Supporting Epilepsy Action Blog

The Jersey Itex 2010

Last year a good friend of mine – Nucky, who lives in Guernsey – was taken off Greenland after one of the team fell ill, bringing the whole Expedition to cross the vast Ice Cap to an abrupt end.  Regular readers from last year will know, that on her way back to Guernsey via London, we both decided to sign up for the Jersey Itex – a one-day 48.1 mile walk around its entire perimeter.

This spur-of-the-moment decision turned into one of the most arduous challenges I’ve ever attempted.  Despite only being one day, it was the longest and hardest day of my life, with a virtually non-stop 15 hour walk starting at 3am, staggering over the finish line at 6pm with a pledge never again to sign up.

I met Nucky on the Baffin Island Expedition in 2008, and we were both on the failed Expedition to the Magnetic North Pole this year, so it was hardly worth discussing if we would sign up for the Jersey Itex again – before the skidoos even arrived to pick us up, we’d already agreed we’d do it!

The weather this year started with thick fine drizzle – “the kind that soaks you right through” as Peter Kay would say!  And it did.  It was cold, wet and with intermittent gusts of wind to really drive it home.  It didn’t help that just before 6am when we marched into the first check point to our day-bags all laid out (helpfully ferried around by the incredible volunteers) most of the kit inside - including spare socks - was also wet through.

Despite this the weather brightened up and so did our spirits, we kept a brisk pace up all day with no pauses at check-points this year, only stopping for feet first-aid while eating and drinking as we walked.

Once again the support was magnificent but the going arduous, however we shaved a full hour off our time to walk over the finish line in 14 hours 3 minutes at 5pm.

It’s strange to think that a simple walk can be such hard work, when compared to an Expedition lasting weeks or a long run, but while each challenge has its own set of hurdles, it’s much more of a mental feat than most.

First, at Elizabeth Ferry Terminal you are starting tired (it’s hard to get to sleep early and we were up at 2am, so only a few hours rest), then there are the first 10 miles up to St Catherines past Longbeach Gorey at 6am, knowing you have another 38 ahead of you and it’s not even daylight.

Every turn along the cliff top coastal path on the northern section between 6am to 12 o’clock reveals a far corner of the island you know you have to walk to, and every time you seem to be walking in the wrong direction as you weave in and out of the jagged cliffs.  On this section however you pass Wolfs Caves and the Freedom Church check-point – simply the most welcome and hospitable group of people I’ve ever met!

From the check point at the North West corner – Groznez - the beautiful but daunting 5 mile beach of St Ouens opens up, and as you enter the afternoon you can once again see the furthest point of the island you have to walk to, all the way as you walk down the beach.  From Le Braye to Beauport Car Park check points, you’re at least walking in the knowledge the uphill sections are behind you, but from here as you walk around the last small bay to Noirmont Point, you get a sudden view of St Brelades bay all the way around to the finish, however this wide arc keeps the full view of a finish line in sight for over 5 miles, with bruised feet in pain on every step.

But of course, we went back for more punishment this year which is testimony to both the short term memory of pain, and the long term memory of a challenge successfully accomplished!

It’s an incredibly well organised and supported challenge, and please take the time to see all my pictures on Flikr.  My apologies for the language in the video!

The St Basils Walk 2010

On Saturday 5th June I took part in the 26 mile walk for the St Basils charity, based in the Midlands:

“We provide supported accommodation for young people ages 16 to 25 and a range of support services including: prevention services; housing aid and advice; family mediation and mediators; peer educators; key workers, learning skills and work; advice and guidance on education employment and training; resettlement and floating support.”

This was an excellent walk in a part of the UK I’ve not spent much time in, and as a friend of mine does fundraising for the charity they suggested I give it a go.  With the Itex only two weeks after and for such an excellent charity, I corralled my brother in law Phil and walking buddy "Crazy Mike" - sorry Michael! - (minimum team number is 3) and signed up!

The walk started early on the Saturday morning at the Chipping Campden School – after a night camping locally in my brother-in-law’s new tepee - in beautiful early sunshine and a big fried breakfast!  About 120 teams took part in the 26 mile route, which encompassed parts of the Cotswold Way, Diamond Way and Gloucestershire Way.  Although the Cotswolds is pretty flat, the climbs when they come are sudden and steep, usually levelling off before a similarly steep descent.  Although there were a number of checkpoints on the route and good written directions (with helpful pictures), there were very few markers, which added the extra welcome challenge of map reading in an unfamiliar area.  Frequently on charity walks every possible turn is signposted which is obviously good planning, but does allow your brain to switch off.

As the event was sponsored by Cadburys, there was an ample supply of chocolate on the way around, along with water at every checkpoint, and we finished the walk in the early evening with another full meal at the school!  This could be the first time I’ve put weight on during a challenge!

Next year they are proposing a similar walk encompassing Cadir Idris in the Snowdonia area of North West Wales, and I’m looking forward to it!

BUPA London 10km

On Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May I joined thousands of other runners in glorious weather at Green Park, to run 10km around some of London’s finest streets, buildings and monuments, in aid of my favourite charity Epilepsy Action.

I was a late entrant, having only entered after getting back from Canada, so my thanks to Epilepsy Action for getting me a place.

The BUPA London 10km is incredibly well organised with zoned starts and staggered start times, so despite having around 9,000 runners at no point did the course feel congested.

Starting in Birdcage Walk in front of Buckingham Palace, the route takes in Parliament Square, down the Embankment, past the London Eye, the Tate Gallery, Monument, the Bank of England, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square (where you can also see a 4 tonne, 3 meter high and 4 meter long Ship in a Bottle on the Fourth Plinth!), and past Admiralty Arch to finish in The Mall.

Despite virtually no training for this, I was feeling pretty fit from Expedition training and plodded around in a fairly respectable 54 mins 58 secs, enjoying myself thoroughly all the way with lots of supporters cheering us along.

My only gripe is that the only photo I could have of me running in the event, was provided by the official contracted photographers, who wanted to charge £20 for a single (downloaded) picture!

So instead, see below pictures of the impressive Ship in a Bottle from the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square!

Keeping Busy

Well, I've been back in the UK - and back at work - for 6 weeks now, but managed to squeeze a holiday to Cornwall in to catch up with friends, do some walking and sailing, but most of all relax and reflect.

As you can imagine I had a lot of frustration to burn off, partially as I had been training for so long and so hard, and what helped to keep me sane and focus this unused energy was signing up for a few small challenges over the coming weeks and months.

The first of these will be the BUPA London 10km, which I'm running tomorrow for Epilepsy Action.

Next weekend I'm taking part in a 28 mile one-day walk in the Cotswolds organsied by the charity St Basils.  I'm not too familiar with this part of Britain so it'll be interesting as well as being a good warm up for my next challenge two weeks later...

... some of you may recall The Itex from last year - a 48.1 mile one-day walk around the island of Jersey.  There is also a slightly shorter Itex around Guernsey, but I'm only doing the Jersey one (it's enough!).  This is on 19th June and I'm really looking forward to the challenge again, hoping for good weather and aiming to beat my time last year of 15 hours 8 mins.

I've also signed up for the Great Parks half-marathon in London - which I'll run for Epilepsy Action - later in the year.

Check back in the coming weeks for photos of these walking challenges and to see how I get on!

Reflections

I can only found an ounce of solace in knowing how many other Polar Expeditions to the Arctic fail, some for incomprehensibly small reasons.  Ben Saunders’ fuel leak over his food on Day 3, Christina Franco’s solo female attempt thwarted by broken fuel pumps on Day 2 last year, the sea ice pushing her south and east this year after 30 days on the ice and encountering a vast open water lead that was impassable, even in an immersion suit.  Fellow Italian Michele Pontrandolfo has aborted his solo attempt at the Geographic North after the ice flows pushing him south, made him cross the 85th degree FIVE times, having been consistently pushed back over it as he slept.  He’s aiming for a pickup around 19th April.  Solo Australian Tom Smitheringale made it to 87 degrees north after 48 days, when he fell through the ice and after managing to erect his tent and light a stove, activated his emergency beacon for a pickup.  Canadian Forces thankfully were training in the area and effected a rescue within 6 hours, getting him to Alert on Ellesmere island where he’s recovering from frostbite. 

It’s not all bad news though, and heartening to know other teams are making good ground – at the time of writing Eric Larsen’s team (Anthony Jinman & Darcy St Lawrence) has just passed the 89th degree; Richard Weber’s team of 4 made it to the Geographic North on 17th April after just under 42 days on the ice; unassisted Brits Amelia Russell & Dan Darley are making good progress and Sarah McNair-Landry’s team (Linda Beilharz & Rob Rigato) were reported nearly at 88 degrees North on April 14th.  I wish them all the best and congratulations for their accomplishments.

A number of people have raised the query as to why we organised an Expedition solely reliant on 1 guide, without backup.  The simple short answer is cost – originally we were a team of 12, which makes 3 tents of 4 people.  To have another guide would have meant one less “paying” team member to share costs, plus the extra costs of paying for another person’s flights, accommodation, expedition equipment etc, and of course their own fee for doing it.  It's very rare that a team would have more than 1 guide in any case, especially when unsupported and unassisted.

As an Unsupported Expedition any contingency for having someone pulled out means you lose the unsupported (and unassisted) tag anyway – of course with Steve Kidwell pulled out, we’d lost that anyway.  Everything is easier with the benefit of hindsight.  The Arctic is a very sterile environment, so provided your personal admin is good – sterilising hands before eating for example – the chances of getting ill while on the ice is very small.  We’d discussed the possibility in planning of having backup and taken it as a calculated risk - as Richard himself put it, in 15 years of Arctic Expeditions, this was the first time he’d been ill on the ice.  Given the lack of exposure to bugs while out there – and of course the trials your body goes through – it’s quite common for Explorers to pick up bugs on the flight home, rather than during the trip.

There a multitude of reasons as to why our Expedition could have failed.  I think it might have been easier had we been presented with impassable water leads, miles of 30 foot ice rubble or successive Arctic storms, but those that have been there assure me it doesn’t matter how, not making the goal is equally frustrating however it comes.  One of our team has suffered 3 out of 4 failures – 1 on Baffin Island due to Arctic storms, 1 on Greenland due to a team mate going down, and now this.  Her success was when I met her on our Expedition across Baffin Island in 2008.

On the positive, we had an incredible week in the Arctic and albeit short, experienced one of the finest and most hostile wildernesses on the planet.  Just being able to travel to a remote community like Resolute and experience an existence where year-round sub-zero temperatures are the norm leaves an impression on you it’s hard to forget.  To see Polar Bears in the wild, feel ice sheets crushing together as you’re standing on them and walk across sea ice with miles of white wilderness in every direction are also experiences I’ll remember fondly for years to come.  As so many people have said to me in the last week, just being in that environment and putting miles under our feet for a week is in itself an accomplishment.  Not hitting the goal will always be a regret, but as the serenity starts to settle in, I’m incredibly thankful to have so many positive people around to remind me to focus on what we did achieve, rather than what we didn’t.

Many find it hard to believe, but after a few days I find myself quickly acclimatising to the cold and enjoying living in it.  There are a few things that I’d never get used to – going to the loo is number 1 (and number 2)!  Crawling out of a sleeping bag in the morning to light the stoves – think getting out of bed in January when your heating hasn’t started, with someone showering you with a flurry of ice flakes over your head and down the back of your neck when you sit up and unzip the fly sheet to get at the stove, and you start to get an idea!  Getting into a sleeping bag – which invariably becomes damp as your body perspires overnight, and then the damp turns to ice as it’s packed into your pulk all day – is also never pleasant, but quickly warms up.  But aside from these few things, the sheer experience of walking and camping in the Arctic is an experience I’d recommend to anyone to try at least once.  Waking up in a frozen tent with ice glistening all around you is worth it alone!

And to answer the question I get time and time again…. How do you go to the loo in the Arctic?

Quickly.  And with a loaded 12 bore pump action shotgun.

Thursday 15th April 2010 – 20:30 – field near Gosham, Surrey, UK

I’m lying in my tent about 15 miles east of Farnham on the North Downs, 17 miles of the North Downs Way behind me.  After 4 flights in 24 hours (all on time and back to back, almost as if Canada wanted to get rid of us!) we landed in the UK yesterday morning and after getting home and half-unpacking, decided I couldn’t bring myself to sit around the house and immediately packed up my rucksack with tent, sleeping bag and enough food for a few days, and got the train to Farnham from Clapham Junction.  Before leaving however I did have a scan of emails and was heartened to see so many positive messages and comments from friends, family and supporters.  Sarah – my secretary who was covering my desk and sending out the updates I emailed over – put in the subject line of the last update “Very sad news from Canada” – it appears a few people instinctively thought I’d come to grief and were more relieved than disappointed!  Apologies to any who got a scare.

After the frustration and disappointment of the last week my mind just isn’t in London and I’m really not in the frame of mind to get back to work.  Burning off some frustration with a heavy pack on my back and putting miles under my feet, with a few nights in a tent is far more appealing, and will make me far better company in a few days!  After putting my head down all day and marching a quick pace, grabbing 5 minutes for “trail snacks” and water every hour (still in Expedition frame of mind) I paused mid afternoon at the beautifully located St Martha’s Church, on top of St Matha’s Hill which in clear weather gives fantastic panoramic views of the Downs and valleys between them.  It’s so easy to forget what a beautiful part of the world exists just south of the M25.  The more we travel, the more we appreciate coming home.

Email from Stephen

South Camp, Resolute, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada
Sunday 11th April 2010 - 21:00 Local Time
 
Dear Sponsors & Supporters
 
As many of you may have already seen on the various Expedition updates, it was with a great deal of frustration, anger and despair that we had to call off our attempt to walk unsupported to the Magnetic North Pole on Saturday.
 
Only a week into the Expedition, and 60 miles from our start point, our Expedition leader, Richard Bull, collapsed in the last hour of walking.  He had developed a cold not long after leaving Resolute, which had been contained until it turned into a chest infection later in the week.  Desperate to push through in the hope it would clear, with the medical supplies we had with us and pulling a lighter load, he seemed to be doing ok.  I was navigating at the front all of Friday, and when the decision was made to start looking for a suitable camp site - we were walking through ice rubble at the time - we were 1.5 miles from our next marker so I suggested going one more hour to hit that, which was agreed.  Ten minutes later Nick called us back as Richard was having trouble - we suspected frost nip on his fingers as he was complaining of being bitterly cold.  A tent was quickly erected with burners on (standard procedure) and we got him wrapped up inside.  Rob and Nucky assessed him and called the Expedition doctor in the UK on the sat phone, and later that evening it was determined on medical advice, that he had to be extracted at the earliest possible opportunity.
 
We explored as a team all the practical options for us proceeding without Richard, but needless to say without an Arctic experienced guide it would have been recklessly irresponsible for any of us to carry on, despite our confidence and eagerness to continue.
 
A 7 skidoo rescue arrived at 5pm Saturday evening, we arrived back in Resolute by 11pm, and Richard is resting well, now back in a warm and dry environment.  We hope to be on flights back to Ottawa via Iqaluit on Tuesday, and onwards to the UK Wednesday/Thursday, dependent on moving our flights at short notice.
 
