Svalbard. Newtontoppen

Day 00. August 05. Longyearbyen Preparation Day. 0 km. 0 hours. 0m up. 0m down.  It was foggy when we woke. The sea was cold and any moisture in the air condensed into a mist. There were 5 of us on this expedition. Ine Lill the guide who was a very experienced Norwegian adventurer in her mid 50’s and then 4 clients, Jan who is a Dutchman living in London, Ross from Manchester, Soren from Copenhagen and myself from Edinburgh. Conveniently we were all staying at Gjestehuset 102 which was near the Ousland Explorers storehouse.

After breakfast in the simple hotel, hostel really, we went down to Ouslands warehouse where Ine Lill went through the stoves. They were MSR XGK’s, the bread and butter of expedition stoves. Once everyone was familiar with this critical bit of equipment we went back to preparing our food into 14 day packs. Breakfast was a rich porridge mix, lunch noodle with salami and cheese chopped through it and dinner was a dehydrated pouch. There were also two bags of snacks with nuts and chocolate in one and sweets and dried fruit in the other. There was easily going to be 5000 calories once the hot chocolate drinks were added to the ration.  After this we walked down to town which was some 2 km away to get some small items in the excellent sports shops of which there were 5. In one Ine Lill hired a large calibre rifle and a flare gun as a last resort should a bear shown a keen interest in us. We had a snack in town before returning up the road to do some more packing until it was time for Ine Lill to show us the tents. 

I was taking my own tent as I was used to it but the other 3 where sharing 2 tents, both Helsport Spitsbergen, which were tried and tested expedition tents which could withstand bad weather better than any other I know, They were tunnel tents and easy to put up in a gale and were very roomy inside. We tested all the tents and then taped up the poles so we could just part them in the middle only. This way we could slip half the pole out of the sleeve, fold it over the half which was still in the sleeve, roll the whole tent up with the poles in place and stuff the whole roll into a 1.5 metre long tube which went on top of the pulk.  Once we were confident with the tents we then returned to the hostel where all our equipment was. 

The sun was out now and it was warm, if not hot under it. We commandeered the flat decking area outside the hostel and laid out all our pulks and equipment. The tents were already in their long bags but the Polar bedding rolls needed to be assembled and all the equipment packed into the large bags which went into the pulk and into which all the smaller bags went. It was a bit fraught, especially for me, trying to get everything into the bags as they were smaller than I would have liked and I had recently been spoiled with my huge 210 centimetre pulk and this one was just 160 and the bag much less. 

As we were finishing the packing, Borge Ousland arrived on a flying visit. He is arguably the world’s most accomplished explorer, certainly polar explorer and it was a privilege to meet him. He stayed and chatted with us for a good hour before he had to dash off and catch a flight back to Oslo. He was incredibly modest and relaxed. It was his outfit, Ousland Explorers, who is organising this expedition and appointed the very competent Ine Lill as guide and expedition leader. I know a few expedition leaders from Ousland Explorers and they are second to none and each has a vast experience.

After Borge left we finished packing and then we all went out for the last supper. For the next 15 days we will be eating dehydrated food only and melting snow for drinks. Once we were all packed we carried the laden pulks down to the warehouse where a taxi will pick them, and us, up at 0800 tomorrow morning to load onto the Billefjord boat. The boat will leave at about 0900 and take us up Billefjord to Adolfbukta. Here we transfer to a smaller boat and land at the edge of the glacier where there is a gravel beach. Here we have to carry the pulks across a few hundred metres of gravel to the edge of the glacier. Then we have to put crampons on and drag the pulks up the bare ice for a day or even two until we get to snow which covers the glacier. Here the terrain will become much easier. In the part of the glacier without any snow cover the terrain might include rows of small steep ridges and streams on the glacier’s surface which we have to cross. It will be arduous. This will likely be the last blog post until I return when I will be able to update everything as there is no mobile cover where we are going. However the Map page should keep tracking our progress on a live basis. There is further information about the expedition in the blue “About this Trip” tab on this page.  I probably wont be able to post updates on the blog or gallery until I return on the 23 August

Day 01. August 06. Longyearbyen to Adolfbukta to N 78.38.168 & S 017.01.034. 3 km. 7.5 hours. 350m up. 170m down.  It was foggy again when we woke up this morning. After a quick breakfast we stored the gear we would not be using in the warehouse and got the pulks ready for 0800 when a taxi was arranged to pick them up. It came at the right time and arrived with a large trailer into which we loaded the pulks. Then it was down to the harbour to load all our gear onto trolleys to pull along the floating quay to the Billiford ship. It was due to sail at 0900 and we were all loaded with plenty of time to spare. Soon a tour group of 45 arrived and piled on. There were a mixed group of many nationalities. Some had well used cameras with enormous lenses. As we sailed the weather improved and the mist lifted. 

I spent most of the time on deck as it was not cold or windy and it paid off. I saw what I thought was a minke whale and then a walrus and finally a white beluga whale. The captain slowed the boat and veered towards it slightly. It did not have a dorsal fin so it could go right under the ice flows in case orcas were hunting it. I chatted with a few people on deck and then went in for the surprise lunch, which was well cooked by the Filipino crew.  After about 4 hours we passed the derelict mine at Pyramiden and then pulled into Adolfbukta. Here we loaded all the pulks onto a rigid boat and set off for the shore. There were chunks of ice in the water as we went close to shore and the skipper hit one so the boat lurched to one side. It was a schoolboy error. 

We approached the shore to land on a moraine strew beach with the the glacier well out of sight behind piles of rock and debris. There was a place some 500 metres to the north where the glacier smoothly met the water but it was difficult to see with the naked eye if there was suitable landing spot nearby. I thought there was and that the glacier rose smoothly above and not so steeply you could not pull a pulk up it. However, the skipper had his routine and always dropped hikers here so he was determined to drop us here without too much discussion. He was also anxious about the time it would take. It was a decision which would cause us much blood sweat and tears later. Once ashore the boat disappeared back to the mothership of the Billifjord and we were on our own.

I knew we had to carry the pulks some way to the ice and hoped it would be about 200 metres however it was much much longer and mostly across loose moraine. It was a bloodsome slog to do the first carry of 400 metres to a slither of ice up beside the glacial torrent. We had 5 pulks to carry in all and could only do one at a time with 4 of us at each corner while the fifth person ferried the loose items. The whole time we had to keep an eye out for polar bears and if we saw one we would alert Ine-Lill. who had the rifle over her shoulder. 

It took a good 1 ½  hours to carry the pulks to this slither of ice beside the torrent but from here we donned crampons and could pull the pulks up behind us for two hundred metres until the slither disappeared. From here there was some heavy man handling of the pulks to carry them a further 100 metres to rejoin another slither which was only 100m long and simply ran out. We had been going for 4 hours now and managed less than a kilometre. However there was worse to come. The glacier tongue Ine-Lill was aiming for was over on the other side of a large moraine ridge, and then  a further couple of hundred of metres up more level moraine. It would have been a nightmare and would have taken a full day. However there was an alternative but it was tricky. We could carry the pulks half way up this icy moraine ridge, which was more blue glacier ice covered in stones, and then steeply down onto another glacier tongue. We decided to do this. 

