We used the English company Tangent Expedition International lead by Paul Walker to arrange our logisitics. Expedition diary: DAY 1 flight to Reykjavik, Iceland DAY 2 flight from Reykjavik to Isafjordur in Northern Iceland DAY 3-6 waiting in Isafjordur for better weather on Greenland DAY 7 flight to Watkins Mtns. and setting up a Base Camp at 2175 m. DAY 8 'Skiing Peak' 3266 m - as a warm up before higher mountains and part of acclimatisation. Deep powder requires certain portion of our energy to keep going. Fantastic powder on the way down! DAY 9 Hard job on breaking trail towards Gunnbjørn Fjeld. We made it to app. 3200 m. It took us almost 6 hours. Back in Base Camp after 45 minutes of skiing down! DAY 10 Gunnbjørn Fjeld (Hvitserk) 3694 m. Fantastic view and very good feeling about our possibilities. Good team work as well. Gunnbjørn Fjeld seen from our Base CampDAY 12 It's 17th May - Norwegian national holiday. We have a rest day in base camp and we try to spot group from bergen on the way up Gunnbjørn Fjeld. It's going to be their first mountain here. DAY 13 We are moving most necessary equipment to the High Camp. It is closer to our two next goals: Dome and Cone. Establishing the High Camp at app. 2700 m. DAY 14 Cold night and the coldest day during our stay on Greenland. We go up Dome - 3683 m. Blue sky, sunshine and freezing wind all the way. Again we have beautiful views from the top. This was also very first Norwegian ascent of Dome! Dome summit ridgeDAY 15 As before we have a privilidge of breaking trail. Bergen team is following our tracks from yesterday while we enjoy the steep slopes of Cone - 3669 m. Thanks to Espen, Bjørn and Truls we can talk about the first full ski descend from Cone! DAY 16 Back in Base Camp enjoying the warmth of 'lower' altitude. There are 2 days to go and plenty of possibilities. DAY 17 Bad weather, no visibility and it is snowing. No trip today. We play social and have guests from Bergen in our Base Camp. DAY 18 Last day of our expedition and the last chance to climb a mountain here. We choose Deception Dome - the 7th highest peak on Greenland (3526 m). We make a new route up through an icefall and most of us enjoy first in history ski descend from the top of this mountain. DAY 19 Good weather in the morning deteriorates and turns really foggy in the afternoon. There is no chance for Twin Otter to land here today to pick us up. We wait. DAY 20 Good visibility again. We pack the base camp and wave good bye to both team from Bergen and Watkins Mtns. The adventure finished far too quickly for us but we already plan to be back. We would like to thank our generous sponsors who have contributed with equipment at special prices and financial support: Jansen Reklame, Haglöfs, SATS Tromsø, and Helsport. |