Failure was always an option, but perhaps it would have been more serene had it been at the hands of 60 miles of 30 foot ice rubble, successive arctic storms pinning us down or numerous open water leads making physically walking impossible.  To be on the ice with all the equipment, energy, weather and will to carry on was simply gutting, especially after only a week.
 
Absolutely gutting - I can't put it any other way.
 
To you my sponsors, my supporters, friends and family, I'm sorry after all you've helped and encouraged me to achieve it has ended in failure.  Right now I can't find many positives.  The scale of the environment up here is extraordinary - the endless expanse of sea ice; the feeling of being on ice feeling it physically moving under you and the rumbling boom of ice flows crashing into each other; the desolate islands and ice rubble higher than me we were navigating around - it's all simply incredible.  We saw Polar Bears at a distance and plenty of Bear tracks to keep us alert.  Our pulks (sledges) were heavy at around 15 stone but we were managing well and as we were always going to start slow and finish strong, to push through 13 miles in one day in the first week was a good strong start.  It was a blow to lose Steve Kidwell to frost bite in the first week, which also cost us 24 hours of delay waiting for his extraction, but despite that we were still almost at Polaris by the end of week one, which was good going.  I wish Steve Kidwell the very best for a speedy recovery.
 
When I'm back in the UK with a better internet connection and ability to upload some photos, I'll send out a better update.
 
Right now the Team and I remain unsupported, unfinished, gutted and sorry, in Resolute.
 
Steve

Saturday 10th April 2010 [written back in UK]

We had nearly a full day stationary on the ice before the skidoo extraction made it up to us at 17:00.  They’d stopped on the way to shoot a Polar Bear which had added a few hours on, and the skinned, gutted remnants were piled on the back of a komatik (trailer) when they arrived.  Like all Inuit communities Resolute has an annual quota – 24 this year – drawn by ballot, and if you don’t kill a Polar Bear within a week you lose the permit and it passes to the next person, hence the 19 year old female recipient for this week seized the opportunity of skidoos going this far North, and got her kill.  We had spent the day looking after Richard, taking final photos with sponsors flags, using fuel as a signal fire from 2pm when the skidoos were anticipated and firing bear bangers into the air as an added signal.  The devil makes work for idle thumbs, and any rumours that anyone got naked in the snow can’t be confirmed!  A good friend of mine – Angelo – gave me a small present to be opened “if morale gets low”.  It wasn’t going to get much lower so I unwrapped a book of jokes which lifted the mood in our tent!

The skidoo extraction can only be described as torture – late in the evening travelling at 20-40mph, without being able to move on the back of a skidoo trying to grip on through thick thermal gloves (at least 2 pairs) is a serious test of endurance in itself.  The few in the enclosed komatik – like a dolls house on skis – get tossed around like beans in a can with no suspension and every bit of sastrugi and ice rubble knocking it everyway possible without warning.  Nick got whiplash from this and after a short stint inside to alleviate frost nip to my nose from being on the back of a skidoo, I was back outside.  The diesel fumes and constant rocking are akin to being on a small boat in rough seas, and motion sickness a real problem.  One skidoo turned over and a team member got thrown from his skidoo twice.  For five hours we endured this, getting off every 30-40 mins to literally run around to regain circulation in hands, legs and feet.  Randy and the staff at Resolute deserve praise for getting us hot food and drink instantly on our arrival back at South Camp in Resolute.  Thanks also to the Polar Challenge staff who were recently arrived, and sent one of their team up on skidoo with the Inuits to navigate to our position, and helped us on arrival, their team doctor assessing Richard and Nick.

Still feeling incredibly gutted we spend the next few days until we can get a flight out, sorting through all our kit and getting packed up ready for the flights home.  A walk up the hill behind South Camp is a welcome break and alleviates the frustration, and of course the warm dry atmosphere of South Camp is helping Richard to recover.  I find myself though just wanting to get out of Resolute as quickly as possibly, and decide as soon as I’m back in the UK a long walk and a few nights in a tent is in order.

Friday 9th April 2010 – 7 miles – N75.12.53 W96.52.04

Today our Expedition ended.  After a tough day pulling across snow so sticky it felt like our pulks weighed twice as much as yesterday, through ice rubble which caused us to meander the whole day looking for drifts and sastrugi more forgiving that what always seemed to be right in front of us, we got to 16.30 and the decision was made to start looking for a decent camp site – i.e. somewhere flat enough to accept three tents.  I was navigating and proposed aiming for our next marker 1.4 miles further north, which would be about another hour at our current progress, which was agreed.  10 minutes later a call came back from the end of the line that Richard was having trouble.  Frost nip on hands was suspected and a tent quickly erected with burner on to get him inside and warm.  After all tents were up a call was put into our team doctor (Mike Whiteside) back in UK over the sat phone, and after a diagnosis – as best as can be achieved over the phone – Mike orders us out.  Mike has good experience of the Arctic and we know would not make the decision likely, understanding the repercussions of ordering Richard off the ice.  Reading our minds and without being asked, he advised us specifically that we are not to proceed without Richard – he knows what we’re thinking.  It’s suspected that Richard has developed early stages of pneumonia, and must be extracted as soon as possible.

Expedition Over.  Go Home.  Gutted.  Gutted. Gutted.  Can’t imagine what it’ll be like going home after this, back to friends, family, sponsors.  Too much going through head to write down.  Too many conversations about options to keep going to write down but despite defiance and determination, I know there is only one realistic option, to take skidoo extraction back to Resolute, all the way we’ve spent the last week walking.  Gutted.

Now what?  Again?  Unlikely, can’t fathom it right now but need to stop thinking, getting clear space before thinking about it, definitely not while still here.  Hard to think about time and costs gone into this, let alone sponsors and what family and Laura have gone through.  Can’t bring myself to read sponsors comments.  Gutted.

Thursday 8th April 2010 – 7.6 miles – N75.06.57 W96.46.08

Steve Kidwell picked up by skidoo at midday – a bitter blow to the team and him, and a painful reminder of the risks of operating in this environment.  Tents down and we plod on.  We’ve had problems finding fresh snow free of salt for drinking and cooking.  This evening though not a problem, fortunate as was beginning to get worried about dehydration and diarrhoea.  Snow is so thin most places we walk we’ve only been on skis one morning, which was difficult to get traction due to weight of sledges, so quickly abandoned and back to just boots and walking.  Finding enough snow to cover the tent valence and prevent wind blowing in also a chore, and have to send Mark off with a bag to get snow for melting, as there’s not enough nearby.  Final evening routine now becoming second nature – sleeping bag out, last stove off, stuff in clothes bag to sleeping bag with electronics and batteries, zip up outer then inner fly sheets, unzip shotgun sleeve to halfway and check it’s the right way up with safety on, and I’m ready for bed.  Late start today means less miles, but the pace is again becoming more consistent.  I’m concerned the news re Kidwell will raise concerns for people back home.  Ben is carrying the spare Sat phone and it’s so tempting to make a call to reassure people, but that would be unfair on the rest of the team, irresponsible and a waste of battery power.  Setting the precedent would also no doubt raise problems down the line as well.  Not least of all, I’m not the one paying the phone bill!  Writing this sat up in sleeping bag after stoves off, losing feeling in fingers so can't write more, night all back home.

Wednesday 7th April 2010 – 6.5 miles – N75.00.28 W96.40.35

We’re in Resolute passage heading North towards Polaris, which we aim to miss to the West by a good margin to avoid coastal ice rubble.  Air temperature during day only minus 21.5 with mostly blue skis, but wind has picked up and wind chill presenting problems.  At 14:40 Nucky complains her earlobe is cold.  Frost nip affected which starts to swell when warmed by hand.  Richard orders everyone to check each others faces and hands, when Steve Kidwell complains he’s lost feeling in some fingers.  Gloves off – he has frostbite.  1 tent quickly erected with burners on and he’s put inside with Richard and Nucky.  Other tents put up and we go through evening routine with food and boiling water for all thermos flasks, done by 19:20, and we use time to dry sleeping bags.  Mark comes back from visiting Steve Kidwell – some of his fingers are badly blistered and he’ll need extracting.  I take nautical charts to Richard and we plot an exact position for skidoo pickup, which Richard calls in from Resolute for following day.  Early stop means less mileage accomplished, and tomorrow skidoos probably won’t arrive until midday.  Plus, having someone extracted technically means we lose the Unsupported tag.  All in all, shit day.  Without thinking I put sugar into my evening green tea, surprisingly good!  Early night, can’t afford to waste fuel keeping tent warm so we’re in sleeping bags early – I’ll listen to audio book on ipod this evening.

Last night the temperature gauge hit it’s lowest recordable temperature – minus 50C.  Even with the gauge inside my sleeping bag and only sensor outside, the cold seems to have broken it – despite taking battery out and resetting, the temperature is spiking all over the place, so I’ve had my second kit failure after the Solar Monkey!

Tuesday 6th April 2010 – 12.3 miles – N74.55.48 W96.28.22

Left temperature sensor outside tent last night with gauge in sleeping bag – minus 31.3C recorded as low, minus 21C in tent this morning.  It’s pretty warm and there’s only a few inches of snow where there should be a good meter, so we’re using ice screws and pegs to secure the tents rather than skis.  No shortage of first year ice to walk on thankfully and although we’ve had reports of open water leads we can navigate far away from them without affecting course for the time being.  I woke at 03:30 last night convinced bear was outside tent.  Whistle in mouth ready with shot gun in hand (and hands freezing) managed to unzip inner fly sheet and realised it was just the wind.  Of course a 1 tonne bear would be much nosier walking around, but I’m acutely aware how vulnerable we are in tents.  Again console myself just how rare Polar Bear attacks are, especially against large groups. 

White out conditions again today and Nucky & I took front, her on GPS and I backed up with magnetic Silva compass to conserve battery power, again using sastrugi and ice rubble as markers with 1-200 yds vis for most of day.  Picked up skidoo track heading north which we followed given the locals know the best routes around the ice rubble!  Today started to feel more like an Expedition and routines settling in, despite conditions starting to enjoy myself and looking forward to the coming weeks than just getting to end.  Camera battery already died in cold but impressed that Power Monkey gave it full power off one Solar Charge.  Fortunately I have two Solar Monkeys, as one has gone brittle and snapped in the cold.  The other will remain in my inner thermal for the duration.  Same happened to Mark’s, who is now furious and determined to sue when he gets home!

Ben, Mark and I discuss inviting 1 over from the 4 man tent for dinner on various evenings.  There are 3 tents, 2 with 3 in (including ours) and 1 4-man tent.  It makes a big difference to personal space having a full tent and the evenings are the only real time to have any time to relax and socialise, so to avoid any resentment building between them it seems a good idea.  We decide to invite them by alphabetical order of surname – Tracy Allum first on list – and write a personal invite on notepaper to be delivered the following morning.  “Cordially invited to dine, hot water & soup provided, bring your own food, mug and spoon.  Management reserve right to refuse entry.”

Monday 5th April 2010 – Bank Holiday! – 13 miles – N74.49.19 W95.55.51

Harder day but more productive.  1 fuel pump not working this morning but replacement works fine.  Hopefully just a seal I can fix quite easily.  Weather deteriorated to white-out and 1-200 yds vis, I navigated most of day using GPS and taking regular markers off sastrugi which requires a lot of concentration.  Saw Polar Bears at a distance which instinctively caused the line of us walking to close up.  Slightly alarming to think in this white out and with wind suit hood up, could be walking along side without knowing about it.  Tonight I have shotgun sleeve next to sleeping bag, unzipped with two slug shells in magazine.  Bear spray next to sleeping bag hood.  Most of team ok although Richard seems to have a cold.  Apparently also brought up some green phlegm which is slightly alarming, hopefully it’ll pass.  I’m remembering how hostile this environment is – 90% of our time dedicated to four principle elements of survival – water, food, shelter and warmth. Other than that it’s focusing on hygiene and walking north.  Once routines settle in though we can start to enjoy the environment.  It’s hard right now to stop thinking about getting to the end, the beginning was always going to be hardest.  Even this evening putting up tent and routine inside tent vastly improved.  I’m in charge of cooking with Ben assisting, won’t be long until he’s competent to do everything himself.  Mark spends more time outside tent getting snow for water, securing pulks and getting snow on valence to stop wind coming in, so aim to have hot drink ready when he’s inside tent.  Damp already in tent and sleeping bags, have to stop pans from boiling as soon as they’re ready as steam quickly builds up, and make sure opposite tent end properly vented.  Faulty fuel pump worked this evening without any repair – had carried in inner thermals all day so probably cold shrinking seal.  Will always keep one on body from now on.

Easter Sunday 4th April 2010 – 10.5 miles – N74.42.08 W95.22.51

A check of our nautical charts this morning tells us we’ve swung out further than we need to, to clear the south west coast of Cornwallis Island – a few miles maximum which is nothing in the grand scheme but not the best of first days!  It’s a timely reminder that GPS alone is not good enough and at least a daily check of the charts essential.  After a bit of weight redistribution – hampered by the fact that fuel pulks cannot carry food to risk cross-contamination – and we start to settle into a 2mph average during the day, and already by later afternoon the number of unplanned breaks (all day we walk with 5 mins break for food and drink every hour) are getting fewer, as the team adjust their clothing systems to get the right body temperature while walking at a constant pace.  It’s either a positive or negative spiral – if one team member has to stop in the middle of an hour walking, other team members get cold waiting, which can cause other unplanned stops later on.  In our 5 mins breaks there’s time to put on a Rab jacket to keep warm, which is kept at the front of the pulk with day food bag and water thermos.  As you can’t be sure whether it’s a few minutes or longer, some team more prone to getting cold walk in circles during these unplanned breaks.

Resolute is now out of sight, although the airport still visible on the hill.  Still, it’s a good feeling to be making progress.  We have turned North and now heading towards Polaris on Little Cornwallis Island, which is our marker for week 1.  I distribute some mini Easter eggs to the team I’d stashed in my tent bag to keep secret, they are well received!  Richard distributes apple sours, which don’t go down as well!

Saturday 3rd April 2010 – 20:40 – 7.76 miles - N74.35.32 W94.59.02
 
[no log entry yesterday – too busy!]

First day on the ice!  7.76 miles in warm weather – prob only -20C.  Set out of Resolute 11.15 after final packing, kit check and last emails home & to UK base.  It’s surreal we’ve finally – 18 months after signing up, all the planning, preparation, training weekends etc, and now a week after leaving the UK – set off on our Expedition!  Inevitably there is variation in the pace and a few stops and starts as people make adjustments to clothing and harnesses, pulling the full weight of c. 15 stone (210 pounds or 95kg) pulks.  Tomorrow there will be a bit of weight adjustment between team members to help even the pace.  Camp at 18.30, tents up, stoves on, all fed and watered by 20.30.  At the request of Ben & Mark, 1 stove left burning for warmth after dinner until we’re all ready for sleep.  First route out takes us SW to swing around the bottom of Cornwallis Island, hopefully tomorrow we’ll pass the point and start heading North.  Saw bear tracks today, also heard the rumbling of ice flows crashing into each other – sounded like a large lorry driving past your house.  Felt the ice shaking after each rumble.  Some saw the high ice rubble in the distance collapsing with plumes of snow and sea water spouting into the air.  Fortunately tomorrow we’ll be walking with our backs to it.