However it was difficult and hard work carrying the pulks up the ice and then the drop down the other side was so steep it warranted lowering the pulks on a rope while we guided it with crampons on. This whole project gained us another 400 metres but it took us about another 2 hours of bloodsome toil to complete it. It was very hard work and we were all tired at the end of it. We had gained about 1.2 kilometres all day and reached 40 metres altitude. However we were now at the bottom of a ramp of ice, liberally covered in gravel up which we could pull the pulks. 

We put crampons back on, clipped into the harnesses again and each heaved our 50 kg pulks up the ramp. There were a couple of tricky sections where there was a small stream in a deep slot or a section of very gravel covered ice but we heaved and grunted and at last we were past the obstacles. It had taken us nearly 7 hours and we had only gone 1.3 kilometres. When Ousland Explorers did this trip 5 years ago the team just carried their pulks 200 metres before they reached ice such is the speed of the glacial retreat. Perhaps if we had been 6 weeks earlier there might have been more snow but then there might have been the danger of snow bridges over the torrent. Whatever the reason this was not a good way to come and a hard first day. 

After after all the obstacles it was much more plain sailing but the glacier was devoid of snow and the bare ice was covered in rivulets in small groves. It was very sharp ice and quite crunchy. The temperature was well on the plus side at about 10 degrees. We pulled the pulks up the glacier as some rain went through but made much better progress. After the rain it cleared a bit and we got a great view of the mountains, which were bare sedimentary rock, heavily eroded by glaciers over the eons. At last the glacier seemed to level out at about 200 metres altitude and as it was nearly 2100 Ine-Lill discussed the possibility of camping here. We all agreed so paced out a campsite on the sharp ice. 

After stamping an area down with crampons to soften it we put up the three tents. We could only use ice screws as pegs would not go in. Luckily it was not windy so we did not need any of the guys and it was enough to pin out the mantle at each end. We then had to collect water from a nearby surface stream and prepare supper in our tents. It did not take long as we did not have to melt snow. By 2130 we were in the tents eating and drying out some of the stuff which got wet in the rain. During supper Soren did the first bear watch from 2100 for an hour and a half. We had a rota which changed every day. Bear watch essentially meant patrolling round the 3 tents for an hour and a half while the others slept. I wrote the blog and then got some sleep before my watch from 0130 to 0300. Today had been a hard introduction to Svalbard and we were all surprised, including Ine-Lill, how far we had to carry everything.

Day 02. August 07. N 78.38.168 & S 017.01.034 to Glacier Camp Southside Ferrierfjellet. 6 km. 6.5 hours. 350m up. 20m down.  I got up for my bear watch at 0130. It was not cold at about plus 5 and the sky was grey but the mountain tops were just covered. During the watch I walked round the tents keeping my eyes peeled. As the watch progressed I saw the cloud level dropping quickly and noticed a layer of cloud building up in the fjord. I finished my watch at 0300 when Ine-Lill took over as I returned to my sleeping bag. The cramps I had earlier in the night in my inner thighs seemed to have dissipated due to the walking. I woke at about 0500 when Soren and Ross were on watch and it was pouring heavily and battering the tent. It was in the forecast, but I had hoped they might have got it wrong. 

When I emerged from my sleeping bag at 0930 it was still raining but not so heavily. it would make packing difficult. I discovered in yesterday’s showers my arctic bedding system was not waterproof, so I decided to take my down sleeping bag out of it and put it in a dry bag so at least that would stay dry. mercifully the rain paused when we were packing the sleds so at least the stuff would stay dry. We should have set off at 1000 but eventually left at 1015 as the rain reappeared. The mist never really left us though.

Initially the going was easy but wet. We could not see the mountains around us at all and the tranquil view I had last night during my watch was a distant memory. Initially we carried on up the side of the medial moraine in the middle of the Nordenskjoldbreen glacier which drained the Lomonosovfonna icefield above and which we would ski up later. There were a few mountains, or nunataks sticking out of it and one was Ferrierfjellet. The medial moraine we were following emanated from it as it carried the eroded rocks which were ripped off or fell down the mountain onto the glaciers surface on each side of the mountain. We went up the glacier on the north side of this medial moraine, which was called Ferriermorenen. We were looking for a place to cross it and hoped it would be easier higher up – which it was. We pulled the pulks up for a good km until it got flatter. Here Ine-Lill spotted a better route on the other side and a way across the moraine. The carry across the moraine was perhaps 200 metres and the boulders were small. We left our crampons on as there was ice underneath the layer of stone. It was quite steep on the south side of the moraine for 20 metres so we lowered them down onto the glacier. 

After the portage across the moraine the glacier was mercifully easy and although the surface was deformed with melt channels there was a route through it and up the slope beyond the saddle. However, we soon came to a larger stream at the bottom of a 2 metre deep slot which we had to cross. The stream rushed down a very twisted U shaped shute at the bottom of the slot and it just short of being powerful enough to sweep us away and inevitably into a moulin or hole in the ice. So we decided to put in anchors and manhandle the pulks and us over. It took an hour to go about 20 metres but at last everything was on the south side of the stream. We continued east and eventually reached another medial moraine which we did not need to cross, so we just went up beside it climbing quite steeply. 

However we soon ran into problems as the surface of the glacier was still covered in this year’s snow which had melted and formed into a very lumpy moonscape of white knobbles each a metre high. Between the lumps was a channel either with meltwater actively carving it deeper or an old channel without water. It was very arduous and slow going to pull the pulks across this and it took well over an hour to do the 3 kilometres we managed. However as we went the medial moraine we were following got small and smaller until it virtually disappeared. What it was composed of now was a series of shallow streams on a flattened surface, so we pulled the pulks across this. It was marginally faster but there was a fair amount of gravel in it which slowed us and took slithers off the base of the pulk. After two hours of this arduous pull Ine-Lill thought we had enough and we were getting tired, which we were as it was hard work and it was raining again. The pulks frequently capsized and occasionally this was into a stream everything was getting wet. On occasion water even came over the side of the pulk and it sloshed about inside.

We quite suddenly decided to camp and went off the smother gravel of the medial moraine to a patch of icier snow which was riven by small streams. We had to use Ice screws to peg the tents out as it was too icy to get pegs in. With the rain falling and the tents up we threw everything inside and started to boil water from the surface streams already by 1700. My stuff was damp at the best and wet at the worst, as there was a couple of centimetres of water at the bottom of the sledge and the large pulk bags were not waterproof, and like my arctic bedding bag, which water seeped into. Getting into the tent I felt quite miserable with the damp and cold and also the slow progress and lack of visibility, as it was misty all day. On the positive side though the team was gelling well and Ine-Lill was clever at getting us to work together to do things like haul the pulks over the stream. Nobody was difficult, quite the opposite really everybody was very willing to help each other and nobody had a big ego. I think by the end of the trip we will be firm friends with some great shared memories. 

However, the forecast showed a good spell of weather was imminent and hopefully soon all my stuff would be crispy dry as it was in Antarctica and the tent would become like a greenhouse. I boiled water from a surface stream and then prepared dinner. As it rehydrated I wrote the blog and then ate it. I was finished by 2000 by which time the mist had begun to lift. I was tired writing and almost fell asleep a few times. We all went to sleep around 2100 as the first bear watch started. I was on at 0130 to 0300 again. 

