Below is the live expedition report for the Tangent Greenland Icecap Crossing Expedition 2010 It includes a general blog and links to a map and data table. The table shows all relevant information, including travelling hours, camp positions, daily weather reports. The map then shows the daily camp positions marked on a Google map.

If you're interested in joining our 2011 expedition please contact Paul Walker.

2010 Crossing Map

2010 Crossing Data

Saturday 1st May

All 8 members of our 2010 team finally meet up at Snorri's guesthouse in Reykjavik, the first time the whole team have been together at once. This follows individual meetings with each team member and a training weekend in the Lake District.

Sunday 2nd May

A day in Reykjavik to get to know each other and spend some time going through all the equipment and checking that everyone has what they need. A final opportunity to enjoy the delights, bars and restaurants of Reykjavik!

Monday 3rd May

The group flew from Reykjavik to Kulusuk airport in east Greenland this morning and transferred by helicopter to the region's principle town of Tasiilaq. After spending the night here and the first group are due to fly to the icecap tomorrow with the second group following on Thursday. Due to limited spare flying hours of the pilots it is not possible to all fly to the icecap together on the same day. We must work around the other schedule flights taking place between the local villages. The group visited the local police station to have their outline plan, Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) and satellite phone equipment checked.

Tuesday 4th May

First helicopter flight was canceled today due to bad weather so the team remain in Tasiilaq until Thursday

DAY 1 :  Thursday 6th May

Both groups flew to the top of Hahn Glacier today and began their journey on time. Landing position was at 930m beside a small rocky summit on the edge of the icecap. After sorting their equipment and loading the pulks the team were able to make a few hours progress (7.6km) before setting up camp for the evening. Weather and snow surfaces are reported to be very good and the team are looking forward to tomorrow. Unusually warm temperatures recorded (see Table for further details)

DAY 2 :  Friday 7th May

Warm temperatures and good progress of 14.7km.

DAY 3 :  Saturday 8th May

Warm temperatures and good progress of 19.4km. Cloud and light rain in the evening! With overnight freezing this should then improve surfaces.

DAY 4 :  Sunday 9th May

A good freeze overnight down to -10c. Warm again during the day and good progress of 18.6km.

DAY 5 :  Monday 10th May

All is well and the team are making good progress. Snow surfaces are still good although weather is extremely mild due a southerly airflow at the moment. Therefore today the group started moving at 05.00 and finished at 13.45, once snow conditions became too warm. A few of the usual issues with early expedition blisters but nothing major. The expedition is consciously restricting the number of hours traveled per day over the first few days in order to avoid more serious sprains, strains and injuries. It's important not to overdo things during this early phase until mind and body have settled more in to the rhythm of daily travel. Despite this, they are making very good daily progress and are easily on schedule, helped by the good surfaces and fine weather. These are significant benefits of departing slightly later in the season than other groups tend to do.

DAY 6 :  Tuesday 11th May

The team decided to lie in this morning and take a rest and will begin traveling this evening once the temperatures cool down and the surface begins to freeze. Day time maximum temperatures are still being experienced as a result of a southerly air flow coming all the way from the Equator direct to Greenland, producing unusually mild conditions. However this looks set to change to strong northwesterly winds over the coming 24 hours. The group are currently making very good progress and are ahead of our 2009 schedule, which eventually finished in 27 days, one day ahead of our anticipated 28 day schedule. We take food and fuel for 30 days as a contingency. Our previous non kiting groups have all taken between 26 and 28 days. Our two previous kite assisted crossings have reduced this to 24 days, with a a limited amount of kite assistance on 2 or 3 days.

DAY 7 :  Wednesday 12th May

Very strong winds hit camp last night making it impossible to travel through last night as planned. Currently in full whiteout and storm conditions which have continued all through today.

DAY 8 :  Thursday 13th May

Today we hear that a Norwegian expedition is waiting to be evacuated on the west coast of the icecap following the deteriorating condition of one of the two members knees. Having started at the same time as our own expedition they attempted the crossing from west to east. This makes it necessary to travel up through the very difficult maze of ice and crevasses on the west coast with fully laden pulks. This significantly increases the risk of sprain and strain injuries and supports our belief that east west crossings are usually preferable. In this way the most difficult part of the journey, traveling through this awkward and potentially dangerous crevased region, is made with almost empty pulks and whilst traveling down hill, making it a far more pleasant experience. But our group also has it's problems today with continued strong winds and ground blizzard making travel impossible. Winds of 50-60 mph (80-100 kmh) have caused some damage to tents with a couple of broken poles. The group do have spare sleeping capacity in the tents and even in the worst scenario of 1 or 2 of the tents being completely destroyed the expedition can still continue safely. This is a major benefit of traveling in a larger group of 8 people. Hopefully it won't come to that of course and the broken poles have been repaired using metal pole sleeve repair splints designed for this purpose.

DAY 9 :  Friday 14th May

Having been unable to travel due to extreme winds and blizzard conditions for the last 3 days the weather finally abated and the team were able to make good progress again in clear weather. Considerable snow has fallen during the storms producing soft snow and more difficult hauling conditions. Despite this the team managed a very respectable 21km today, despite taking 5 hours to dig out after the storm and get moving.

DAY 10 :  Saturday 15th May

Snowed heavily through the night and all day today, producing slow and difficult conditions. The team decided to cut short the day and hopefully with colder temperatures overnight the surface will freeze better for an early start and longer day tomorrow. Thankfully the weather forecast is now for good clear weather and calm winds for the next 8 days.

DAY 11 :  Sunday 16th May

Today was cut short due to two issues. The first being that one team member suffered cold injury to two of his fingers during the first phase of travel resulting in frost nip and possibly mild frost bite. The group have set up camp and will remain at their current location overnight and will review his condition in the morning to see if he will be able to continue or not. The second issue is that of the leader who felt extremely unwell today. After giving him lots of food, drink and electrolyte fluids to aid recovery his condition has improved but at the moment he is not well enough to travel. Again his condition will also be monitored overnight. But the team are all warm, safe and resting in their tents until some decisions are made tomorrow.

DAY 12 :  Monday 17th May

Overnight there has been no improvement in either Peter or Simon's condition. It was therefore decided today that both would require evacuation by helicopter back to Tasiilaq. As this effectively curtails the expedition it was possible for the first two remaining members of the group to come out on this flight. Due to limits on pilot flying hours it was not possible to collect the remaining four team members today. They will be picked up at the next earliest possibility and will remain at base camp to arrange the group equipment for evacuation. No travel was made today and the first evacuation flight took place late afternoon.

DAY 13 :  Tuesday 18th May

The team are in good spirits and spent the evening last night beginning to re-arrange their food and equipment. Unfortunately they woke to yet more strong katabatic winds coming off the icecap.

DAY 14 :  Wednesday 19th May

The team are still awaiting the second evacuation flight and are having ongoing issues with the insurance company regarding authorisation of this flight. Peter's mild frost bite was treated in the hospital yesterday and he was discharged the same day. Simon called in to the office today to say that he is feeling much better and stronger and is likely to be discharged this morning. Hopefully the team should all be re-united in Tasiilaq by the end of the day.

CURTAILMENT OF THE EXPEDITION