We lost Shaun after his follow up with the nurse.  This was a bitter blow to him and the team, to come this far, be in Resolute all packed ready to go, then to be told the day before that you can’t.  He was emotional but understanding of the risks.  His blood pressure had not come back down to a reasonable level despite the medication, and he was put on the next flight out yesterday.  In a way it made the decision easier – if his blood pressure was back to normal, we may have set off not knowing the cause, worried about it reoccurring.  Nucky went with him to the airport yesterday.  At least he didn’t have to suffer watching us walk out without him.  We have packed his sponsors flag with our kit so that will travel with us.

Yesterday we did a final test of the pump action shotguns and experimented with a few bear bangers – shells fired from the shotguns which explode the air – to determine their range.  We have four guns which will be carried by Richard, Rob, Steve Ryan and myself, so there is one in each tent and given that Richard will always be bringing up the rear, always one at the back of the line while we’re walking, where the most likely Polar Bear attack would come from.  Tent life slightly stressful even with only three of us, but confident when everyone gets into routine it’ll settle down.

Email from Stephen - Resolute, Cornwallis Island - 2nd April 2010 19:30 (GMT+6)

Dear Sponsors & Supporters
 
I'm in Resolute on Cornwallis Island - "Not the end of the world, but you can see it from here!".  It's a bizarre isolated community of 200 high in the Canadian Arctic.  Surprisingly for all of us, they have a limited internet connection so I have the luxury of sending you all a farewell message!
 
Our team arrived on 30th April but less one bag.  This has now arrived and we are set to walk out of Resolute tomorrow and begin our Expedition to walk unsupported to the Magnetic North Pole.  The last few days have been very busy unpacking, distributing, checking and repacking all our Expedition kit - testing fuel bottles, erecting tents, fixing bindings to skis, repacking all food rations into 3-day packs, last minute repairs and sewing batteries into our inner clothing to keep warm.  We've also spent last night - and will spend tonight - sleeping in tents on the ice outside of our accommodation, to pre-empt any issues with tents or sleeping bags.  It also gives us a proper chance to practice lighting our MSR fuel stoves and boiling water from snow.  Any burner problems can be fixed in the warm confines of our accommodation before we set off.
 
Morale is very high and we're all keen to set off.  Unfortunately however we are now down to 10 men.  As some of you may have noticed, we were originally 12 but had to lose one team member a few weeks before leaving the UK.  Now in Resolute, another team member - Shaun - became ill with stomach pains and was taken to the medical station here, and diagnosed with very high blood pressure.  It's a basic service here with a nurse only, and besides not being in a fit state to start the Expedition, it's important he has proper medical attention and diagnosis, and has therefore been flown out to Iqaluit and onto Ottawa today.  A bitter loss this late in the day, and we wish him all the very best - he was in my tent and will be sorely missed.
 
But tomorrow we start our slow walk North.  I can't wait to get out there and on with it. Please keep checking our Expedition website for updates as we send them to our UK base via sat phone.  Expect slow progress to start with though as our sledges are at the heaviest, we find our stride and navigate the coast line ice rubble.  As we turn the base of Cornwallis and start moving North, hopefully our daily average will pick up!
 
Tonight I'll be reading through the print out I have, of all your comments and good wishes.
 
Thank you all again.  The next time you hear from me, with a lot of effort and a bit of luck, will be early May when I'm back from a successful Expedition!

Steve

Thursday 1st April 2010 – 07:00

Just occurred to me, that was my last night in a bed for a while!  We’re sleeping on the ice outside the hotel now until we leave, to acclimatise and practice our tent drills.  We’ll spend today unpacking everything, checking all our kit then spend as much time as we can walking around outside to acclimatise, practice with tents in the cold and testing our clothing systems.

22.55 – Now in Rab sleeping bag in the tent on the ice for the first time, with Ben and Mark.  Have put up and taken down the tent more times than I can recall, practicing the drills while wearing full thermals and gloves which presents it’s own extra challenges.  Shaun hasn’t joined us this evening having taken ill during the day – not sure what the problem is but a trip to the nurse station here – there are no doctors in Resolute – diagnosed high blood pressure but cause unknown.  He’s taken some medication which has knocked him out, will review tomorrow.  It’ll be a tough call even if his blood pressure improves tomorrow – not knowing the cause would be a worry stepping out onto a 30 day Arctic Expedition.  It may even invalidate his insurance setting off with a known condition.  Ben, Mark & I are all in very good spirits though to be finally in a tent and can’t wait to get on with it!  The missing bag failed to show today – the only plane due in had technical problems and didn’t leave Iqaluit, we’re preying it arrives tomorrow.  We’re aiming to leave Resolute on Saturday.  Sleep now, tomorrow will be a defining day for a number of reasons.

Wednesday 31st March 2010 – 16:00 – Resolute, Cornwallis Island

After typically relaxed security for flights heading North from here – I carry a 2 litre bottle of water onto the plane and not an x-ray machine in sight - we’re on a flight to Resolute!  First Air put on special plane to get us up there with brief refuelling stop in Igloolik.  Nucky and I stood at Iqaluit faces pressed up against glass straining to count the number of bags and sledges going onto the tiny plane they put on for us, but as we board the bus they tell us all luggage has made it on – relief!  All in high spirits and thoughts now turning to the Expedition, as we gaze out the window down to Baffin Island and the vast expanse of sea ice (with lots of open water leads I note) and fly 600 NW to Cornwallis Island.  It’s a vast white wilderness of ice, snow and sastrugi – ridges formed by wind and snow deposit – but its impossible from the plane to know whether it’s inches or feet in height.  Some of the water leads are so big it’s almost like open sea with ice islands floating around freely, and I console myself we’re still heading north.  I can tell the team are turning their attention to the task ahead and the reality of what we’re doing, as the confident banter turns to nervous jokes and laughter.  Tracy shows me a quote from her log book “On heading to the Pole choose your companions carefully – you may have to eat them”!

After a refuelling stop in Igloolik we move time zones as we head further west, and I note the sea ice is thickening up – leads closing and increasingly an unbroken blanket of white with grey blotches stretching to the horizon.

Resolute – “not the end of the world, but you can see it from here” - is a tiny community of 200, originally an Air Force base from the cold war used also as part of the Inuit resettlement program (with disastrous consequences), which has since established itself as the staging area for virtually all attempts at the Geographic, Magnetic and Geo-Magnetic North Poles.  On arrival at South Camp Inn  the first thing I note walking into our Expedition room is the computer in the corner – is there nowhere on this planet you can’t get internet access?!  It’s slow and clunky to say the least, but we’re all heartened by all the positive comments on the Facebook Expedition page and we manage to upload a picture of the team.  I’m heartened to see the messages posted by Laura and the rest of the team’s loved ones – it’s nice to think she has an understanding group of people to “talk to”, albeit online.

Unfortunately one of our bags didn’t make the flight – it transpires they accidentally sent it to Ottawa and now we’ll have to wait for it to be sent back to Iqaluit and onwards to Resolute, which fills us with dread thinking about the challenge that is generally.  But as the Inuits say so often “can’t be helped”.

Monday 29th – Tuesday 30th March 2010 – Iqaluit, Nunavut

Left Ottawa 6am ok to transfer up to Iqaluit (capital of the Nunavut semi-autonomous region largely governed by the native Inuits) and onto Resolute, Cornwallis Island.  Problems begin at Iqaluit airport – First Air 14.30 flight cancelled due to 80kmh winds, so we’re checked into Frobisher Inn until we can get out.  Hopefully given size of our team they’ll put on extra plane for us, as spare seats on subsequent flights are few and far between, next flight not until Wednesday.  We discover some of our bags stink of beer – appears some bottles must have broken in cargo and leaked over our kit.  Fortunately our bags have kept most of the beer out of the contents.  We check in 4 to a room to keep costs down – everything in this part of the world is very expensive.  I’m with Mark, Steve Ryan and Rob, so the humour comes thick and fast, but it doesn’t negate the fact we’re stuck in Iqaluit indefinitely.  We know we’re definitely not going anywhere Tuesday, so relax Monday evening in the Frobisher bar releasing a mix of frustration at being stuck here, relief we’re finally on our way and nerves at the task ahead.

On Tuesday we use the time to practice putting tents up and down in the cold outside the hotel, then take a wander around town.  I meet Jeffrey – son of Aziz who runs the South Camp Inn where we’ll stay in Resolute.  Jeffrey works for the Child Protection Centre and he gives me some background to the area.  Iqaluit has a population of 8,000 (around 2,500 of whom are under 16) with 40% unemployment and a lot of social problems mainly the result of alcohol.  I ask him why alcohol – like most other communities in Nunavut – is not restricted here.  He replies with a resigned shrug “free country”.  Rent is typically C$60 per month in Iqaluit.  Everything in the few shops is very expensive, apart from fruit which is subsidised by the Nunavut regional government, so I stock up and head back to the hotel to sew a few more battery pockets into my inner thermals.  Annoyingly we can’t sort through our Expedition kit since all the sledges have been carefully weighed for the flights.  Internet is intermittent from the one hotel terminal, but I manage a call out to Laura, which gives us a welcome chat as we’d only managed a brief call before I flew from Ottawa, thinking that would be our last conversation until May.

Sunday 28th March 2010 – Heathrow to Ottawa

Full team and kit made it from an early start at Heathrow to Ottawa, checking into the Lord Elgin Hotel for one night before our onward travel.  In the elevator of the hotel I note a familiar face who clocks my team fleece and asks if we’re heading north.  Transpires it’s Ben Saunders – supposedly setting a solo and unsupported speed record to the Geographic North Pole.  On day three a fuel canister split and contaminated 70% of his food with Colmans Fuel, and his expedition was over before it really started.  It’s a timely reminder to us of the risks.

One day to go…

If you type “epilepsy help” into Google, the first (unsponsored) result is for www.epilepsy.org.uk – Epilepsy Action’s website.

On the right hand side in a prominent box, there are details of it’s freephone helpline, an international helpline, email address, text message and live online help service.

As well as providing immediate support, they have comprehensive information for all types of epileptics and their carers including parents and children, through teenagers and employees (and employers) to adults with epilepsy considering starting a family.  They lobby government for better treatment and awareness, run campaigns and local support groups across the UK, host regional conferences, pioneered the specialist epilepsy Sapphire nurse scheme, provide insurance for those with epilepsy who find it hard to get insurance elsewhere and provide training for schools, businesses and families.

There are estimated to be around half a million people with epilepsy in the UK right now.

Their award winning website alone receives over 100,000 visitors every month.

Epilepsy is not like most other disabilities.  You can’t see it, you can’t predict it.  It’s the second most common neurological condition after the migraine and yet it’s possibly the most misunderstood (and hence discriminated-against) disability in our country.  It’s completely indiscriminate and while some “triggers” are well documented, its causes remain largely unknown.  Like many disabilities its effects go beyond the epileptic to their nearest and dearest, in some cases becoming part or even full-time carers.

There are obvious limitations to what an epileptic can do – drive a car, serve in the military etc – but the number of things they cannot do are dwarfed by the number of things they still can do.  Despite this, the fact that many epileptics become seizure free after a few years - and of course the Disability Discrimination Act - epileptics are too often denied their basic rights to live and work without prejudice or exclusion.  The unpredictability of having a seizure (keeping in mind the bulk of epileptics have medication which controls tonic clonic seizures - aka “fits”) combined with a lack of understanding leads to the exclusion of many, perfectly capable of being productive workers and not least normal, social human beings.

From the fundraising events I’ve done and talks I’ve given to Epilepsy Support Groups, I’ve met a wide range of these people – some who have lost not only jobs, but also families and friends from having epilepsy.  Mental illness, including depression, is a common by-product for people affected not just by the condition, but the lifestyle effects largely imposed by those around them.  In the worst example one man I met – born and bred in London but descended from African origins – lost his job, his home, and was left by his wife and his son, because some of their friends and family believed that to have epilepsy, was to be possessed by the devil.

Tomorrow morning our team of 11 meet at Heathrow to begin our journey to Resolute on Cornwallis Island, high in the Canadian Arctic, to begin an Expedition to walk unsupported to the Magnetic North Pole.  It’s 360 nautical miles, or 414 statute miles; 667 km; 450,000 paces.  That’s not even 1 pace for every epileptic in the UK, but given our inevitable meander around the islands, ice flows and rubble we’ll have to navigate, I hope to leave a footprint in the snow for every person in the UK who has this condition.

Epilepsy, like the Arctic weather is unpredictable, harsh, indiscriminate and can make life miserable.  But in the Spring as the ice starts to melt away our footprints, we’ll be heading home while the lives of people with epilepsy goes on.

But with the help and support of the hundreds of you that have sponsored and supported me, combined with the thousands of people fundraising in charity runs and events all over the UK, and around the world every year – many arranged by Epilepsy Action – and with the solid support network this indispensible charity provides to sufferers and their friends and family, we all help to provide not just support and guidance, but promote tolerance, understanding and respect to those for whom epilepsy should remain a word, not a life sentence.

To my friends, my sister and the parents, brother and sister who care for and love her, to Laura and to all of you who have sponsored and supported me, thank you – I’ll see you in May.

Tomorrow, north.

www.justgiving.co.uk/stevegoespolar2010

Two days to go...

First of all a huge thank you to all who came to my leaving party last night in Fulham, especially given the weather.  It was great to see so many of you there, and was a fantastic send off.  It's been pretty stressful getting everything wrapped up before going away these last few weeks, so was a much needed stress relief as well!

Thank you to Laura for organising such a great party, and I hope everyone got home ok.

Also a thank you to everyone who couldn't make it but called with their best wishes.  It means a lot to have so many people thinking of us and wishing us a safe and successful Expedition.

So now there's only 2 days left before boarding our first flight to Ottawa, then one night there before flying to Iqaluit - the capital of Baffin Island where we did our 2008 Expedition - and immediately onto Resolute where we'll have a few days (and nights) of final preparation and training, before setting off.

I'm arranging for email updates to go out weekly to all who have requested them, and those who requested to be kept up to date when they sponsored me.  If you would like to receive a weekly update, send an email to info@homemadeproperties.co.uk.

Remember to bookmark the Expedition Website, where you can follow our progress on a map, follow the team blog and sign up with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Will send a final message tomorrow.

All the best.

Three days to go…

Three days until we fly from Heathrow, and I'd like to point you all towards our Expedition Website, which will be tracking our progress as we walk from Resolute on Cornwallis Island, to the 1996 Surveyed position of the Magnetic North Pole.

There are also links on the site to follow our progress on Facebook, Twitter and a Blog.  We'll be sending our position back to the UK by Sat Phone, and although not daily, should be a few times a week.  There's a map on the site where you can already see our projected route, which will be updated with our actual position after we set off.  Depending on sea ice states we may well meander around a bit on the way North.  Please bookmark this page to check back over the coming weeks.

A big thank you to Epilepsy Action, who have been promoting our Expedition to their Facebook and Twitter groups, and putting out Press Releases in advance of our departure.  My sponsorship is stubbornly just short of £6,000, so please help me to push me nearer my target!