Day 03. August 08. Glacier Camp Southside Ferrierfjellet to N78.39.067  E17.35.582 . 8 km. 7.5 hours. 390m up. 70m down.  I got up for my bear watch at 0130. It was at last dry but very overcast, however the tops of the mountains were just showing although it was raining over the fjord. It was still, peaceful and a little surreal doing the bear watch just slowly patrolling round the tents for an hour and a half. After that it was back to bed for another 3 hours during which there was a small shower. We woke at 0600 and had breakfast in our tents and then packed up. We were much faster and ready to go by 0830. I was last, which made me feel a bit guilty. 

We carried on up the smoother section where it looked like there should have been a medial moraine. There were a few stones and lots of surface water but it was considerably easier than the lumpy ice on each side. We passed to the south of Ferrierfjellet and then left the smoother ice to start our climb. The ice was not so knobbly now and the pulks did not buck violently behind us. All around were rocky mountains covered in scree and often glaciers too. Before long we met the first of the crevasses we had to cross. It was visible in the bare ice but Ine-Lill wanted us to rope up to practise in the improving weather so we would be dapper at it in bad weather later. 

However, it turned out it was not a practice run but for real as the slope became very crevassed and demanding. Where it was bare ice we could see the crevasses easily but occasionally the slope was covered in snow and then they were hidden. It was often obvious where most were but not all of them. On the rope Ross was in front and Ine-Lill second so she could direct Ross, and be able to coordinate a rescue if needed. Then there was Jan, Myself and Soren bringing up the rear. It was slow work and Ross was often searching for a safe place to cross some of the wider crevasses. Many were just half a metre wide and we could step over these and drag the pulk behind but some were 2 -3 metres wide and we had to find an area that was bridged or filled in with snow or traverse north or south to find a crossing at where it narrowed towards the ends. Frequently we had to go south to cross one then north to cross another and then south again to cross the third so we gained just 50 metres but walked 500. Generally the snow across them was good but occasionally on some of the narrower ones it was quite rotten and we put a foot through. Both Soren and Myself went up to our knees once. However the rope system Ine-Lill made was safe as each person was attached to the rope about 7-8 metres apart with a prusik knot on each side of the main figure of eight knot attachment, so we could climb out if we went right. Not only that but the pulk were also attached to the rope so if they fell in there were two attachment points, both front and back. It also meant that if someone fell into a crevasse then the pulk would not follow you in and hit you on the head. 

It took a couple of hours to ascend the crevasse field which was only about a kilometre long. We must have crossed at least 50 in that time, some narrow and not even wide enough for a person or pulk, and some wide enough to swallow a car. Crossing a few of these on paths of ice joining the two sides allowed you to look into the black abyss some 30 or 40 metres deep. We had to be especially careful the pulks did not slide sideways off the pavement of ice. On one occasion a nalgene bottle fell from someone’s pulk and it bumped over a ridge and it was gone for good. Slowly but sure Ine-Lill and Ross shepherded us up the bulging convex slope until the saddle at the top between Ferrierfjellet to the north and Nemtindfjellet to the south where the mighty Nordenskioldbreen glacier flowed. Here the glacier was flatter and not moving so quickly so not so subject to the shearing forces which caused crevassing. There were still a few though. At the pass we got a fantastic view of some sharp nunatak mountains surrounded by ice. There were largely sedimentary rock and crumbled under the force of the glacier and would have soon be gone if it was not for global warming. These were not granite spires which withstood the ice but impressive nonetheless. Beyond these mountains was the vast ice field called Lomonosovfonna stretching far to the north and feeding many glaciers such as the one we just came up. In the distance some 20 kilometres away were more mountains and then in the distance a few massifs some 40 kilometres away. We assumed one of these was Newtontoppen. We would soon turn north and ski towards it up the Lomonosovfonna. 

The descent down the otherside of the pass was gentle and largely snow free. Ross and Ine-Lill led the way and we followed across the ice. There were a few crevasses here but nothing like the ones on the way up. When we got to an impasse we simply headed north around it and by doing this we reached an wide open valley with a turquoise lake in the middle of an indentation in the ice. At one stage the snow covering the ice was very slushy and perhaps 10 centimetres deep. At the bottom of the gentle slope we skirted east round an ice mound to the north of us and climbed a more gentle slope for about 2 kilometres. It was mostly across snow and we stayed roped up as it was now easy to keep a smooth pace. We had all learned to walk in a rope well as a team and helped each other when needed. We came to an area with two obvious crevasses some 30 metres apart and Ine-Lill thought that it was safe to camp between them. 

It was quite early at just 1530 but by now the forecast good weather had arrived and the sun was strong. We all needed to dry off clothes, sleeping bags and other equipment after the last two wet days. Our tents were soon up and they became warm as the solar gain turned them into greenhouses. Ross, a keen photographer, took many photos while I took some aerial shots. Soren had brought some Jonny Walker, cream and coffee and made everyone an Irish coffee which was a nice touch. It was warm in the sun and we all sat in a circle in the snow and had dinner and chatted for an hour. Then we tested the skis which we would all be using tomorrow onwards as at last we were on snow. By 2000 everyone had gone into their tents to chat and sleep as the first bear watch would start soon. I wrote the blog and then got some sleep before my stint from midnight to 0130 in the morning. It had been a great day and it was great to feel we were at last making some real progress. The team was really working well together now and it was a privilege to be part of it.

Day 03. August 08. N78.39.067  E17.35.582 to N78.47.176 E17.26.613. 16 km. 8.5 hours. 300m up. 110m down.  I got up for my bear watch at midnight. The sun was still up but it was barely above the horizon and there was no warmth in it. I patrolled for an hour and a half slowly walking round the perimeter of the camp which was clearly defined by the two larger crevasses on each side. Ine-Lill was before me and had drawn two large bear prints in the snow which was amusing. It was quiet and peaceful doing bear watch and totally surreal in this glacial environment with the bare dry rocky peaks around me. By 0130 I was done and handed over to Soren. 

In the morning we were up at 0600, when the bear rota stopped, and then packed up after breakfast and were ready to go by 0800. It was quite quick from sleeping bag to ski. It was a beautiful morning without a cloud in the sky when we set off roped up as usual with Ross in the front and me second from last. We wiggled our way up through the crevasse field crossing about 20 in all. Most were just half a metre wide but some were much more. On one of them Ross cracked a ski as he put his weight on it when there was little underneath. To be fair I did not think it was Ross’s fault as it was a narrow crevasse and the ski was old and had already had a binding change which left 2 screw holes next to each other and this was the point it cracked. We continued a bit but it was obvious it needed attention. 

Ross was a mechanical engineer to trade and Ine-Lill was a very practical person. They figured out the best solution was to cut up their plywood stove board and glue and screw two strips to the top and a longer one along the bottom, leaving the full skin on as it helped bind it together. I had a few tools to supplement the ones they had and I had a bag of screws. It was like the feeding of the 5000 but in tool form as we all pooled our Leathermans, Swiss army knives and screwdrivers and hole borers. It took a good hour kneeling on the ground but in the end the job got completed in the best of humour. Ross tried it and and gave it the thumbs up. However Ine-Lill thought it best if he was no longer at the front so as not to load his ski unnecessarily again, so he went to the back behind me and Soren moved to the front and we set off again. 

