Extreme Arctic 2010 – the advance party has arrived

Alison McLure, the IOP’s National Officer in Scotland is to join the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) Extreme Arctic 2010 in Svalbard this April. During the expedition she will keep us up to date with regular features on her research project and life in the Arctic. Here’s an update from the expedition’s advance party who has already arrived in the Arctic.

Well we are here!  We arrived at 0030hrs local and it was dark, but the moon was almost full and it was just beautiful, wish I had camera and energy at hand to take photos.  As we got to bed the sun started to rise

29 March
What a beauty.  Today just makes all the planning and calculating worth it.  Unless you are here it is not possible to convey the blue sky, white ground, crisp still air- fantastic.
The walk down to the container which is on the edge of Adventfjorden was pleasant, even the section down the last slope towards the UNIS base didn’t have the nail biting wind.

To give an idea I wore; sorel boots, power stretch leggings, fleece salopettes, 2 long sleeved thermal tops, buffalo with hood, hat, buff and wind proof gloves.  Walking and working I was warm to hot. Down at the container it was a different matter and I would have to keep putting onthe down jacket only to take it off when the work was more physical.

The walk back up to Nyben pulling a full pulk of ‘homework’ brought up the wishes that I had dragged a tyre around the local streets.  Fell walking is good for fitness and stamina but pulk pulling is a different set of muscles.  I find as I pass the sports centre and the road continues up with Nybyen getting no closer that I am tested in a different way, by the temptation to stop and have breaks, but that doesn’t help me to get ‘home’.

On the walk up to Nybyen, off with the hat and gloves, the buff was used to protect my face and ears, and the buffalo was vented unzipping the sides upwards from the bottom and fastening the waist belt of the pulk harness underneath.  Even so I was very hot by the time I reached the guesthouse. Dinner: Chilli non carne followed by peach and pineapple desert.

30 March
Great day, not quite in yesterdays’s league as there is a breeze blowing and occasional whisps of high cirrus.  The wind makes a huge difference and I will probably don the goggles and maybe the waterproof jacket over the buffalo as the buffalo hood and waterproof hood provide good protection to the face especially with the buff.

Hopefully today Tommy will move our shipped goods into the large tent so we can start sorting.  He is out with his sled dogs tomorrow for the Easter break so its today or never, but first we will have to chisel the bottom of the doors to the tent out of the ice they are encased in.  1 pallet of food boxes is badly crushed so be prepared for crumbs instead of crackers.  Once we can get to the boxes we will have a better idea o f how bad the damage is – hopefully it is just the crackers that will be damaged.

For more info also check out the BSES Expeditions blog here.