I look forward to seeing some of you at my leaving party this evening.  If you'd like to come along please head to The Cabin on Dawes Road in Fulham, London SW6, from 6.30pm onwards.  Nearest tube station is Fulham Broadway.  I'll be the fat boy in the corner stuffing pies down his throat!

Four days to go...

With our departure now just days away I've been doing some last minute preparation.  Key to leaving with a clear head of course is to make sure everything (and everyone) who may need my input for the 5 or so weeks I'll be out of contact, know what to do in my absence.  In property this means making sure that all accounts are up to date, all managing agents have sufficient floats to pay for any repairs needed and delegating a suitable colleague to take any big urgent decisions in my absence.  It's always nice not to come back to a fire that needs putting out!

We have a few projects in hand including a big refurbishment about to start, so it's important to know they'll move forward in my absence, with payments in place and someone to oversee progress.

On the Expedition front, I've been buying some last minute items, including a small adapter to charge my camera off a solar charger and a new waterproof notebook for keeping a log (thank you Andy at Born Survivor Supplies for the quick delivery!).

I've also been reminding myself the important points of First Aid applicable to those heading into a cold climate.  Our Expedition Leader Richard Bull has had this You Tube video made by his doctor for us all to familiarise ourselves with - it's about 10 minutes long and some of you may find interesting, but probably best not to watch just after eating!

Click Here for You Tube clip

I've now raised 82% of my target - nearly £6,000.  Thank you all who have sponsored me!  I'll be printing out a full list of all my sponsors and your motivational comments to read while on the ice when the going gets tough!

Resolute - Cornwallis Island

On Sunday morning we board a flight from Heathrow to Ottawa, on our first leg up to Resolute on Cornwallis Island, where we'll do our final preparation before starting our Unsupported Expedition to the Magnetic North Pole.

Resolute - with a population of around 200 - takes its name from HMS Resolute - one of the vessels that searched for the lost British Expedition of Sir John Franklin in the 1850's.  Abandoned by the crew and considered unseaworthy from its mauling by the ice flows, it subsequently broke free and was found drifiting by a Whaler who delivered it to the American government (for a fee).  As a gesture of goodwill it was refurbished by the Americans and delivered back to Queen Victoria.  Needless to say the crew who abandoned her were called to account!

In 1880 when the ship was decommissioned and broken up, a desk was made from its timbers and delivered to American President Rutherford B Hayes as a gesture of thanks for the ship's return.  This desk remains to this day in the Oval office.  Resolute by name, Resolute by nature.

Temperatures in Resolute - at 74 degrees 43 North - average roughly between -25 to -30C at the start of April, rising to -15 to -20 by the end of April.

Windchill also has an added effect to these temperatures however.  Windchill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin.  As the wind speed increases, more heat is drawn from exposed areas and the skin temperature drops further.  At -15C, a 10mph wind has a "real feel" of -26C.  At -30C a 20mph wind has a "real feel" of -57C!

The cold air cannot generally hold much moisture at this level, hence in terms of precipitation - like much of the Arctic - it's almost defined as a desert.  The only periods with any precipitation of note is around July, August & September, when it averages up to 20-35mm max over a month.

Daylight in this part of the Arctic circle - which has 24 hour darkness from early November through to the end of January - will last from 4am to 7pm at the beginning of April, rising to virtually 24 hour daylight by the end of the month.  24 hour daylight will then last until early August.

The name of Resolute in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) is "Qausuittuq" meaning "The place with no dawn".

Final Preparations

A busy last few weeks, and in no particular order a few updates.

I did an illustrated talk at the Kings College Epilepsy Action Support Group on Monday evening – always a pleasure to be invited along to these groups to chat about past and upcoming fundraising events, particularly the Baffin Island 2008 Expedition, and imminent North Pole Expedition.

My talk was well received and the members made a very kind donation to my fundraising.  It’s humbling to be praised for my efforts by people who face far greater challenges in their everyday lives, some of whom had travelled from outside London to be there.  Thank you for your support and hospitality.

This week I also passed a milestone in my fundraising – I’ve now raised over £5,800 which is more than I did for Baffin Island 2008!  This is great news and a big thank you to everyone for their support.  Once again, as I’m paying for the full cost of my place on the Expedition, every penny goes direct to Epilepsy Action, and is already being put to good use.

On Thursday 25th March Laura has very kindly arranged a leaving party for me, at The Cabin on Dawes Road (London SW6), from 7pm.  Everyone is welcome and please email Laura (lollie_j@hotmail.com) if you’d like to come along.

At the request of those still wondering where the Magnetic North Pole is, you can see below two pictures – one of North America showing the general area we’re heading to, the second a closer look at the proposed route we’ll take.  From Resolute on Cornwallis Island – the northernmost permanently habited point in the Western Hemisphere – we’ll walk out south onto the sea ice, turn to the west and then head north westerly, to the right of Bathurst Island and onwards to the 1996 Magnetic North Pole.

With less than 2 weeks left before we go, I’m scaling back my training, and will be spending a lot of time getting my work wrapped up, sorting my personal kit and pestering anyone who hasn’t sponsored me!  On a serious note though, charity is a very personal thing and I respect anyone’s decision over which charities they choose to give money to.  I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has supported me not just with sponsorship, but with their time and kind – often inspiring - words.

Tyre Training – Richmond Park

This Saturday I went to Richmond Park via the local tyre garage, to do the obligatory tyre-pulling synonymous with aspiring Arctic Explorers!  With all our kit now packed up to go, the harnesses are all in store with the sledges, so the previous training we’ve done on the sand dunes of South Wales with the actual kit can’t be done.

Instead I used a rucksack, rope and bungees to attach a tyre but the drag wasn’t much good, so then strapped a log to it for added weight.  Needless to say I had a few weird looks and a few people came up to chat – always useful to carry a supply of business cards with the blog website address on, just in case!  A young boy asked for a lift which I duly gave – only occurred after I could have charged!  A few dogs as well found the tyre irresistible to have a go at, although I was mindful of spooking the horses so kept clear of them.

I’ll be heading down a few more times in the coming weeks, and will try to get Epilepsy Action featured prominently on me or the tyre for good measure.  It's useful training although the real feel of pulling a 13 stone sledge over snow and ice is very difficult to replicate with a tyre over mud and grass - a sledge is designed to slide and there's very little friction on the snow and ice, so once moving it's not that hard, but technically challenging with obstacles like ice rubble and so on obviously.  You use different muscle groups though, particularly in your legs, which is hard to replicate in a gym on a cross trainer.  It does add to the variety of the training of course!

Thank you to Laura - training buddy, travelling PR rep, motivator and camera woman, all in one!

I'll be talking about the Baffin Island Expedition I did in April 2008, and also about the upcoming Expedition to the Magnetic North Pole.  This is a great opportunity to see some of the great work Epilepsy Action does, helping people affected by Epilepsy, both as patients and their carers, friends and family.

All are welcome - if anyone wants to come along, please email Mary-Jane Atkins on episup@hotmail.com, and copy me.

Beyond the Pole

Just a quick blog to let you know about a film I saw recently.

Their own synopsis of the film is below.  It's set in the Arctic as two utterly unprepared idealistic young men decide to attempt the North Pole not only unsupported, but as a "carbon neutral, organic and vegetarian expedition".  It manages a good balance of poking fun at the overly-zealous climate camp without losing sight of the serious side to the debate.

For me though - and anyone else interested in (or going to) the Arctic or Antarctic - it's just a lot of fun!

"BEYOND THE POLE is Touching the Void with laughs, and Withnail and I on ice.  Funny and subversive it’s the story of two men trying to find their place in the world before the end of the world.  And it asks one question of us all: how far would you go to save the planet?"

Website: www.beyondthepole.com

Shotgun Training

On the packing weekend we were also trained by Rob – ex-Army and one of the team members – on using a pump action shotgun to protect us against Polar Bear attacks.

The chances of an attack are very remote – in 20 years of Expeditions to the Magnetic North the number of attacks requiring shootings number only a few.  We will carry a variety of counter measures – bangers, sprays and trip wires – of which the shotgun is the last resort.  The shells used start with simple bangers to scare rather than injure or kill, then “slugs” which are bolts of solid metal designed to stun but not penetrate.  Finally there are the actual shotgun shells themselves, which really are the last resort and only for use if attacked and at close range.

Each of us had a turn at learning first of all safe handling of the shotgun, then loading and firing a few shells at a target.  It was quite fun although the seriousness of why we were doing it wasn’t lost on us.  We’ll practice this again with the actual shotguns we’ll be taking onto the ice in Resolute.  It will also give us a chance to see how the cold affects the handling and operation, and of course how easy they are to handle wearing thermal gloves.

Packing Weekend

This weekend we all met in a barn in Gloucester to pack up all the kit, food and equipment we’ll be taking with us to Canada.  Aside from fuel – which we’ll pick up when we arrive in Resolute – every other bit of kit had to be tested, weighed and packed into the 12 sledges and 12 bags we’ll be transporting from Heathrow to Ottawa, then onto Resolute.  Due to weight restrictions on Air Canada and First Air – one of the airlines we’ll use which services the Nunavut region of the Canadian North, our bags must weigh not more than 23kg and the sledges 32kg.

All our food was stripped of packaging and repacked into the day bags we’ll use for energy during the day – chocolates, sweets, nuts and so on – and tent food for breakfast and evening meals.  Soups, tea, powdered milk, sugar and so on were emptied into freezer bags in tent-size rations.

Tents were put up, checked and taken down, fuel stoves lit and packed with repair kits and spares.  Thermos flasks, pan handles and karabiners were taped to prevent the chance of cold metal coming into contact with skin and ski poles were measured, cut down to size, labelled and packed into ski bags with skis and bindings. 

After the fabric and poles were checked for any faults, one of the tents being slightly wet from use was moved into the house we were staying in to dry out completely, and fuel bottles were washed with washing up liquid to remove any smell of fuel – which may prevent them being allowed on the plane if checked.

When packing we’re careful to distribute the supplies across all the sledges and bags – so if one bag or sledge goes missing we don’t lose all the stoves or all the bindings for example.  It’ll be a lot easier to replace one fuel bottle than nine, and in any case we have spares of pretty much all kit.  It’s a very long and tedious process, but essential to make sure we get to the start line with everything we need for our Expedition to stand a good chance of success.

Thank You from Epilepsy Action

Just a quick note to share with you a letter I received from Epilepsy Action, on my return from a week's training in Switzerland.  The actual total now stands at just over £3,000 - £430 through Just Giving (plus £88 Gift Aid), £1,580 received in cheques, and a further £910 pledged - so THANK YOU ALL!

I'll upload pictures and a blog update on the training week soon.

I'd also like to extend a thank you to all those members of the Downhill Only Ski Club (DHO) in Wengen, who attended a talk I gave on Monday evening in their Club Room, on my previous Expedition across Baffin Island, in Arctic Canada.  It was very well received and many members gave me many kind compliments.

If you'd like to read about this Expedition and see the photos, please see my Blog for April 2008.

If you'd like me to come and present to a group of you on the Baffin Island Expedition - maybe at your work or Support Group - please just drop me an email with the details.

Training in Switzerland

This last week a few of the team including me went went out to Switzerland with a sledge and harness, hiring cross country skis to practice pulling the sledge across snow and ice.  It's far different to pulling a sledge across the sand (or tyres for that matter!) and also gave us a chance to practice the skis, which even for experienced downhill skiers is not as easy as it looks.

The Fischer Crown skis have a toe-only binding so the heel lifts up, allowing a walking motion, and the skis have grooves in the bottom which allow them to slide forward but "bite" the snow as you pull pack.  We practiced on the flat, building up weight in the sledge and then trying up and downhill - needless to say we all spent some time on our arses!  However by the end of the first day we were all feeling pretty confident.

We stayed in the beautiful village of Wengen, pulling the sledge up and down the Lauterbrunnen Valley to Stechleberg and back.  It was a great few days and thanks especially to the Downhill Only Ski Club in Wengen - 50 of their members attended a talk I gave on the Baffin Island Expedition (April 2008), in their fantastic new club room.

Polar Bears

One of the biggest threats we will face in the Arctic is Polar Bears.

Also known by their scientific name “Ursus Maritimus” or the “sea bear”, there are estimated to be around 20-25,000 in the world, exclusive to the Northern Hemisphere and populating mainly USA (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Greenland (Denmark) and Norway.  Around 90% are estimated to be in the Canadian Arctic.

They are perfectly adapted to the harsh cold environments, with  layers of blubber up to 4.5 inches thick, two layers of fur, small ears and tails to prevent heat loss, special bumps on their feet to prevent slipping on ice, powerful claws to catch seals and a nose that can detect prey miles away.

Polar Bears are more likely to suffer from heat exhaustion than the cold, and although they can move very fast, with so much insulation cannot run over long distances.

Polar Bears are at the top of the food chain, keeping seal populations in check as their principle source of food, although they have been noted hunting anything from arctic foxes through to beluga whales.

Polar Bears do not hibernate in the true sense of the word, although pregnant females will enter a den to give birth in November/December, remaining in the den until March/April, after which of course she will need to feed to replace the weight loss of birth and nursing.  Cubs will stay with their mothers up to 2-3 years until they can hunt for themselves.

Polar Bears measure up to 3 meters tall and weigh up to an average 1,700 pounds (121 stones).

Our route will take us up the East Coast of Bathurst Island – past the aptly named “Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area” – right through their annual migration.

Our small arsenal of counter measures starts with common sense and “prevention” rather than “cure”.  Polar Bears are known not to like large groups of humans, and with 12 in the team we’ll be sticking close together in known Polar Bear areas.  Polar Bears are more likely to approach us out of curiosity or the scent of food than with hostile intent, and basic admin when securing camp, cooking and sealing all food and food-waste will be part of our daily routine.

We also have shotguns (with bangers, rubber bullets and proper shells as a last resort), trip flares and bangers for putting around the camp at night, and “bear spray” (not as stupid as it sounds – a polar bear may poke his head inside the tent while cooking).

On Baffin Island we were giving a good briefing on how to deal with Polar Bears, and the useful advice included "don't run" and "don't look a Polar Bear in the eyes"!  We all want to see Polar Bears while we're out there, but not that close!

Last Training Weekend

On a wet Friday evening we congregated in the Pelican pub just south of Ogmore, in the aftermath of the snow which covered much of Southern Wales, now melted on the frozen ground causing fields to swamp, rivers to burst their banks and even cattle grids to overflow.  It was this that greeted us on our last training weekend before we leave the UK at the end of March.  From now on when we meet for a weekend we’ll be doing the long, painstaking task of checking, packing and rechecking all the equipment we’ll be taking with us.

This weekend was simply to revolve around tents, stoves and sledges on the Saturday, a team dinner on the Saturday night and on Sunday a long walk – a good opportunity to get to know the team better and discuss any queries and concerns.

After getting soaked in torrential downpours on the Saturday morning however, and with most of our tents, sledges and stoves covered in wet sand from Ogmore’s sand dunes – a perfect environment to practice pulling sledges on the many other occasions I’ve been down here - we decamped back to the pub to dry out, and took the opportunity to piece together all the maps which chart our anticipated route to the Magnetic North Pole.