The sun was strong now and the sky was still perfectly blue. It was virtually windstill and there was a mirage hovering above the snow with the hot air shimmering as it mixed with the cold air. We continued to climb slowly with Soren trying to thread a way through the glaciers. Occasionally they were wide and unsafe to cross on the snow strips which filled them in and could be rotten bridges with gaping chasms below. When this was the case we had to divert, sometimes as much as 200 metres. 

We passed to the east of the ice knoll marked as 976 metres on the map and then veered north. We kept to the west of the high ridge of Lomonosovfonna, which was essentially a long dome like ridge. We skied along its western flank some 100 metres below its barely perceptible crest. On our west was Terrierfjellet (just to the north of, and not to be confused with Ferrierfjellet) which we had spent the last 4 days circumnavigating. To the north of it was the Nordenskioldbreen glacier again, so Terrierfjellet was essentially an island in this river of ice. This glacier drains the western flank of the Lomonosovfonna ice sheet. 

Soren and Ine-Lill were at the front and tried to contour round this west flank of Lomonosovfonna but it was quite a detour in places so on at least 3 occasions we skied over a barely perceptible side ridge and then dropped into a shallow valley between them. The only problem was that was where the glacier was moving quickest as it went from the ice cap to the glacier which went down to the sea. It was at these points there were the most time consuming crevasses we had to negotiate them. We generally walked for 50 minutes and then had a 10 minute break. The only people I know who have this 50 on 10 off are military or ex military. It must be instilled in their training. I think most mortals do 3 hours and then have a rest and snack. 

We had to have a longer break once as Soren’s boots were giving him blisters and he needed to tape his feet up. The sole on one of his new boots was also coming apart, which surprised me as they were Italian Asolo boots. So Ine-Lill took over. At another break 3 of us had to stop for a large toilet. It was not safe to unclip from the rope and wander off so the three had to go on the snowfield while the other two averted their eyes. Such is the nature of expeditioning when needs have to overcome decorum and etiquette. I joked that it was like a Chinese toilet where people sometimes sit on a long bench with many holes in it to park bottoms while having a chat. 

After this extended toilet break we did one more hour. The pace was slow as we plodded up a slope in the late afternoon sun. There were a few crevasses to cross as this was where another part of the Lomonosovfonna ice sheet fed the Nordenskiold Glacier. We could see down the latter now to Adolfsbukta which was only about 15 km as the crow flies. At 1800 we found a place to camp as we plodded up a slope still clipped into the rope and in a line. To the west the glacier snaked down the valley as its fan of smaller glaciers fed it, all coming from Lomosonovfonna. There were many small knolls and bare rocks slabs which were starting to poke through the glacier as its depth diminished due to climate change. 

We set up camp quite quickly as it clouded over a little. It had been a good day and we had as a team overcome the cracked ski and the sole coming off the boot. We had also covered 16 kilometres and there were just 24 to go now to the summit of Newtontoppen, which surely would be just 2 days if the weather is kind. It took a bit of getting used to skiing while roped up but we were all now perfecting our techniques, sorting out the niggling issues like stopping the rope from going under a pulk or getting the right distance between skiers and pulks. Once the camp was up the stoves all got going in all three tents and then I wrote the blog. I was not finished until nearly 2200 and then had a quick nap before my bear watch started at 2230. All in all it had been a great day with surreal views, good skiing and great teamwork. It was a far cry from the bloodsome slog of the first day and the misery of the wet second day.  

Day 05. August 11 . N78.47.176 E17.26.613 to NW Corner Wainfletefjellet. 24 km. 15 hours. 450m up. 460m down.  I got up for my bear watch at 2230 and it was overcast and quite dark. However I managed a few aerial shots before bed at midnight. In the morning I was quite surprised to find it very foggy. We were ready at 0800 and set off in the mist. I knew from my aerial shots there were a few crevasses where we were going which we had to cross. They appeared quite quickly. The third was quite tricky.

Instead of stepping over it with skis perpendicular we had to step over it with legs parallel to the edges, which were a metre apart. Once over we had to pull the pulk quickly. It took us about an hour to get all 5 of us over as there was an additional safety rope rigged up for the pulks. It was quite sobering being astride looking down into the dark abyss far below. After a few more minor crevasses the slope eased off a bit as we climbed up on a snow dome, which was a zone of accumulation and where there was very little movement and so no crevasses. Some 2 hours after leaving camp the first sign of a glowing disc in the sky started to appear through the mist. It took a further hour for large patches of blue sky to be unveiled as we climbed out of the fog or it started to get burnt off by the sun. All around us lower down was a sea of mist with a few distant peaks poking through in the far west. It was a great feeling to be skiing on the glacier up here looking down on it.

We skirted to the west of point 1198 m and 1245 metres as we skied along the top flank of Lomonosovfonna. Rather than contour we climbed over the shallow ridges and then descended into the valleys. These valleys were marginally crevassed and could have been better to contour more and save the potential time waste of negotiating obstacles. After the third bowl we climbed up the ridge on the north side of it and at last got a view of Newtontoppen some 20 kilometres away. It was the highest of a whole range of mountains to the north all covered in glaciers except for dark rock walls. As we skied along the crest of Lomonosovfonna the views down each side were fantastic. To the east was a sea of glaciers stretching down to the unseen coast. Here and there nunataks poked through. While to the west we could see down Nordenskioldbreen glacier to Billifjord and across to the mountains on the other side. The most spectacular views were to the north where we were going and this was the glacier topped spires and glacier filled valleys to the ranges to the east of Austfjorden. In the NE lay Newtontoppen but before it lay a series of nunataks like Saturnfjellet, Thetysfjellet and Titanfjellet. We had to ski along their bases on the west side where Lomonosov continued northwards.

There was a bit of a descent after point 1245 to the saddle with Saturnfjellet. It was not so steep if we veered west which we did. The direct route would have been carnage as we were still roped up and some had slippery skis on. Ross managed to break his other ski here. It was not Ross’s fault at all as the ski was rotten inside as the old binding holes had not been plugged and allowed water ingress. You would not have bought them at a flea market if they were selling for a pound and certainly not suitable for this trip. We repaired them in the same way as we did his ski yesterday with the plywood stove boards cut into strips and screwed on. It was the last of my screws. 

As we continued down my sledge overtook me and dragged me to the ground. I stood up and tried to entangle myself from the rope and slipped again. This time my legs twisted badly and I was in great pain as my ankle was stretched. I yelled to help and Jan came and freed me from the tangle and I stood up. I think the others were horrified and thought I just broke my leg and were contemplating a helicopter rescue. There was great relief all round when I reassured them everything was OK. 

