 hours we got back to CNP, out with only a few stops to sort overheating skidoos, three days after setting out.

No rest yet. We had to set out again the very next day to take a group out to the top of the glacier in North Liverpool Land 100kms away. After 10 minutes, I noticed on a Doo, that one of the plastic sliders that the track runs on, had completely meted through. Back to base to put the last spare in, but this meant that we were not away again until after 2pm.

When we got to the glacier, we used our roped travel system to put a safe track 9 kms to the top and over the other side to the groups camp site and then had to ferry the group and their kit in several journeys resulting in 2 broken drive belts. It all took time and we were not on our way home until 9.30pm and only got back at midnight. Fortunately the weather was perfect in the evening with wonderful views across the mountains from the top of the glacier.