Camping in our groups on Saturday night was a good opportunity to go through the routines which will become our daily lives, although thankfully we won’t have wet mud to contend with!  It was also an opportunity for those who haven’t done similar Expeditions before, to discover what it’s like cooking and sleeping, while packed in like sardines, with 4 to a tent!

On Sunday the sun dried us out and we got back to the skills training which will become essential to our success – understanding importantly the MSR stove which will be our lifeline for all heating, water and most of our food.  The other essential components on which our success will depend are our shelters - tents were put up, taken down and put up again, taking it in turns in our teams of 4 to make sure each person knows how they operate, and the weak points to look out for.

Although there is a lot of detailed planning and organisation behind these Expeditions, fundamentally their success comes down largely to the basic elements of survival – water, food, shelter and warmth.  A solo Expedition to the Geographic North failed last year after just 2 days – sending £250,000 down the drain – because two plastic pressure stove-valves costing £60 failed in the cold.  These are the realities of Arctic exploration and our success will depend on our diligent attention to the small details which keep us watered, fed, warm and sheltered from the wind.

Just Giving page is now Live for the Magnetic North Pole Expedition, leaving the UK at the end of March 2010!

Please visit www.justgiving.com/SteveGoesPolar2010.

100% of the costs for my place on the Expedition is being met by myself, so 100% of your donation will go straight to this indespensible charity.

Thank you for your donations.

Please email us if you want to be kept up to date with the training and preparation in these last few months.

What is the Magnetic North Pole?

The first question I know most of you will have is this – what is the Magnetic North Pole?

The Earth has a number of “North Pole’s” – the most common being True North (aka Geographic North), or put simply, as the Earth rotates around an axis, the point at the North and South where that axis would extend from the surface of the Earth.  Think of a globe on a stand.

The Earth also has a Magnetic Field much like a bar magnet, which moves with time – when you’re looking at a compass the needle will point to the Magnetic North Pole, however this point is currently moving roughly North West by around 26 miles per year.  There is a similar Magnetic South Pole in the Antarctic which also moves.

There is also a “North Geomagnetic Pole”, but I shan’t confuse you anymore than I have here – suffice to say if you’re interested, try Wikipedia!

The Magnetic North Pole was first established by the explorer James Clark Ross in 1831, who located it on the Boothia Peninsula, which is part of the Canadian mainland to the North West of Hudson Bay.  At roughly 70° North, that was roughly the same distance South of Resolute Bay – our start point – as we have to head North for the 1996 position!  Roald Amundsen subsequently found it in a different location in 1903, and subsequent research established it moving North West from Canada into the Arctic Sea.

In 1996 its position was established and surveyed using magnetometer and theodolite at 78°35.7'N 104°11.9'W.  The Magnetic Poles are also referred to as the “Dip Poles”, since they are the point at which the needle of a compass – were it to move about freely – would point directly down at 90° to the Earth’s surface.

Since 1996 the position of the Magnetic North Pole has drifted somewhat further North West into the Arctic Sea and in time is expected to pass the Geographic North Pole and head down to Siberia.

The 1996 position however has become the “official” Magnetic North Pole, and since its official survey has become the source of many challenges and expeditions.  The annual Polar Challenge and bi-annual Polar Race send teams of three to race the 360 nautical miles to the Magnetic North Pole from Resolute Bay, however while still a gruelling challenge, these include two resupplies en-route with support.

By contrast our Expedition is entirely self-supported from start to our pick-up at the finish, and we won’t be trying to beat anyone but ourselves!

Picture reproduced with thanks to the Smithsonian Institution National Musuem of Natural History.

Kit Day

On a wet and windy November Saturday we met up in a village hall in Goucestershire, to issue all the clothing and most of the equipment we'll be wearing on the Expedition.  The cold hall was quite a good setting to be trying on layers of thermals!

Some of the kit we'll be wearing includes inner and outer layers of thermals, which need to balance being comfortable enough to wear while walking, while being a snug enough fit to keep the warmth in and wind out.  On top of thermal layers over legs and torso are the gloves, boots, jackets and head gear, including sun glasses and goggles.

The reason for issuing kit so early is to make sure we have enough clothing which fits well in advance - much of our kit is made to order and some imported, so there's no easy way of getting specialist kit last minute.  We also need to spend time customising it for our needs - opening zips for example is hard work wearing two layers of gloves, so all zips need to have strong tags or cord tied onto them to make them easier to grasp.  Windsuit hoods need to have fur linings sewn in which must stand the test of brutal winds, and since we'll be four to a tent, and all mostly wearing the same clothes, absolutely everything has to be clearly named so we don't get our clothing mixed up!

I'll be setting quite a few evenings aside in the coming months for my needle and thread!

Below are pictures of Richard trying to keep track of all the kit that has been issued, me sporting my sexy new thermals and boots, and a lesson on packing our "pulk" (the proper name for a sledge pulled in the Arctic).

Immigration Restrictions in the USA - 1875 to 1924

I was on holiday in New York recently and doing the tourist thing, took the ferry over to Liberty Island and on to Ellis Island - home of the United States Museum of Immigration.  It was here following Independence and the rush of people from around the globe flocking to the land where the streets were paved with gold, that the country's first immigration polices were put into practice.

From encouraging immigration to help the country's growth the tide soon started to work against America, with residents feeling their jobs, land and quality of lives were under threat from cheap foreign labour, in a story which has alarming familiarity today.

In the late 1800's - rather than impose a blanket ban on immigration - the authorities began imposing restrictions on categories of people - convicts, lunatics, idiots, paupers and imbeciles to name a few.

If you look closely at the picture below, you'll see the entry for 1903 - "Epileptics, professional beggers, and anarchists...".

I had mixed emotions when I read this - first anger and disbelief, not just at the inclusion but at the other categories with which Epilepsy was associated.

However I also found it quite warming - we still have a long way to go, but look how far we've come.

Brecon Beacons

5am start in London on Saturday to drive to Brecon in Wales, where I met Mark & Sean at a campsite for a weekend in the Brecon Beacons.  Despite a very frosty start - apologies to my team mates for not meeting them on the Friday night when temperatures went below -2C! - it was a beautifully clear day as we set off from our campsite for a c. 20km walk taking in 3 peaks, finishing on Pen Y Fan.

Pen Y Fan is the highest mountain in South Wales at 2,907 feet, and the highest in Britain south of Snowdonia.

I haven't been walking in this area properly since my days in the Wales University Officer Training Corps, and I had a trip down memory lane passing Crickhowell Training Camp.

We camped out on the Saturday night, cooking on an MSR stove similar to those we'll be using on our Magnetic North Pole Expedition.  On Sunday with long drives ahead of us, we did a shorter 11km walk up the back of Pen Y Fan to Corn Du, following the gentle southerly ridge down towards Merthyr Tydfil.

When time allows, long walks in the mountains carrying weight, is some of the best training we can do.  Camping in cold weather - albeit a lot warmer than the temperatures we'll be experiencing - is also a good help and experience in using essential kit like the MSR stove will be invaluable.

In all though, a beautiful weekend in the Welsh Mountains!

The Great North Run 2009

I went up to Newcastle with friends who were also running on Saturday 19th September, having a quiet evening before the big event on Sunday morning.

The air was cool but the skies were blue, and in increasingly warm conditions I joined 54,000 runners on the 13.1 mile run from Newcastle to South Shields.  Having run 3 times before, rather than aim for a specific time I ignored my stopwatch and as a result had a far more enjoyable race!

The support along the way as usual was fantastic, not just from the charities lining the route, police and first aid crews, but the spectators as well, and despite the huge turnout I didn't find the running crowded at any time.

I was lucky enough to be on the Tyne Bridge as the Red Arrows screamed over, and arrived in South Shields 2 hours 2 minutes later, to a warm and welcome reception from the staff of Epilepsy Action.  They had around 120 runners in this year's race.

I raised £370 (plus Gift Aid) and my site is still receiving donations if you'd like to nudge me up to my £400 target!

http://www.justgiving.com/stevegoesnorth2009/

All in all a great day out, a fun race and although I've been saying I'd like to do a half-marathon in Bristol or Cardiff next year, the Great North Run will be hard to beat!

A big thank you from Epilepsy Action and me, to all who sponsored me.

Unfortunately I don't think the official photographers were fast enough to snap me (!!) but below is one photo taken by Epilepsy Action on my arrival at the finish.

Magnetic North Pole - Planning our Unsupported Expedition for March 2010

On Saturday 5th September I met the full team of 12 together for the first time, when we set in stone the date of Sunday 28th March 2010, when we would depart the UK from Heathrow Airport, bound for Ottawa, onto Resolute on Cornwallis Island, and by foot the 360 nautical miles – unsupported - to the Magnetic North Pole.

The specific destination is the 1996 surveyed position of the Magnetic North Pole – its actual position is constantly moving slowly further North and West – which has become the officially recognised position for the Polar Challenge, Polar Race, and other Expeditions.

We are an all-British team of 12 with 10 men and two women.  The Expedition will take around 25 days of walking, skiing and camping on ice, in temperatures down to minus 50C and below, pulling sledges weighing up to 14 stone, avoiding frost bite and 80% of the World’s Polar Bears which live in these regions.

I need to do more research at the RGS, but if we succeed we believe we’ll be the first all-British mixed-sex team to reach the Magnetic North Pole unsupported.  Most attempts are supported through the Polar Race, or Polar Challenge, and only have to carry enough supplies for one week at a time.

We have an experienced guide in Richard Bull, who has led numerous Expeditions to the Magnetic North Pole and across Baffin Island, also supporting and advising on many other Expeditions to this hostile region.

The team comprises four members (including me) from the Baffin Island 2008 crossing – Roddy, Tracey & Nick.  We also have two ex-Army soldiers in Rob & Steve.  Another Steve (three of us in total so nicknames will be required!) went to Baffin earlier this year for a shorter Expedition, while the rest – Mark, Shaun, Mina & Ben - are new to Arctic Expeditions, however bring with them diverse and extensive experiences in the outdoors.

More training dates have been put in the diary to teach us the skills we’ll need to survive for up to 4 weeks in the Arctic, particularly the basics of pulling our sledges through large fields of ice-rubble, safely using and maintaining the MSR fuel stove – our only source of heating and water for the duration – and erecting and dismantling our tents – our essential and only form of proper shelter – often in high winds.

More to follow in a few weeks...

Great North Run 2009 - Just Giving page now live!

I've just launched my Just Giving page to raise sponsorship for the Great North Run 2009, which I'm taking part in on 20th September.

54,000 runners will attempt the 13.1 mile half-marathon course from Newcastle to South Shields.  This will be my 4th attempt and I'm looking forward to the great atmosphere which always surrounds this terrific event!

Please Click Here and take a moment to put £5 my way for a very worthy cause - my chosen charity Epilepsy Action!

Please check back after 20th September to see how I get on!

Itex Certificate

Received a certificate from Itex this morning, congratulating me on our 48.1 mile round-Jersey walk in June.  As a local event it supports local charities, and although not for Epilepsy Action it was a great charitable fundraiser to be part of, and a great incentive to keep the training up for next year's Expedition!

Very satisfying, and brought back a lot of (mostly) nice memories!

Thames Path – Fulham to Waterloo

On Monday evening Michael & I walked the Thames Path from Fulham to Waterloo – around 12 miles - joining the dots between the Twickenham-to-Fulham and the Greenwich-to-Waterloo sections we’d previously conquered!

The evening was very mild and fairly clear, so good walking weather as we headed to the start point at the Crabtree Pub, on the border with Hammersmith.  From there a nice leisurely stroll took us along side the Thames, around the Fulham Football Club – Craven Cottage – and into Bishops Park and Fulham Palace Gardens to Putney Bridge.

We stayed on the North side of the Thames crossing through Hurlingham Park – a remarkably large and deserted expanse of greenery – past Wandsworth Bridge around Fulham Wharf.  A lot of this next section was spent on roads and pavements as we crossed around Sands End to Chelsea Harbour, through Lots Road into the busy one-way system of Cheyne Walk, where the Embankment links up to the A4.  The old Lots Road Power Station is a remarkable building, but best appreciated from a distance, not close up.

We crossed over the famous Albert Bridge – covered in lights – where “…Troops must break step when marching…” to walk through the serenity of Battersea Park, before crossing back over to get a good look at the more-famous Battersea Power Station.  It’s a truly magnificent iconic building, but desperately awaiting redevelopment.

From here it’s hard to hear yourself think, walking alongside the Embankment once again until we crossed Vauxhall Bridge, where I was slightly surprised to be able to walk in front of the “Secret Intelligence Service” building (MI6), up to Lambeth Bridge.

Past St Thomas’ Hospital it was a short run to the Houses of Parliament in time for Big Ben to chime 9 o’clock – glowing in the evening orange lights – under the London Eye for a well deserver dinner in front of Royal Festival Hall!

A lovely evening and thanks to all who have been following my blog.  Especially to Karen who has included a link from her blog to mine, and who has raised sponsorship for Epilepsy Action.  She is currently training for Ben Nevis and the West Highland Way, to raise sponsorship for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  You can follow her blog by clicking here.

Thames Path - Shepperton to Richmond

An early start this Saturday morning for another section of the Thames Path, this time getting the 8.20am train from Clapham Junction down to Shepperton with a colleague of mine - Geoffrey.  We had a quick wander down the High Street before joining the Thames Path, crossing to the South side for the section up to Richmond.

Despite the forecast of light rain all day, we were walking in T-shirts under blue skies for the duration, watching the many rowers, sailers and canoeists enjoying the Thames.  The Thames Path out here is again well sign-posted, but much less diverse than the previous sections I'd done in East London, or from Twickenham to Fulham.  For most of the way we were on dirt tracks surrounded by greenery, with expensive houses (and their boats) lining the River.

From Shepperton past Sunbury, heading to Hampton, we passed large Victorian Reservoirs - the Molesey being right next to the Thames - and it's extraordinary to think of these huge banks being built largely by man and horse.  From there we followed the big U-bend around Hampton Court and back up to Kingston and Hampton Wick, before the final leg towards Ham and Twickenham.  To finish at Twickenham - my original goal - would have involved crossing to the North side for the last mile, but that would have meant pavement walking away from the Thames, so we stayed on the South side, up to Richmond.

This gave me another view of the impressive Royal Star and Garter Care Home for ex-Servicemen and women, situated on Richmond Hill with its imposing view over Richmond and the Thames.

British 10km London Run

The British 10km London Run is a great race, if only because it takes you through some of the busiest streets of London, without having to run the London Marathon!

Starting at 9.35am on Sunday 12th July 2009, I arrived at Whitehall to drop my bag off at 8.30, and already the whole of Haymarket up Piccadilly to the start was full of people - the total number of participants is around 30,000.

From Hyde Park Corner down Piccadilly, the route carried us South to Pall Mall, through Trafalgar Square (past the 4th plinth!) turning left onto the Embankment.  Once on the Embankment it's a fairly quick course through underpasses and up past St Paul's, doing a loop before Tower Bridge then heading back along the Embankment to Westminster Bridge.