We then carried on north along the base of Saturnfjellet and Thetysfjellet keeping quite good height until we got to the  valley between Thetys and Titanfjell. I thought we were going up here, a shallow incline called Titanpasset and it would have led us to Keplerbreen glacier and a nunatak called Eplet at the bottom of the south ridge of Newtontoppen. I estimate it would have taken us 3-5 hours and we would have been primed to climb the mountain tomorrow. However, Ine-Lill had instructions to follow the waypoints of the last Ousland Explorers expedition here some 4 years ago which Vincent Colliard did.  So instead our route was to go down into the icy bowls on the westside of Wainfletefjellet and then up Stuttbreen glacier to the west of Newtontoppen. We could see much of this route from here and it looked convoluted as it drained the westside of Jupiterfjellet and Wainfletefjellet and my heart sank. The ice of this convoluted valley collected in 3 large bowls before it flowed on down through the mountains to Austfjorden down some very impressive glaciated valleys, and the most spectacular views of the trip. 

For the next 7 hours we struggled down into these bowls losing all the height we had gained. The route was so crevassed it took an eternity to descend from one into the other. The bottom of the bowls were full of slushy ice and was the easiest part. On and on we wove backwards and forwards and skied or walked over at least a hundred crevasses. The time went from 4 to 5 and then 6 and it seemed we were not getting anywhere. After a few dead ends and long diversions we eventually reached the bottom of the last bowl at about 2100 in the evening. Some of us were very tired but got a second wind at the bottom of the last bowl. The sky was more overcast and in the deep valley it was quite dark. 

We negotiated the crevasses at the bottom of the last bowl which was very time consuming and at last made it onto the blue ice of the glacier. From here it was almost plain sailing as the cracks and crevasses were small and obvious. We walked up this glacier under Wainfletefjellet for a further hour gaining a little height and crossing many small glacial streams. At last we got to the first patch of snow between two obvious crevasses and Ine-Lill thought it was a good place to camp and everyone agreed. By the time the tents were up and the stove was running it was midnight. However the cloud of the evening was dissipating and it was turning into a lovely evening. I was worried about having time to do the blog but it was warm enough to set up a little desk outside built of snow and type in the cool breeze while I did my bear watch from 0100 to 0230 when Soren took over. It had been an epic day and one we will remember for a long time, however it was all good natured and the team was really gelling together now. I will hopefully find out one day the reason we could not take Titanpasset to Kelperbreen and had to endure this time consuming and arduous alternative.  

Day 06. August 11. NW Corner Wainfletefjellet to Camp South Didierfjellet to Newtontoppen and back to Camp South Didierfjellet. 13.5 hours. 25 km. 1160m up. 1060m down. After yesterday’s epic day we got up an hour later at 0700. It was a beautiful morning, calm and sunny and full of promise. We set off at 0900 and initially walked south up Stuttbreen for a good kilometre. There were a few crevasses here but none which needed a large detour. After nearly an hour we turned sharply east and headed into a gentle snowy bowl which led up onto the great white expanse which was the top of the vast and arterial Kvittbreen. It was a major glacier which drained the entire area and took all the ice SE. We started to cross it at its watershed with Stuttbreen heading for the southside of Didierfjellet. It was warm in the sun and we were without jackets.

There was a beautiful run down a gentle slope to the bowl of snow at the very top of Kvittbreen which we skied down roped up, as we had been virtually all trip. Before us now stood the vast west face of Newtontoppen, 1713m. This 500 metre high face was largely rock although there was an enormous wall of smooth ice across half of it. The whole face was about 45 degrees. In the middle of the bowl Ine-Lill suggested putting up the tents at a sunny open spot on the southside of Didierfjellet which would get great warmth, and use it as a base to go up to Newtontoppen. It was a great idea and we all agreed.  

As soon as the tents were up you could feel the warmth starting to dry things out. It was difficult to get tent pegs in as the snow was only about 10 cm deep above the hard ice. we had to pile snow up and pack it down gently to get enough purchase. The snow valences round the tent were piled high with wet snow to give it extra stability. Once this was done and the stuff laid out inside an hour had passed. We had a further hour to have lunch and get ready to go up Newtontoppen leaving at 1300 hrs. It was still perfectly still and sunny when we set off. 

Initially we had to ski up the glacier in the pass between Didierfjellet and Newtontoppen. It was a gentle climb and a nice angle and without the pulks it was a delight. There were no real crevasses but a few cracks in the ice and it split the snow above it too. Before long we were all roasting and had to stop and take jackets off again. However at the top of the pass there were a few crevasses where the two masses of ice split from each other. Ine-Lill expertly threaded a path between them knowing what to look for in the colour and quality of the snow, and also if it was dipping a bit, all indications of a good or bad place to cross. 

The wall of Newtontoppen now loomed above us and we could see the summit icecap 500 metres on top of it. However the route was not as straightforward as we hoped and down the other side along the north face of Newtontoppen there were a number of crevasses caused by the glacier shearing away from the ice at the base of the mountain, The glacier here was also strewn with huge blocks of granite which had tumbled down the mountain. Most rolled until they were swallowed by a crevasse and would then sink to the bottom of the ice over decades to start grinding the eventual valley floor. Others were the side of houses and too big to fall in so rolled until they got wedged in the crevasses opening. It took an hour to come down here and frequently we had to take our skis off and walk as it was icy and or with knobbly lumps of snow. Ross’s broken skis were especially vulnerable here. At last we were at the entrance to the vast icy filled bowl on the north side of Newtontoppen which did not look like it contained many problem crevasses. There was a lot of bare blue ice and towards the floor of the bowl most of this was wet with melting snow. We took our skis off for the last time here and put on our crampons. It was windy now with some extreme gusts dropping down the north face accelerating as they descended, so rather than having a ski blow away we dug a trench and buried them, marking the spot with a red spade and a GPS reading. and then set off up. 

Initially it was slushy snow on top of ice for a few hundred metres which was very straight forward, then we reached the firmer, older snow which was also reasonably easy. However we did eventually reach a series of about 15 larger crevasses. They did not have solid snow bridges but rather somewhat untrustworthy bridges of this year’s snow which had not melted and collapsed. However it seemed all the crevasses had teared a bit when they parted leaving strips, often 3 metres wide, joining the two sides and it was easy to walk across these. The only problem was they took us very much to the east of the saddle on the ridge we were heading for. As we neared the top of the saddle it became very wet again with melting snow. There was so much water that most of the small upper crevasses were full of water which had frozen. It gave us confidence to jump over them. 

At the saddle a view to the south slowly revealed itself as we climbed up the convex slope. And what an extraordinary view it was. The southside of Newrtontoppen was riven with crevasses as the glacier here flowed quickly to join the arterial Kvittbreen. Beyond it was a sea of ice into which Kvittbreen flowed, and from this small peaks protruded. It was not the spectacular mountains of yesterday but more the resilient grounded-down stumps of rock which could not withstand the ice’s erosion. The view to the north was very alpine with dry jagged mountains covered in glaciers. There was ice everywhere save a few mountains. 

