November 20, 2011

The forecasted storm reached us after all. The strong wind that we caught yesterday was the head of it. We had optimistically hoped that the two hundred kilometers that now separate us from the coast might shield us, but it was not to be. By the middle of the night, the tent was shaking like a rag doll, violently displacing air inside, and it did not let up until mid morning. Around 1 PM, we started packing our things, but all matters of blowing snow and surging gusts had us reconsider; the storm is predicted to last until Tuesday, and erring on the side of caution we chose to avoid finding ourselves building camp in dire conditions. Good thing as we clocked the wind in the afternoon over 55 kilometers per hour, which isn’t so bad (we experienced over 100 km/h on Greenland, and for seven consecutive days!) but too much for a long kiting expedition. Confined to the tent, this turned out to be a rest day, even if loud and on the chilly side. Outside, the spin drift has already half-buried the sledges and is climbing the sides of the tent. The sky is overcast but again the sun puts out a fight to stay in the picture. By late afternoon, it hangs low on the horizon; at this latitude and for this time of year, it no longer sets. The snow drift racing over the sastrugi offers the usual spectacle, like a dance that never gets old. The winds here have been shaping the ice for millions of years and blowing snow has been running over it ever since. If it had a mind, it would no doubt wonder what two individuals are doing stationed in this frigid world. Not a place for a picnic. Hopefully tomorrow will let us move. We have traveled 214 kilometers since starting.

November 19, 2011

S72°37.719 E010°37.657

Elevation 9497 feet

I looked back, and that was it: they were gone. It happened progressively, as we gained elevation. The last of the peaks had been waging a losing battle against the massive ice cap. These earthy features of snow covered rocks, which had been with us since Novo, and had once stood valiantly in their vertical splendor, had noticeably shrunk as we advanced south. Soon, the last ones–timid hills by the end–were swallowed up without ceremony by the rising ice. Somewhere below our feet were hills and valleys; but they would not reappear for the next forty eight hundred kilometers, on the opposite coast, crushed by over ten thousand feet of frozen crystals. We have entered the pure world of ice.

Ahead, as if to salute our sojourn, three Arctic Terns, small white birds, flew playfully around my kite for a while, most likely curious about the large colorful bird doing figure eight’s in the sky. Eventually, they disappeared in the white sky, and we were alone.

Today felt like the first official day of the expedition. The wind was there from morning to night, temperamental at first, but strong enough to get us up on the plateau, where it grew to twenty five knots, and blowing snow. In the afternoon back light, I looked at Eric, a little downwind from me, and the ice looked like a sea of silver; alive, undulating. The ice is hard–the temps have dipped to 30C below without windchill–and some portions saw nasty sastrugi, and dips over a meter high. The sledges are bouncing and sliding all over the place. Our bearing is a little too much in the south on account of the wind direction, but we should make up for it higher on the plateau where the predominant wind will be from our back.

We covered 72 kilometers today and climbed a remarkable 2390 feet in rise!

November 18, 2011

S71°58.811 E011°04.241

Elevation 7111 feet

The morning saw us wake to the familiar white sky, and the sun at the losing end of an uneven struggle with low clouds and light falling snow crystals. Like yesterday, the wind was non existent, and the best bet for the day was to cope a good attitude and welcome the struggle. Within a few minutes of hearing the hissing of the sledges over the Styrofoam snow, this was replaced by some measure of cursing, and various stages of undress from the sweat inducing labor! Hard though I tried to populate my mind with positive thoughts, my brain got sucked in an accelerating blender where not one idea stuck, but rather, all bumped and collided with no rhyme or reason. After a futile attempt at convincing myself that I loved the effort, what came out of me was:”this sucks!”
“Yep,” was what I heard back from Eric!

We took turn taking the lead. Barely noticeable in the distance through the light fog, was what appears to be the last of the mountain range. For two days, I have thought that we would reach this landmark by the end of our day. But given our pace, this now certainly seemed unlikely. In the middle of our second section, I caught a chill; a light breeze developed from the west and instantly cooled me down. It was light, but worth a shot. We changed boots and got dressed. And after a few attempts managed to get the big guns in the air. The Ozone Yakuza’s are powerful handle kites designed for light air; and these 14’s delivered. The wind picked up for a little while and we were cruising. Then it died. Then, minutes later, switched to the opposite direction, out of the east. Then died. Then picked up again, and strengthened enough to generate blowing snow. Eric and I each have one of the small sledges in tow of the big ones, but at the sped we are now traveling, Eric’s is regularly flipping. The sledges are bouncing all over the ice. The wind seems to be increasing still and we choose to down size for safety reasons. By the time we have wrapped the 14’s and released the 13 meter Frenzy’s, the wind had shut off entirely! It was now seven PM and we had finally reached that rocky outcrop, and camped next to it. We had covered 18 km and rose about 610 feet in elevation.

In the evening, we spoke to our friends Dixie and Sam who were flown back to Novo after encountering one meter sastrugi’s and 70 kilometer winds. They were dropped off on the plateau, not close to where we are going, but of course this raises concerns. They are trying to figure what to do from here, and we wish them the best of luck in finding solutions. In parting, they warn us that a three day storm is headed our way…