The only two criticisms I have of this race are the lack of a phased start (30,000 people all at once, with no zoning for different speeds makes it quite the scrum!) and the 180 degree turns you have to do on Westminster Bridge, then again on Victoria Street.

Nevertheless, after the 180 degree turn on Westminster Bridge, it's back up into Parliament Square, down Victoria Street, another 180 turn, and back to finish along Whitehall.

I finished in 53 mins 22 secs, which wasn't much over my 52 mins target, so fairly happy with that!

Great atmosphere, lots of fun, and some more exposure for Epilepsy Action!

Jersey Itex Around the Island Walk

On 19th June 2009 I flew to Jersey (in the Channel Islands) to take part in the Itex 1 day 48.1 mile "Around the Island Walk".

Photos from the walk can be seen by Clicking Here.

Since it's inception in 1991 - when fifteen intrepid walkers started the first of what would become an annual event - the Walk has become one of the largest fund raising events held in Jersey, with 11,700 walkers over the years helping 103 local charities.  Although not for Epilepsy Action, it was a great target for me to train for, plus I have cousins and friends who live on the island, and one of the team members from the Baffin Island Expedition - Nucky - lives on Guernsey.  Nucky had already done the Itex walk around her own island, and flew over to embark on the Jersey Walk with me.

Over the past sixteen years around half of the walkers who venture out at 3am into the 48.1 miles challenge, make it to the finish line.

The walk started early on a fairly clear and dry Saturday morning, after we had ventured from our hotel at 2am to the Elizabeth Ferry Terminal, past drunken revellers spilling out from the clubs and bars, via kebab shops to taxi ranks!  Needless to say we hadn’t much sleep prior, and scoffed down a cereal bar, banana and some water to get us going.

From the Ferry Terminal at 3am - along with 1,200 other walks - the route headed anti-clockwise around the island, heading east around to Longbeach Gorey, then up to St Catherine’s where we had our first “Bag Drop” check point, along with a bacon sandwich and tea.  We had walked 11 miles by 6am!  Bags are ferried around the route so you can walk with the minimum required, which was a fantastic help for thermal tops, waterproofs, spare socks and first aid kits.

From there we continued up to the spectacular cliffs of the North Coast – past White Rock and La Pierre De La Fetelle, to Wolfs Caves.  By 9.30am we had covered over 20 miles and were going strong, although the feet were starting to feel the pinch with all the climbs and drops of the cliff paths.

Devil’s Hole was roughly the half-way marker at 23.7 miles which we past at 10.20am, and onwards to Greve de Lecq and Grosnez at 12.30, which put 30 miles under our belts and the cliffs of the North Coast now behind us.  Although we’d be snacking all the way, we had a light lunch, changed our socks and got back underway before the stiffness in our legs started to set in.

From here the 5 mile West Coast of St Ouen’s beach stretched out to Le Braye, before turning the South West Corner onto Beauport at 3.20pm, marking 39 miles.  The pain really started to kick in by this point, but with 9 miles left to go we couldn’t afford to rest and risk our legs seizing up, so after a brief drink, snack and stretch, we continued on to Noirmont Point, which at the opposite side of St Aubin’s Bay, gave us just 5.4 miles to go, and gave us a moral boosting first-sight of St Helier, and the Elizabeth Harbour Finish Line!

But those 5.4 miles, passing St Brelade’s and onto the promenade was tough going – not just physically but mentally.  Nucky and I strode out and allowed ourselves to start dreaming about taking our feet from our boots and dipping them in cold water!

The Finish Line – when it finally came – was full of supporters applauding us in, and we were welcomed with tea, water, chocolate, congratulations, and the knowledge that we had placed ourselves at 294 & 295 from the 1,200 walkers who started, finishing in 15 hours and 10 minutes.

It was tough going, and a Big Thank You to all the supporters, organisers and especially the Check Point staff.  The cadets, boy scouts, ATC, Itex staff, Freedom Church and many others who welcomed us in, sorted us out and waved us off were a great support and put in a lot of appreciated effort to make it an enjoyable and safe challenge.

"One Big Drop" - Abseil down Earls Court Exhibition Centre

At lunchtime on Sunday 14th June I took part in "One Big Drop" - a Charity Event organised by "Children with Leukaemia" being held at a number of venues around the country.  The idea was simply to abseil down a landmark building, which for London was the front of Earls Court Exhibition Centre, which is conveniently a 20 minute walk from my front door!

A few friends and colleagues also did the abseil which was held in glorious sunshine.  The views over London from the top made me sorry to have not taken my camera up with me, although I did have a few taken on the way down for you to see.

The total descent apparently from the roof to the top of the entrance was around 20 metres, although looking down it felt higher!

A big thank you to the organisers and supporters for a fun (and safe!) day and great experience!

Thames Path - Greenwich to Tower Bridge

With the "Itex" 50 mile walk around the island of Jersey on 20th June fast approaching, another training walk was in order.  But with weekends busy it only leaves evenings after work to pack it in.

So at 6pm on Tuesday evening, Michael and I met at North Greenwich tube station (next to the 02 Venue) and walked along another section of the Thames Path, West to Waterloo.  We saw first hand the regeneration of Greenwich with its numerous buildings sites, following the Thames along the South around the Isle of Dogs looking up to Canary Wharf.  From the Cutty Sark Pub and the Greenwich Tunnel, we walked through Deptford up to Rotherhithe through to Bermondsey.  We saw the numerous Piers that line the Thames, the Greenland and South Docks, walked through Pepys Park and down Drakes Steps.  At one point the detour around a building site was gazumped in favour of climbing down the sea wall to the rubble strewn beach for a few hundred yards!  We resisted the urge to pause in the Mayflower, Spice Island and Angel Pubs, and made it to Tower Bridge by dusk to see her lit up in all her glory.  The whole area around there and HMS Belfast is buzzing with restaurants, pubs and bars, but we carried on past the South Bank for dinner at Waterloo before getting the bus home.  Another wonderful evening on the Thames and highly recommended!

Walking in Snowdonia

I spent this last weekend enjoying glorious summer weather in North Wales, staying in the Swallow Falls YHA just outside Betws-Y-Coed with Shaun and Steve - both also going on the Magnetic North Pole Expedition next year.

After arriving late on Friday night, we set out for the car park at Pen-Y-Pass at 8.30am, but as suspected it was already full and we had to park a mile down the hill.  Regardless we started our attempt on the Crib Goch route up to Snowdon by 9am - the highest peak in Wales at 1,085 meters (about 3,500 feet).  There are a number of routes up Snowdon - including the popular "Pyg Track" which is a well established fairly easy walk with steps for the last steep section.  Of course, you can also get the train!  The Crib Goch ascent however is a real scramble - "three point" climbing with a jagged ridge requiring good balance and a pretty good head for heights.

We made a good ascent to the top in time for a lunch enjoying the spectacularly clear views on offer, descending down the opposite ridge across the West and East Peaks, to drop down onto the Miners Track.  This route is known as the "Horse Shoe" and gives the best views of the entire region of Snowdonia.

On Sunday in equally spectacular weather, we parked by Llyn Ogwen and climbed Tryfan to the North of Snowdon.  Again this was technically quite challenging and at around 980 meters is not much smaller than Snowdon.  Again we were rewarded with spectacular views, and treated ourselves to an easy amble down by 2.30pm, to start the long drive home.

Here's hoping for equally great weather on the rest of our weekends away this summer...!

Thames Path - Twickenham to Fulham

Left work slightly early yesterday and met a good friend at Twickenham Station in South West London at 6pm, for a walk back to Fulham along the Thames Path.  Since our original evening plans involved Soho, Chinese food and beer, I was thankful for good weather!

The Thames Path is a well sign-posted walk that goes from Oxford right down through London to Greenwich, around 150 miles.  As the crow flies it's much shorter, but with the weaving of the Thames it's probaby around double the distance.

In 3.5 hours we covered around 14 miles with the sun setting behind us.  It was lovely to see parts of London which are so close and yet such a contrast to City life.  We walked through beautiful Parks I never knew existed, past canals and house boats which look 100 years old, and saw locks and pubs nestled in quiet green Utopias minutes away from one of the busiest roads in the UK - the A4/M4!  We made Fulham in time for a well-deserved pub dinner with pints of Guinness!

I'm looking forward to exploring more of the Thames Path over the coming weeks and months, and would recommend it to anyone with a few days, or even hours to kill.

And for the record, I'm feeling fine today, and still looking forward to the Jersey Itex 50 mile walk in June!

Training Updates...

I spent some of the bank holiday looking through the diary and planning out one weekend a month dedicated to training for the North Pole.  I'm also looking at organised events like runs and walks that give me some fixed bench marks to aim for, and break up the monotony of training over the next 12 months.

The first training weekend is at the end of May, and although we haven't planned anything yet, depending on who can make it and what the weather is looking like, will probably involve mountains in the Lake District or Wales.

My first organised run is a 10km in July - although I'm looking for a 10km earlier than that - with more 10kms and the Great North Run (half marathon) at the end of September.

In a spasm of (slightly deluded) inspiration I've also signed up to the "Itex Walk" in Jersey on Saturday 20th June.  This is a 50 mile walk around the coastline of Jersey starting at 3am.  I registered, booked my flight and hotel all in the space of 10mins, then considered what I'd done - 50 miles is a long way!  It's 25 miles from my house in London to Maidenhead, so given that I have a vacant rental property out there, will punish myself in the next two weeks by getting the train out and walking back.  Will let you know how it goes...

On a lighter note, I've also signed up (and signed up most of my office in the process) to abseil down Earls Court as part of a Leukemia Research charity event, also in June.  I'm not anticipating abseiling in the Arctic, but when the option is placed in front of you - like walking around Jersey, or an Expedition to the Magnetic North Pole - you just get that gut instinct and have to run with it, or regret it for the rest of your life!

Training for the Magnetic North Pole

So the decision has been made!  In 2010 I shall be part of a 12 strong mixed-gender team attempting to walk unsupported from Resolute on Cornwallis Island, 360 nautical miles to the 1996 position of the Magnetic North Pole.

As the Magnetic North Pole moves around a lot of the years and decades, its position is constantly changing.  The 1996 was surveyed and established, and since then has become the goal for the Polar Race, and subsequent to that the Polar Challenge, amongst other Expeditions.

This was not a decision for me to be taken likely.  The temperatures are likely to be down to -50C and below with windchill, we'll be walking across sea-ice on an Expedition which could take up to 30 days (and nights), pulling all of our equipment, food and fuel by man-power alone, in a hostile environment home to 80% of the world's Polar Bears.

But the decision has been made, and this weekend in January, we were back to Ogmore in South Wales meeting the team, and practicing with the kit we'll be using.

Half of the Expedition is made up of people who succeeded with me on Baffin Island in 2008, and it's great to be heading back to the ice with them!

Pangnirtung Fiord to Pangnirtung - our destination!

After an early rise tents come down, we’re packed up and away by 8am.  Rich called ahead on his sat phone last night to arrange a skidoo to pick him up first thing, so he can go ahead and organise for our arrival.  We walk the remaining few miles into Pang with no stops arriving at 10.30am, where Rich comes down to meet us.  It’s a strange feeling – happy to have made it but having to leave behind such an incredibly beautiful part of the world, and head back to the politics and stresses of everyday life.

Rich welcomes us into Pang with congratulations and two bits of news – one good one bad.  The bad news, is that there’s no chance of flying out before Wednesday.  The good news, is that he’s persuaded the Auyuittuq Lodge (a fairly basic youth hostel) to accommodate 16 people at short notice (which out here means having oil delivered to provide hot water, and rounding up people from the community for cooking and cleaning).  We will have showers, beds, food that hasn’t been freeze dried and a solid roof over our heads for the first time in a week, and we’re all happy with that!

Only four others have made it through the Park this season, 3 groups failed and there’ll be no more attempts this winter.  We are the largest team to ever attempt – and succeed – a winter crossing of the Park.  We definitely had the weather on our side, but that doesn’t detract from our accomplishment – 128 km (or over 80 miles) over 7 days and 7 nights, through all types of terrain in temperatures below -40C at night and around -25C during the day.  The size of our group and our success is largely down to the preparation and team work of everyone in the group, but it must be said that the organisation and leadership of our guides – and especially Richard – played a very large part in our success.

I thought the trip would be tougher – I thought pulling the Pulk would be harder and I was braced for much worse conditions than we had.  Not to say that it was easy – every step of the way, from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep, was effort.  Going to the loo, getting a cup of tea (or water for that matter) and everything in between, was effort, although after the first day you just settled into routine.

I didn’t think much about it at the time as I really enjoyed “tent life” – the banter in the evenings and mornings especially – but it was tough.  After the first few days, body perspiration at night made the sleeping bags damp, and by the end of the week the hoods of the bags were actually wet.  Having the bag in your Pulk all day meant that when it came out to sleep in, there would actually be visible ice that you had to crawl into, which was always unpleasant, although it warmed up fairly quickly.  A small hole in the tent one night caused a wind to blow through around my feet, and I quickly lost feeling and had to stuff the hole best I could until the next day when it got repaired.

On the flip side however, I was completely unprepared for the sheer scale of the scenery we encountered.  I knew it was going to be incredible but sometimes it was almost too much to take in.  Some people I think would find that kind of remoteness quite unsettling, but I love it.  It’s impossible to describe the feeling of standing in a vast glaciated valley or in the middle of a huge lake, with an hour’s walk either side just to get to the edge, and in front and behind you maybe 100 miles of Arctic wilderness to the nearest community.  Huge glaciers hanging off vast mountains, some rising a good kilometre straight out of the ground, and beneath it all, 16 tiny people inching their way along.

Would I do it again?  Definitely – although I’d rather try and different location rather than the same again.  My only gripe with this area is the dependence on incredibly unreliable airlines.  We were lucky coming out, but as if to highlight the point, when we did fly out on Wednesday, we arrived in Iqaluit to discover not one piece of our luggage had gone on the plane.  It eventually turned up in Ottawa on the day (i.e. about 1 hour) before we were due to fly back to the UK.

The barriers to launching an attempt across Baffin are probably the reason why there are so few attempts, and why we saw only one other person on a skidoo for virtually the entire crossing.  As well as the flights, fuel, skidoo transfers, contingency planning and simply getting that number of people with kit to the start line is a huge operation in itself, and dealing with the Inuits never easy.  Again this is testament to our guides with Absolute Arctic.

So what next?  At Heathrow before we left the UK, Rich asked me if I’d be interested in an attempt of the Pole next year.  Obviously my reply was, let’s wait and see how this one goes!  On reflection however it doesn’t appeal – I loved this trip mainly due to the scenery, the mountains, lakes and fiords.  On the Pole, it’s basically sea ice for 3 weeks and a very long slog.  There is no definite goal either – just co-ordinates.  So I’ve declined that offer, and think my next trip – if only for contrast – will be a summer Expedition!

Once we’re settled in the Lodge there’s a lot of admin to sort out – all our kit must be prepared for flying out, which includes ditching all the food which can’t be used (the locals are very happy to receive the chocolate and sweets we haven’t eaten), and all the remaining fuel must be disposed and fuel bottles thoroughly cleaned before going on the planes.  We have time to sit down, chat and reflect on our accomplishment as we watch the weather close in around us, and thank Rich for pushing us to get out before it got too bad.  I manage to make a call out to my parents to tell them we’ve made it and I’m surprised to find a lump in my throat when I tell them we’ve succeeded and are all out safe and well.  It’s only talking to people who weren’t on the trip that it starts to settle in what we’ve accomplished.