Ine-Lill had been at the front for a couple of days now and must be tired, especially after the epic yesterday plus more this morning so looked for a volunteer to go at the front and I volunteered. At the saddle we now headed west up the broad ridge with virtually no crevasses to the south shoulder. It has a few crevasses but by chance I managed to tread a path through them all the time climbing. As we neared the crest of the shoulder the snow became quite soft and it was a slog as I was sinking to my ankles with every step. We zig zagged a few times to gain height more easily and then had to negotiate a few more crevasses caused by the ice flowing away down the mountain more quickly than the ice higher up on the flatter summit. On one of these my leg went through the firmer snow into a void below so I crawled to the far side. By now the wind was strong and a constant force 7. Soon the top appeared but by bad fortune we were on the wrong side of a crevasse which went all the way to the summit so had to backtrack 300 metres, cross it and return the 300 metres to the summit itself at 1713m. 

The wind now was force 8 if not 9 and everything was flapping noisily so the hearty congratulations were quite muted.  The cloud had virtually covered the sky so the light was a bit muted. Ross heroically put up his tripod, having anchored it to the summit with ice screws and climbing tape for a team selfie. It was too cold in the gale to hang around for much more than half an hour taking in the vast view before we decided to return down. 

On the descent I led the way and pretty much followed the footsteps of our ascent. It took us about 3 hours to climb up from the buried skies and just an hour to descend. The sun and wind had melted our steps and the wetter area below the saddle was covered in small rivulets of water as the slush turned to water. Once back at the skis our tracks were more visible and we followed them all the way to the tents which we got to just before 2300. The only downside of the return was Ross’s skis had started to come apart again as our repairs began to fail. It was really very shoddy to send him out on such a demanding expedition with such an old rotten pair of skis and it was a genuine cause of complaint, especially for him, but we were all impacted as we have to tailor our ambitions.

However it had been a truly memorable day and for all the right reasons. It was another epic day and another demanding one and we were all tired but we would not have it any other way as without the effort there would have been no reward and the reward was supreme. Ine-Lill must take some special praise for leading us up to the summit safely and keeping the momentum of the expedition going. She was constantly working physically and mentally as she shepherded us in a maternal way. She was the glue of the team and the driving force of the progress. It was great to be back at the tents and the wind had dropped again. The tents were still upright but some of the pegs had pulled out. I now anchored mine with ice screws. Soon the stoves were on and supper was eaten before we crashed out with Ross on the first bear watch shift from midnight and I was the last at 0600 to 0730. After a good sleep I sat in the sun in the morning on a desk made of snow and wrote the blog. 

Day 07. August 12.  Camp South Didierfjellet to Camp SW Uranosfjellet. 7 hours. 13 km. 330m up. 300m down. After writing the blog outside in the sun during the last bear watch from 0600 to 0730 I went back to my tent and fell asleep. Everyone got up at about 0800 and were quite slow after the last two days, even Ine-Lill. It seemed Soren was developing a sore knee after the efforts of the last two days and he wanted to see if he could keep it in check by strapping it and taking mild painkillers. He put on a brave face even though everyone could see it hurt like hell and yet decided he was up for it for the benefit of the team. We had quite a slow start and did not get going until 1100 by which time there were a couple of clouds in the sky. 

We all hated the second half of the long 15 hour day two days ago, namely the sections on the glacier with the hundreds of crevasses to cross west of Jupiterfjettet and especially west of Wainfletefjellet. So I asked Ine-Lill if there was an alternative. She said she only had waypoints for the unpleasant route, which we all referred to as “death valley”. There was an alternative which was Titanpasset but she was not sure of the crevasses at the top of the pass which might block the route. It was the reason we did not go over it 4 days ago and went the death valley route instead. However, since “death valley” was last done it was 4 years ago by Vincent Colliard,  and since then massive and rapid climate change in Svalbard altered this route entirely. Vincent had marked 4 crevasses on the Ine-Lill’s map from an August crossing, yet there were hundreds now. She did not like “death valley” either but Titanpasset was an unknown quantity. However she bravely decided we should give it a go. 

The route she chose was directly south across the upper part of Kvittbreen to a glaciated pass between Wainfletefjellet and Astronomfjellet, down to the Keplerbreen and then SW over the Titanpasset. It was a very easy ski across the top of Kvittbreen to the bottom of the first pass without a crevasse. The route up the pass was pretty straight forward also although it was steep enough for us to work hard straining at the pulks, having to keep up the pace so the rope did not go taut as the person in front pulled you up the slope also. This would have been bad etiquette. Ine-Lill led with me second, Jan third, and then Ross with his broken skis enjoying the smoother track and finally Soren at the back. Towards the top of this pass there were a few crevasses but they were all quite small, more like fissures in the ice rather than a shearing of two masses of ice moving at different speeds. It was still sunny but the clouds were definitely increasing and so was the wind.  

The descent down the otherside to the top of the Keplerbreen was also quite straightforward and gentle. There looked like there was a pass over to the west, to the north of Phoebefjellet but from the contour lines it looked steep on the other side which would have taken us down into the top of “death valley” anyway. Looking down Keplerbreen to the east I could see a nunatak called Eplet. On the map it was small but in reality it was significant and about 10 times its marked size. Yet more evidence showing how much the ice is melting here in Svalbard. Once down in the bowl to the east of Phoebefjellet the route up the next pass became more obvious. 

We crossed the bowl and then started a little up the slope before stopping to change skis for crampons as the snow was quite hard and it was too steep to ski straight up. With crampons on we could go straight up between two small crevasse fields to reach the smooth curve of the glacier which went up to the pass. We veered to the south side of this glacier heading towards a great wall of ice cliffs which hung over the southside of Thetysfjellet. With fingers crossed we put skis back on and climbed up under these ice cliffs not really meeting any crevasses but a few minor fissures which were easy enough to ski over. However we knew the test would come at the top. 

As we neared the top we could see large deep crevasses running across the slopes on each side and hoped they did not join across the middle, as the ice on each side of the pass pulled away from each other. As we approached it did not look good as some large crevasses appeared. However it seemed that there was a meltwater stream from the higher south side of the pass to the lower north side and this small stream had flowed down the crevasse and at the north end had filled it so water poured out onto the surface filling all the crevasses here. We skied parallel to this crevasse to this wet area and easily crossed on the frozen blue ice across the surface

There were a couple more crevasses to cross on the descent but these were joined together by tears of ice which joined one side to the other in a zig zag. Once past about 3 of these it was now just multiple fissures to cross which were no problem as long as you went perpendicular across them with a long step to avoid bending the skis. Within a short half hour of the top of Titanpasset we picked up our ski tracks from 3 days ago. By doing this route we completely avoided “death valley” and saved ourselves at least half a day and much blood sweat and tears. Ine-Lill’s hunch had certainly paid off. 

We now had a easy ski for a good hour across a open wide icy shelf between the mountains of Titanfjellet, Thetysfjellet and Saturnfjellet to the east and the slopes down to the west past nunataks and then through mountains to Austfjord. We skied along here for a couple of kilometres following our tracks until we got to a climb up the north end of Lomonovovfonna. It was on this climb where I had my fall and where we repaired Ross’s second ski. At the bottom of the hill we camped.