It was, after all, only one week.  But one of the most incredible week’s of my life, and will be fondly remembered.

Overlord Shelter to Pangnirtung Fiord

0800 – 1800 approx 27km.  An early start and another long slog today, although the going was easier after a short stint on ice rubble packed up at the mouth of the Fiord, we hit flat sea ice mostly covered with a few inches of snow.  The skis came back out and we really started to burn the miles, as the sun came out again and layers came off.  Even if sub-zero temperatures as I took off my outer thermal layers and rolled down my windsuit, I noticed my own smell today, which can’t be a good sign!

Morale high today even though many I think our thinking more of hotel rooms than tents, now we’re out of the Park – it helps that being on a huge open Fiord we can easily walk in pairs and everyone spent the day chatting.

We had one slight detour as we aimed to cross an ice boulder field this morning, but when we got there one of the guides scouted ahead for a path and found some of the boulders shifting under his weight.  This is too dangerous for us all to drag Pulks over, so we had a 1 hour detour going around the long side of the island in the middle of the Fiord, across the flat sea ice.  Nobody complained.

This evening I sewed up two big holes by the tent door.  There is wind this evening and you can really feel it taking our warmth away, and overnight would make a big difference even inside our sleeping bags.  We traded our freeze dried beef stew for lamb with another tent this evening – we’ve had beef twice already and my Colman’s mustard is a great compliment to the lamb, so everyone’s happy.  We have to dig shallow snow for water since we’re now very much on sea ice – digging deep we’d get salt in our water, but camping near the coast line I walk inland slightly to take snow from the edge.

Tomorrow we’ll be at Pang, and none of us are talking about the possibility of camping outside the community for a few nights until we can get a flight out.  With the weather closing in the chances of a Wednesday flight are looking less likely, but even with that flight we still have two more nights in sleeping bags.

Thor Shelter to Overlord Shelter

The long slog.  15 miles and bloody hard work today.  Crampons falling apart under my feet, lots of ice down the Weasel River, wind around Windy Lake Bridge and when we had to come off the river, we were pulling Pulks over rocks, gravel, ice, snow and everything in between.  A few people had falls – Lucy has injured her ankle, Rosanna her knee, a few blisters and generally morale is quite low.  We have a weather window closing behind us with cloud and wind moving up – there’s a concern that if we’re out here when it comes in, we’ll be stuck for a few days and will miss our flight from Pang.  The weather is due to be closed in completely by Wednesday, which is the day of our flight, so we’re pushing to get in for Tuesday morning, if not Monday, which will be a hard push.  We didn’t stop much today for photos or breaks generally, and once we were past Crater Lake, it was clear we were aiming for Overlord Shelter which is at the entrance to the Park itself.  We’ve basically covered two days of walking in one day.

We got around Windy Lake Bridge though to Windy Lake Shelter, which is just above the Arctic Circle at 66° 30 North.  This was where the previous attempt from the South got stuck for three days in 2006.  In that group were two of our guides – Richard and Andy – and one of us guests – Nucky.  When we sighted the Shelter, Nucky pushed ahead and by the time we all arrived and unclipped our Pulks, she was sat on the hut step, with the visitor book she’d written in two years ago.  Her entry then was “I will be back”.  Her entry today “I’m back”.  And she promptly burst into tears (although she’ll hate me for telling everyone).  When I took a photo she put her glasses back on to hide them.

Shortly after setting off we arrived at the marker for the Arctic Circle and stopped for the obligatory photos.  Being quite cold I pulled my Epilepsy Action sponsors T-Shirt over my windsuit, and had a picture taken that makes me look like the biggest pie-eater in Canada!  On reflection I think I would rather have braved the cold for what may be a once-in-a-lifetime picture!

With Richard – normally bring up the rear – out in front driving us on we made Overlord Shelter at the entrance to the Park around 6pm by which time everyone was shattered, having put on a hard pace with few stops all day.  At dinner Andrew surprised us by producing a bag of dried cranberries, which were an absolute God-send.  We’re now ahead of schedule and only have 2 days on the Fiord ahead of us – weather permitting.  The Fiord should be flat and quite fast going assuming we don’t have lots of ice, so we can afford to burn extra fuel this evening, which is a welcome relief for me since I’m feeling dehydrated and am drinking lots of water.  This evening I cut twice the amount of snow blocks we would normally for melting.  This last day there hasn’t been much decent snow to mix with thermos water so my two litres didn’t go as far as usual.

There’s a strange feeling in the group – we have now walked from the North to the South of the Auyuittuq National Park, and all that stands between us and getting out of here, is 31km of Pang Fiord.  It feels a bit like the Expedition is now over, which is slightly dangerous – a bit like getting to the top of a mountain and feeling that you’ve achieved your goal.  Of course, the Expedition – like being on top of a mountain – is not over until we’re all safely home, and it’s important not to let basic admin go out the window or to start slacking off.  We still have a least one night on the ice and a good 2 days walking ahead of us.  We have to stay hydrated, fed and look after our tents, ration our fuel and supplies as if an Arctic storm were coming in and we were going to be out here another 3-4 nights.  There’s also a possibility that when we get to Pang we could end up sleeping out on the sea ice until we can get a flight out – a sobering thought!

It’s a nice feeling though, to think that our challenge was to walk this National Park in Baffin Island from the North to South, and that we’ve achieved that.  I’ll allow myself a bit of self-congratulation as I nestle into my (cold, wet) sleeping bag this evening.  Today for the first time I allowed myself to talk to Mark about what I’ll do when I get to Ottawa – I’m thinking a barber, some new clean clothes and an Italian restaurant with a good bottle of red wine!  I know we’ve only been out here a week, but one hell of a week and it feels a lot longer!

I’ve just been told we’ll be breaking camp at 8am tomorrow morning – Rich I think is aiming to get us to Pang – or very close to it – in one day.  That’s 31 km and will be tough going.

Summit Lake to Thor Shelter

0900 – 1700.  We set off and clear Summit Lake, Summit Lake Shelter and the Warden Hut at the SW entrance to Weasel River before our first break – quite a long first slog.  It felt like a long slog today since we constantly had our destination – Thor Shelter at the base of Thor Peak – in view but never seemed to quite get there, right until the end!  We covered around 10 miles as we start the descent, which means we’re well and truly past the half way point and there’s only one way out, which has definitely boosted morale.

Weather turned slightly today but threatening high winds – we could see on the tops of mountains – and a cloud front never fully materialised, although a noticeable drop in temperature with sun trying to break through cloud.  We’re moving better with less stops – probably also to do with less sun and lower temperatures, but with less stops it’s important to take on more water when we do stop to prevent dehydration.  This evening the wind has picked up and the tent is being knocked about, but we’re a long way off a proper Arctic storm so despite a few small tears in the tent, nothing to worry about.

Our main problem today was a section of river that we were concerned wasn’t strong enough to support us.  We came off the river onto the bank but there was limited snow cover which made pulling the Pulks hard work over rough terrain.  We had a surprise pass on the way down of a skidoo coming up, which was a welcome sight – if he can make it up, we can make it down!  Our other problem were the crampons – it’s hard work keeping them on the larger sized boots (which includes my size 12’s) and I only managed to keep one on consistently, making best use of both poles when the other foot went down.  Walking across pure ice though was incredible, and I’ve some amazing pictures.  The Pulks skid around on the slightest gradient and you have to second guess where it’s going next so you can brace your footing without risking a twisted knee or ankle.  The Pulks are connected from an upper body strap with two lengths of rope, connected with a bungee.  The bungee acts as a spring and really comes into it’s own when the Pulk starts sliding around, so there’s no sharp pulls – just gentle tugs.

Our total descent today from 420m on Summit Lake to 150m at Thor Shelter, but as we continue the descent down Weasel River tomorrow we’ll hit the last of the big concerns at Windy Lake Bridge, where the valley acts as a funnel and we’re guaranteed strong winds.  Two years ago they spent 3 days stuck there, rebuilding snow walls to protect the tents every 3 hours.  However, on that aborted attempt they were travelling south-north, and since we’re coming from the north and will be way beyond our halfway point, even if we get stuck there a few days, we’re still going to Pang!  That’s reassuring to know.

Our camp site is simply stunning – we’re camped next to Thor Shelter, which is a tiny hut with solar powered emergency radio, and a tiny toilet block.  The toilet block is an oil drum with a hole cut in the top, and smells so bad I’d prefer our usual snow hole in the ground!  However, a break from the wind is a light relief.  The shelter hut also has a visitor’s book in which we have added all our names to.  I walked up the bank behind our tents to try and get a shot of the tents with Thor towering above.  I ended up walking for over 20 minutes before I was far enough away to get the huge piece of glaciated rock in one picture – it’s an incredible sight.  It’s as if a massive ice-cream scoop has just chopped half the mountain away in one go.  Given the wind that usually plagues this valley, there’s not a lot of snow on the ground and finding places to get a secure footing for the tents was hard work.  More so finding suitable snow to melt for water.  After a few days of intermittent use my ipod battery has virtually died, but the Power Monkey I brought along is doing a good job of recharging the battery.  We did a lot of single-file walking today since with Pulks skidding around it’s not safe to be close together, and the ipod was a welcome companion.

Owl River/June Valley to Summit Lake

0900-1730.  Blue skies most of the day, gentle breeze picked up to wind on lake in afternoon and felt the cold.  Some put wind-mits on and a number of people really felt knackered by the end of the day.

After finishing the walk down the valley we climbed up to Glacier Lake which is the only steep climb of the trip.  Slow going and on a number of occasions 2 people dragged one sledge up, and returned to pull the other up.  Real team effort as some struggled more than most, but all made it up without incident.  At the entrance to Glacier Lake we’re standing at the bottom of Norman, Highway and Rundle Glacier, all snaking their ways back up into the mountains around us.  Quvneq Glacier bulges like a huge ice blister from the top of Mount Alvit above us.  There are lots of pressure fractures on the lake and where the ice is exposed you can see thousands of tiny air bubbles frozen into the ice.  As we rounded the moraine field at the bottom of Turner Glacier onto Summit Lake, we got our first glimpse of Mount Thor in the distance, and the vast expanse of Summit Lake was simply breathtaking.  I had to stop for a few minutes to take it all in – took a picture but it barely seems enough to do the scale of the sight in front of us any justice.  We also saw the edge of the Penny Ice Cap today – I’d love to get up there.

We found a slightly sheltered spot in the moraine field of Branstock Glacier since we’re lightly to have winds tonight down the Lake.  We’ve built a small snow wall in front of the tent in case the winds pick up, and with high mountains close either side, we lose direct sunlight fairly early and the temperature drops quickly.

Putting up the tent a pole snaps – fortunately this is one thing we have spares for but with only one tent’s worth of poles, we can’t afford many more breaks.  I also felt quite dizzy when we stopped today, and realised I hadn’t taken on enough water through the climb.  It’s so easy to forget what a dry environment we’re in and how easy it is to dehydrate.  I’ve decided that every morning and evening I’ll have 2 cups of water before doing anything else.

This evening using the temperature gauge with a remote sensor, without wind-chill we record -24C outside the tent, while inside with burners on, the temperature is up to +32C!

Our position puts us 37km to Overlord which we could reach on Sunday if the weather holds out, then another 2 days to Pang hence 29th, which would give us a 1 day margin, which is very reassuring.

June Valley to Owl River

09:20 strike camp to 17:00 – around 9 miles

We’re walking gradually uphill along the Owl River through June Valley, and I’m getting a sense of how difficult it is to judge distance.  I think it’s the clarity of the air – last night I thought we camped about half an hour from a turn in the valley.  3 hours after setting off, we finally reached it!  Still have beautiful weather – unfortunately it’s not due to last but generally we have a light wind, blue skies and sunshine.  Since we’re walking South we have the sun on our faces all day and despite 2 layers of sun screen I still caught the sun.

Looking at the map this evening I notice there are very few names for the mountains we pass.  According to my map “Feature names are uncommon in the northern part of the Pass, a testament to its relative isolation and as a deliberate contrast to the busy naming period of the 1950/60’s for the southern part.”  We did get our first glimpse of Mt Asgard today though – a strange sight like a huge rock table top that has been dumped in the middle of the mountains.  At 2010m high it apparently has the highest pure vertical cliff face in the world, and was the scene of the James Bond sequence at the beginning of “The Spy Who Loved Me”.

Finding my Pulk much easier to pull than I’d anticipated, I’ve off-loaded some of Andy’s gear into mine – spare tent poles and a meal box.  May well regret it tomorrow when we do the big climb up to Summit Lake at 420m.  What I am noticing however is how everything is an effort out here – from the moment we wake up in the morning and starting pumping the fuel bottles, to digging out Pulks and trying to de-ice the tent poles (being careful not to touch them with bare hands) without breaking them so we can collapse the tent and all the rest of the admin, before we even start walking.  Then throughout the day it’s a fine line between making good progress and trying not to sweat, which will make the few clothes we have wet and prone to freezing while we’re wearing them.  In the evenings, there is no such thing as just having a cup of tea – snow must be cut, fuel bottles filled and pumped, snow melted, water sieved and only then are we ready for a drink.  But we’re getting into the routine and despite the work we don’t really notice it as an effort.

North Pangnirtung Fiord to June Valley

I wake up around 04:30 desperate for a pee.  I quickly resign myself to the fact I’ve just got to get the first one over with and force myself up to a kneeling position in my bag, grab my pee bottle (a plastic 1 litre flask) and have my first pee in the Arctic.  All the time I’m in my sleeping bag, one finger just inside the bottle to make sure I don’t overfill – peeing inside a sleeping bag would not be pleasant.  Fortunately it transpires I’m not in the “1 Litre” club but have a 7-800ml bladder.  Being in the middle I now have to reach over one tent mate, unzip the inner fly sheet and poor the contents carefully into the snow, being sure not to hit any of our outer boots.  Doing this very slowly – spilling urine in the tent is a nightmare since drying anything in the Arctic virtually impossible – by the time I’ve finished I’ve started to lose feeling in my fingers and ears.  Once back in the bag I’m quickly warming up, but the reality of Arctic life is settling in.

I wake up again around 6am.  I have cold water dripping onto my face.  As I open my eyes I can see ice crystals all around the hood of my sleeping bag – only my mouth and nose are exposed as I sleep, and the condensation quickly freezes to the bag in elaborate formations.  As I’m breathing out, the warm air is melting some of the ice and it’s dripping back onto me.  With most of my clothes inside my bag I start to feel restricted and frustrated I have so little movement, and quickly decide I’ve got to get up and out of the tent.