We set the tents up securely using most of the guys ropes as it would be likely we would have a day’s rest here. We were well ahead of schedule and the forecast for the next day was for a white out and stronger winds. Unfortunately the forecast for much of the next 4 days was the same. It took me ages to get my tent secure as the snow was only 10 centimetres deep and even that was like wet sugar. I had to put in 4 ice screws, the dead man plate snow anchor, and bury my skis and ice axe to find enough firm points for the guy ropes. Just as we finished the predicted mist rolled in and we all withdrew to our tents. The bear rota stared at 2100 so after supper I got 4 hours much needed rest . The bear duty this night was a penance with it being too miserable to do anything other than walk around the camp for an hour and a half. With the forecast I was worried I might not be able to keep things as dry as I wanted.  My arctic bedding bag and the pittarak pulk bags were not that waterproof, just snow and spindrift proof.  

Day 08. August 13. Camp SW Uranosfjellet. 0 hours. 0 km. 0m up. 0m down.  My bear watch was quite penal for a change. There was a bit of a wind, it rained occasionally and there was virtually a whiteout. To keep warm I just paced round and round the tents creating a small furrow for myself. The forecast was for more of the same.  Much more in fact and it was quite depressing. However with a day off tomorrow we could all catch up on our much needed sleep. After the watch I went back to my sleeping bag at 0130 and slept until 0800. It was a joyous unbroken sleep. 

When I woke it was still miserable with the whiteout still there and a constant wind which jostled the tent. It was well anchored so I was not too worried. Looking at the other tents I could see rimefrost appearing on the guy rope lines so it must be just above freezing as there was a wet mist whistling through the camp. I put my sleeper into its chaise lounge position and wrote yesterday’s blog while eating chocolate still in my sleeping bag. I was done by 1000 and then had a snooze.  We did not have a bear watch during the day as we were supposed to pop our heads out of the tent every 15 minutes and look around. We all did it randomly so in an ideal world there would be a pair of eyes over the camp every 5 minutes. Of course it did not work like that as everybody slept. I, being in the single tent and being the largest and possibly the smelliest and most likely to be a seal, was a little nervous. So I slept with my outdoor rolled up and inner door ajar so I could see out that way. I would have been more comfortable with an organised watch. However the likelihood of a bear being right up here was very remote, unless it was crossing the island and there were probably better places to cross, and the bears knew this.

After sleeping most of the morning we all convened in Ross and Soren’s tent for lunch. It was a nice gathering and one I especially appreciated as I would have been alone in the tent otherwise. There was a chance to listen to voices and share stories and banter rather than listen to the wind rattling the tent and worry about a bear bursting through the side wall. However, it was over all too quickly after a good hour’s chat and then it was back to my tent for another 3 hours until we all agreed to meet again in Ross and Soren’s tent at 1900.

Back in my tent I slept for another 3 hours until supper. Again I had one eye open and the tent door open as I was sure everyone else would be sleeping. There was more optimistic chat and eager talk of moving on tomorrow but the weather forecast was not good. It looked like the next 4 days as we returned to Adolfbukta bay were going to be a sufferfest. My biggest worry is keeping everything dry, especially my down sleeping bag. I packed for this trip assuming the weather would be around minus 10 instead of plus 5. 

Later in the evening as Ine-Lill went for her bear watch at 2100 to start the night rota I felt more relaxed in the tent knowing someone was keeping an eye out. I wrote the blog and tried to glean as much information about the upcoming weather as possible. I did not help as every source I could get said misery and poor visibility. This would also make route finding difficult especially in crevassed areas and it would swell the streams on the glacier lower down which we had to cross before the ardour carrying of the pulks over the moraine. This would be longer as the slither of ice we used initially would be gone and this would mean an extra 500 metres making it nearly 1.5 kilometres in all. On the positive side the pulks would be lighter. However I did not go to bed content, but full of worry about the impending hardship. I wrote the blog while waiting for my bear shift to start at 2230 until midnight.  

Day 09. August 14. Camp SW Uranosfjellet to N78.42.716 E 017.30.000. 8.5 hours. 22 km. 220m up. 500m down. My bear watch was from 2230 until midnight. It was the worst yet with a gale and freezing mist. I had to keep walking around the camp to keep myself warm. It was like sentry duty at Ice Station Zebra. It was a long hour and a half before Soren relieved me and I went to bed for a glorious sleep until 0600. 

In the morning it was a little better and the rimefrost on the guy ropes had melted. I was reluctant to move, having gotten spoiled by tent life, however the others were all keen and so I had to fall in with the team. I packed from 0600 until 0900 with the rain occasionally pelting on the tent in what was as good as a whiteout. My main concern was things getting wet, as the piteraq pulk bag was not waterproof and neither was my fjellpulken Arctic bedding bag. I put the sleeping bag into a drybag and rolled the arctic bedding up and managed to get it in the pulk bag now I had eaten 60 percent of the food. I also put all the electronic and small valuable items in the now empty food bags. Once that was all done I donned my goretex salopettes and jacket and withdrew into the windy drizzle which was just above zero degrees. It was cold packing the pulk but as soon as we were on the move things warmed up. 

Ine-Lill led the group at the head of the roped up team. I next, then Jan, then Ross with his broken skis in the formed tracks and finally Soren who was suffering with his knee in the most heroic way. Ine-Lill ploughed ahead like a character in a Jack London novel from Frontier Canada. With the rifle slung over her shoulder, a flash gun pistol on her waist and a climbing harness full of hardware she was the real deal pioneer woman. She ploughed on to the base of the ice ridge which was Lomonosovfonna for an hour and then a good hour to climb up to its highest point at 1245m.The rest of us followed behind wrapped up in our goretex and thoughts. We just had to put one foot in front of the other for hours while being careful not to step on the rope or let it go tight. 

After a couple of hours, breaking for snacks every hour, the weather relented slightly and we started a gentle descent down the crest of this ice cap we were on. Ine-Lill kept to the crest as this was a zone where the snow accumulated and did not move much. As such it was largely crevasse free. With the gentle angle we took long skiing steps down here and the tempo was good. Without any crevasses our progress was great and we covered ground quickly. We had ambitions to make out camp 3 which we used on the way up and this seemed very plausible. To make it better a golden orb appeared in the sky trying to penetrate the mist, but it did not succeed however the visibility was certainly improving.

I thought we were going over the second of the two ice mounds on Lomonosovfonna, however as we approached the southerly one marked 1198m, we veered to the west a bit and skirted down the west flank. We passed quite close to our camp 4 where we encountered a large crevasse on the way up and had to step over it sideways. At the same latitude as Slatertoppene we crossed our tracks on the way up and were now to the west of them. It was clearing all the time and well to the east you could see the main ridge of Lomonosovfonna which seemed to have a spur to the south. The snow got thinner as we went and soon there were extensive patches of bare ice as we nearly followed the 900 contour line heading south. Before long we ran into crevasses as a stream of ice flowed down from the main ridge into a huge shallow bowl which was littered with a few nunataks, like Hellerusthamaren and then Ekkonausane. As the river of ice slowly descended west to form the Nordenskioldbreen glacier it tore away from the more stable ridge shearing as it went into hundreds of crevasses. Most were small fissures but other warranted detours and this slowed us up a lot. Ine-Lill expertly picked a path through them with almost a second sense of what was firm and what was not. Her knowledge of glaciers and crevasses vastly exceeded mine. 