I start pulling out clothes and putting them on – inner thermal layer, outer thermal layer, inner gloves, two layers of socks, fleece, full body windsuit, inner thermal boots, outer gloves, windproof hat, face mask, Arctic sunglasses, thermal Rab jacket, and then I attempt to get over Treve without waking him (not very successful) open the inner door and in a hunched position pull on two outer “Baffin” boots that have almost totally frozen solid.  Through all of this every brush with the tent brings down flakes of ice, some hitting my neck and running down my back.  Doing up the frozen laces with cold hands is a challenge beyond me at this point and I’m desperate just to get out.  I unzip the outer fly sheet, zipping both doors closed behind me, and just walk quickly away from the tents for a few minutes, taking some deep breaths which sting the back of my throat.  All I can think is we’ve got 8 nights of this – and I’m wondering what the hell I’m doing here.

And then I stopped to look at the view – a vast glaciated valley with dawn breaking over the mountains stretching as far as I could see in both directions, and in the middle, 4 green tents, and aside from last nights’ skidoo tracks, not a single other person or man-made object in sight.

I can honestly say from that point onwards, there was no other point on the entire trip when I regretted being there, or wished to be anywhere else.  I documented the moment with a picture and panoramic video, and went back to the tent for breakfast.

Daily Routine

Since our days followed a very similar format, I’ll run through it here:

6-6.30am – MSR Stoves on, warm up tent, boil water for day, breakfast of water, tea, hot Alpen then around 8-8.30 stoves off, kit on and tent down, packed into Pulks (the proper name for a sledge towed behind you as I discovered), and off we set.  At breakfast I would also take a few multi-vitamins and cod liver oil to compliment my diet, which was mostly dry food high in calories.

8.30-5/6pm – we walk throughout the day stopping every hour for around 5 minutes when everyone takes on water and food from their day bags.  Water, day bags and thermal Rab jackets are stored in the front of the Pulk for quick access, and the usual format – especially with skies on – is to give the Pulk a quick tug and slide it between your legs so you can sit down and pull out everything you need easily.  In those temperatures long stops would get too cold, even with the extra thermal layer on.  Water is a scoop of snow in the thermos flask cup, melted with boiled water from the thermos.  It’s very dehydrating being in such a dry climate, so melting snow on the way stretches two 1 Litre thermos flasks to 3 or 4 Litres.  Day bags are large freezer bags – one for each day of the 8 day trip plus 4 emergency bags each – full of boiled sweets, chocolate, biscuits, raisin bars and an assortment of other goodies.  I say goodies, but can honestly say that by the end of the trip, I never wanted to touch chocolate ever again.

Walking was on average (including stops) a leisurely 2 mph.  We usually walked either in pairs or single file – with full thermal kit on it’s not easy to have conversations hence the iPods.  iPods and cameras have to be stored close to the body to prevent the batteries freezing up – in my case they were zipped into my inner thermal layer.

5/6pm – depending on how everyone was feeling and our mileage, we’d aim to have tents up while the sun was still on us.  I tried to get my body into a routine of going for a Number 2 (sorry but I know you were thinking about it) at this point since it was much warming generally than the mornings.  Hygiene is paramount in such a remote location so toilet spots are quickly defined well away from where we cut snow for melting into water, and the two different shovels are colour coded, clearly marked and carried on separate sledges to avoid contamination.

With tents up one person goes into the tent and starts arranging the two layers of thermal flooring – one layer of carry mats with a further crossed layer of therma-rests over the top.  While this is going on, one person sorts out the fuel bottles and stoves – refilling if necessary – while the other two secure the tent, pile snow up around the perimeter to stop wind getting under the fly sheets, and then pass all the other personnel kit and food into the tent, finally arranging and securing the sledges around the perimeter.  Stoves are put on once the tent is secure, and the long process of snow melting for water carries on for the few hours it takes to have dinner, repair any kit, wash (usually a baby wipe defrosted over the stove), sterilise hands, look after feet, dry gloves and socks if necessary, then around 8.30pm, stoves off and quickly into sleeping bags.  Once the stoves are turned off, the temperature falls quickly inside the tent.

It was also around this time I would write my log.  Dinner was usually a few cups of water, a cup of soup, and a freeze dried meal complimented often with my Colmans Mustard (especially good with the lamb and pilaf!).  We had a lot of pork scratchings in our rations which were a real God-send.  The high burn rate during the day would leave my body desperate for salt.

Our first day was very warm – starting around -20C with a real feel with the sun out of probably not much less than -10C, with no wind, which made it a good opportunity to get the Epilepsy Action “Out in the Open” T-Shirt on for a photo!  We only managed about 6 miles today as people got used to their kit and found their pace, but by the afternoon – after a fair bit of messing around in the morning – we’re moving quite well.  The biggest problem today was the sun needing lots of sun screen for our faces.  The surface we’re walking over has a light level of snow with the occasional bit of grass poking through, but on the whole it’s a lot easier pulling the Pulk along than I thought it would be.

The sheer scale and feeling of remoteness exceeds any of the expectations I had for the trip – it truly is astounding being out here.

I spoke to Rich today who says now we’re moving, and with weather reports as they stand, he’s 70% confident we’ll be walking into Pangnirtung (“Pang”) in 7-8 days, which would obviously be great.  I really hope we get another few days of this weather, but we will need to step up the pace to 8-10 miles per day minimum if we’re going to make it.  We’d need to be at Summit Lake by 25th to guarantee we’d only be heading south on the way out, rather than turning around.

We stopped to camp at around 5pm to get tents up while we still had the sun on us, and I found a perfect rock for taking a dump – never had such good views we’ll on the loo!  Had my first Arctic crap and don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, although after 24 hours now on Arctic rations, I was relieved not to have diarrhoea.  It’s true what they say though – the best way to take a dump in the Arctic, is quickly.

After everyone was in their tents getting dinner on, I walked up to a small ridge above the camp site and took some pictures and video.  It’s an incredible feeling to be so remote with such stunning scenery, in the knowledge that you’d have to go about 100 miles in either direction to get to the nearest settlement.  The air is so clear that mountains miles away are sharply defined, and it makes it difficult to judge distance.  It’s so quiet it’s difficult to imagine there’s anything else going on in the world.

Having got a few miles under our belts and with everyone that bit more confident in putting up tents and using stoves, morale is noticeably improved.

Iqaluit to Pangnirtung to Qikiqtarjuaq (Broughton Island)

We’re off!  And despite all the horror stories all our kit along with 16 intrepid Arctic Explorers make both the flights and are ready for the final leg to the start point.  On our last flight over the park we have our first views of the terrain we’ll be walking across – a vast expansive Arctic Wilderness of mountains and glaciated valleys.  The air is excited but slightly anxious.  Nervous laughter greets the odd joke.  Our last duty as we arrive in Broughton Island is to pick up our white fuel for the stoves, decant the cans into fuel bottles and load up into skidoo trailers for the transfer into the Park.  I’m pleased to hear that due to Polar Bear activity, we’re being taken in further from the sea ice than we’d planned.  Losing the distance we’ll accomplish is annoying, but after all the local stories and conversations I’ve had, my mother will be happy we’re erring on the side of caution.  I’m sure she wants her fur collar back unstained.

The wooden skidoo trailer is uncomfortable to say the least.  We are togged up with every bit of kit we have available for a journey across the sea ice and take it in turns to be in the middle – the warmest place to be.  We sit 3 or 4 per trailer all facing backwards with sledges packed on the front and rear.  One person takes a turn at absorbing the bumps against the wooden back board, while the last person as the most exposed has the hardest job staying warm.  Wedged in the middle is light relief.  I also take a turn riding on the back of the skidoo, but find trying to hang on with three layers of gloves virtually impossible and by the time my hour is up, my thighs are aching.  The skidoo is constantly dipping into deep snow on alternate sides which the driver skilfully rides out of, but the effect for the passenger reminds me of sidecar riders in professional motorbike racing, without the handholds.  Every hour we stop to get out, run around, warm up and have a breather before carrying on.  Progress at 20mph max is painfully slow and after a 2.30pm start we finally reach our drop off point 6 hours later.  Some are feeling motion sickness not helped by diesel fumes, but not long after we have tents up and are cooking our first meal on the ice.

We’ve also had our first problem – during the skidoo transfer one bundle of skis flipped off a sledge, breaking two skis beyond repair.  The guides assure us this is not a problem, but someone will have to go without.

My first meal of soup, water and freeze dried beef bourguignon goes down well, but moral amongst the group is low.  It’s cold, the reality of what we’re doing has hit everyone, a number are feeling sick from the skidoo transfer, and of course on the first night few people other than the guides are sure about what they’re doing.  One of the tents has a problem with the valve on their fuel bottle causing flames to shoot up – quick thinking gets the fuel board out before any damage is done to the tent but the fear now is in everyone’s mind – we’re not carrying any spare tents, it’s very cold and they’re our only means of shelter.  I also realise just how incredibly dehydrated I am from 6 hours on the skidoos without a drink and kick myself for making such a basic error so early on.  After boiling up enough water to fill 2 flasks for each person in the tent and after meals are eaten, stoves are turned off and immediately I feel the temperature start to drop.  Sleeping bags are quickly gotten into and at 10.30pm, exhausted after a long day, I’m quickly asleep.

Iqaluit - final thoughts...

23:00 – this is it.  Last night in a bed, last chance for a shower, and last food that’s not been freeze dried.  Everyone is making last minute adjustments to kit, deciding what little luxuries to take with them (books are heavy to pull but sitting in a tent for 3 days in an Arctic storm could get pretty tedious).  We fill two thermos flasks each with boiled water and set alarms for 4.30am.  We’re told the current temperature in North Pangnirtung Fiord – our start point – is -39C with windchill.  I double check the stitching of mum’s fur collar I’ve sewn into the hood of my windsuit – it’s obscenely large compared to anyone else’s but I don’t care, and I’m rather proud of the job I’ve done!  In my personal kit I’ve got a 7 day pill pot with a small cocktail of vitamins, a small tube of Colman’s mustard, a sewing kit, power monkey, iPod, spare camera batteries and memory stick, Leatherman, baby wipes, vaseline, deck of cards and a book.  I also take a tourist map of the park, waterproof notebook and printout of all my sponsors with their comments – I have a quick last read before going to bed.

Iqaluit - Training and Prep Day

What’s the coldest I’ve ever been?  A few years back I was skiing in the Monashee Area of Canadian British Columbia, when the temperature dropped suddenly from around minus 30C to minus 40C.  The guides made a quick decision to helicopter us off – it wasn’t an immediate danger, but the danger of someone injuring themselves and lying in the snow while others hang around in the bitter cold.  I remember seeing an exposed piece of cheek on one of the skiers turn white in front of my eyes, and remember my gloves going as stiff as cardboard, and feeling a cold that seemed to penetrate my bones.  I had a full body thermal layer on, windproofs, fleece and ski jacket, with two layers of gloves, hat and facemask, and I remember feeling incredibly exposed.

Today we don full kit and practice skiing out on the sea ice with our touring skis.  They’re very light, and have a toe-only binding allowing a heel lift for a walking motion, and scallop-shaped cuts in the wax base which allow the ski to glide forward, then bite the snow to provide traction when you pull back.  They’re excellent for our use – they’ll stop us sinking into soft snow and allow a glide on flat or slightly downhill terrain.  After a few laps most are happily taking confident strides – this is the one thing we weren’t able to properly practice in the UK.

Ottawa to Iqaluit

The next morning we’re on the first of three First Air flights – the local and incredibly unreliable local airline which services the Northern parts of Canada – which will take us to Iqaluit – the capital of the Nunavut region which encompasses Baffin Island.  Despite the horror stories of previous expeditions we arrive with only one sledge missing – which thankfully arrives on the evening flight.  We get our first taste of the cold weather and the incredibly deprived level of living in the Inuit communities – the local newspaper has 8 Alcoholic Anonymous meetings advertised (even though it’s supposed to be a dry community), and very little evidence of industry, aside from major outside companies setting up mining camps.  There’s even a picture diagram of how to wash hands, counsellors offering help on home abuse, and a story about a shooting they think was part of an escalation of shootings designed to get the best headlines.  The biggest concern on my mind were the two Canadian women on the plane next to me who didn’t ask me if we were taking guns, but how many.

That evening we have a meeting with the National Park Office to register, which we have to do before entering the park.  Part of the questionnaire includes questions such as “would you be prepared to assist in a rescue”.  We’re reminded a skidoo rescue would take minimum 2-3 days, and that would be weather dependent.  We’re briefed on the use of radios in the few shelters in the Park, and told there has been 1 successful attempt this year, another 2 groups have been pulled out, and we will be 1 day behind a team of 2.  5 attempts and no others planned.  Most of the 500 annual visitors to the park – well over 400 – are summer visitors, and most hike the summer trail, which of course excludes any sea ice.  The bulk of the meeting however is taken up with advice on dealing with Polar Bears – the usual useful stuff about not running, sticking together in large groups and trying to make yourself look larger and louder, and oh, don’t look a polar bear in the eyes.  I wonder just how close you’d need to be to look into a polar bears eyes, and if I was that close, just how big and loud I’d have to make myself to intimidate the beast.  Call me selfish, but I work on the Safari principle – you don’t have to be the fastest man in the jungle, just faster than the slowest.  Firearms are not allowed in the park – the principle being that shooting Polar Bears is only allowed in self defence, and there seemed to be an awful lot of ‘defence’ going on.  Hence we’re carrying a small arsenal of other kit – flares and so on.  Polar Bears appear to dislike large groups, and 16 is a large group by any stretch – that’s what I console myself with as I try to get to sleep that night, and pledge never to be the last man in the group.

Apparently alcohol and drugs are not just a big problem for Inuits out here due to social reasons, but also as their bodies simply can’t cope with it.  Everywhere seems to have its own by-laws and Iqaluit does have limited alcohol available.  As I leave the bar opposite the hotel, the Inuit in front of me walks straight into the door frame, as if to prove the point.

Heathrow to Ottawa

We all arrive at Heathrow amidst a pile of red and blue sledges, black bags and our own carry-on luggage, quickly sort the confusion into a more organised form of chaos, and successfully manage to check in all kit for the first of four flights that will – hopefully – get all 16 of us with all our expedition kit to the start line on Baffin Island for Monday afternoon.  All checked-in luggage must weigh no more than 23kg and a few items are thrown around the hall before all bags are accepted.  “Did you pack the bag yourself” - “well, define ‘yourself’ – yes of course I did, with 15 others who I kept eyes on all the time”.  “Has the bag been left unattended at any time” – “you mean since I drove to the Cotswolds 2 weeks ago for the packing weekend and left 16 sledges and 16 other large bags with Andy and Richard – I’m sure they had them in their bedrooms every night….”.  A few hundred quid later for some excess weight and we’re on.

There’s something horribly intimidating about any immigration officer, in particular those working in North America – America or Canada.  “Are you here on business or pleasure” – it’s definitely not business so I chose the latter.  “And what is your final destination in Canada” – “Baffin Island” – “and what are you planning on doing there” – “we’re going to walk across it”.  He stops staring at his screen and stares straight at me – “you’re what?!”.  “We’re going to try and walk across the National Park from North Pangnirtung Fiord”.  He pauses - “are you bringing firearms into Canada” – “no, just expedition equipment”.  “Why not?”.

We’re in Canada, all kit accounted for and checked into the Lord Elgin Hotel and smugly I take a dip in the pool, being the only one who remembered to pack a swimming costume.