Eventually the maze of crevasses began to become more orderly as they started to follow contour lines also. We could almost ski between two of them, each 10 metres on each side as we passed over the top of Ekkonausane and made for a small ridge we had to cross to start the descent to camp 3. As we ski between the crevasses it cleared significantly and suddenly our well acquainted Terrierfjellet appeared just a few kilometres away. We were going to the east and south of it as we did previously. Beyond it and far down the Nordenskiold glacier (which had a north and south branch each side of Terrierfjellet) we could see Aldofbukta and the sea. 

With the inevitable delays of passing through crevasses the chances of getting to camp 3 diminished, so we decided to camp earlier just to the west of the main crest of the southern end of Lomonosovfonna, which we could now see a little to our east. Here there was a small bowl with snow in it instead of the icy crevasse fields of the last 2 hours. We descended slightly to the bowl and found somewhere to camp on it. The tent pegs went in all the way without hitting ice and the tents were up quickly and firmly in a line. There was a bit of grey on the snow which I assumed was dust from the mountains as it was everywhere but the other thought it might be pollution. Certainly when it was melted and boiled there was a residue which did not seem organic dust as it did not settle on the bottom. It was a nice evening after a day of unpleasant weather and we could linger outside a little before withdrawing into the three tents to cook. I had the first bear shift starting at 2100 for an hour and a half which also mean I had the last one at 0430 to 0600. Both were quite pleasant and I tramped a route in the snow round the camp. We got word that evening that our extraction from Adolfbukta would be on Saturday giving us 2 and a half days to reach the coast. This seemed very plausible and given the potential rain showers early tomorrow morning Ine-Lill said we could sleep to 0800 and there would be an extra bear watch after mine to allow this. I used this extra time in the morning to sit in my sleeping bag and write the blog while Soren did the shift after me. I could hear the drizzle pelt the tent occasionally but it remained clear outside without a whiteout.

Day 10. August 15. N78.42.716 E 017.30.000 to Glacier Camp Southside Ferrierfjellet. 9 hours. 16 km. 190m up. 690m down. It was my turn for the double bear watch which was the first and last shift, namely 2100-2230 and 0430-0600. On my first it was quite pleasant and I even managed some aerial shots. However after 6 hours of sleep I woke for the second one and it was much more  sketchy with the sky heavily clouded and rain threatening. When Soren took over for an extra shift in the morning to allow us a late start the rain started and I heard it patter off the tent in my cosy sleeping bag knowing Soren was enduring it. We all woke at 0800 and were ready to go by 1030. It was not pleasant with a near white out and a force 4 southerly wind which brought the infrequent shower with it. 

We set off again with Ine-Lill in the lead, then Me, Jan Ross and Soren at the back. Ine-Lill strode off confidently into the mist on a bearing of about 130 degrees and the rest of us followed. There were a few small crevasses, fissures really, on the way up SE from our campsite towards a snow knoll marked as 1003 m on the map. We went just to the west of it and then veered more south following a contour at about 950 metres and slightly to the west of the highest point of the Lomonosovfonna ridge which was now coming to an end. We were far enough away from the smooth crest that we ran into crevasses as two glaciers formed to take ice from the crest of the ridge down to the northern and middle flow of the Nordenskioldbreen Glacier between the confusingly named Terrierfjellet and Ferrierfjellet to the south. Some of these crevasses were large and involved a lot of detouring to find a crossing point. The momentum of the ski was soon lost as we encountered crevasse after crevasse. The crossing points were usually tears where a slither of vertical ice still connected the upper and lower side. If these tears were more than 2 metres wide they were a very comfortable option. If we could not find one, and in the near white out one could not see far, then the other option was to find a snow bridge across the two sides. Often these snow bridges were just that a metre thick crust of snow from one side to the other, often 2 metres apart, with a great void hole underneath. Ine-Lill though had a canny knack of finding a point to cross but it was often very time consuming as often the crevasses were 20 metres apart and the field could be a kilometre long. It was quite essential to avoid them but in a white out with poor visibility this was nearly impossible. Perhaps sticking to the crest would have been better but then again there might have been crevasses there too. 

Once we finished the crevasses we had a very pleasant 4 km ski across the flat plateau heading south. We crossed the route we had taken a week ago on the way up and went to the west of it to making a shortcut to our final pass. It was getting icy now at about 850 metres and we decided to take our skis off and switch to crampons, probably for the last time. As we came down the slope we ran into another crevasse field with some of the biggest and most challenging of the entire trip. A trip full of crevasses. It was essentially the ice sheet fragmenting as it flowed south off Lomonosovfonna and split into either Tunabreen glacier to the SE and the southern branch of Nordenskioldbreen to the SW. It took an age to negotiate them and there must have been at least 50, with 10 very large ones. As we passed over we could see down into a black void of nothingness far below. The rope gave us some comfort, but there was an edge to everyone.

Soren being at the back had a terrible time with his pulk overtaking him. I was now second to back and had the luxury of Soren holding my pulk back, as I in turn held Jan’s back and so on. Ine-Lill thought it best if Soren’s and my pulks were clipped together side by side and I would take two while Soren held them back. It worked well but we had to be extra careful crossing narrow tears between crevasse sides with a slither of connecting ice and a void on each side. It slowed us down even more and I was busy concentrating on this rather than where we where. That was Ine-Lill’s job and she was doing it well. 

Towards the bottom of this slope we had lunch and then hoped to climb the pass we went over on Day 3 when Ross was in the lead. Ine-Lill and myself and Soren all took a bearing for about 240 degrees and set off. As we went down and down across more and more crevasses I thought we were heading down Tunabreen, and Soren and I at the back managed to confuse Ine-Lill who had a rare moment of doubt. Just at that moment the mists parted in an almost Biblical scene to reveal we were not only on the right route but had avoided the pass by dropping down from Lomonosovfonna to the west of the pass. Soren and especially myself, had egg on our faces and Ine-Lill was vindicated. 

And so we started down the last crevasse field to the SE of Ferrierfjellet. There were perhaps 75 here but most were easy to step across even with the double pulk. Other were larger and had great cavernous mouths with icicles dripping from the rims and overhanging ice. You could have dropped a small house into some of them and it would have fallen to the black void at the bottom. Slowly but surely Ine-Lill picked a route through these obstacles and the vast flat expanse of the crevasseless Nordenskioldbreen glacier slowly neared. We dropped down some 200 metres here mostly on firm snow rather than blue glacier ice until we beared left and reached the medial moraine coming from Nemtindfjellet. Ths moraine was the flat dirty brown ice we followed up a week ago. It was perhaps our final crevasse in a week where we must have crossed over 800 open crevasses altogether. We stopped and took off the rope which we put on here a week ago and had been walking in it ever since. It was remarkable to be free of it and wander off to the side. 

The weather was improving all the time as we started our descent down the vast Nordenskioldbreen Glacier. Most of the glacier was knobbly ice mounts some 50 cm high where water channels had carved a lumpy icefield, However there was this curious medial moraine which was virtually stone free and smooth. We used it on the way up. We called it the “gravel road” on account of its colour. A stream ran to the south side of it onto of the ice and when this overflowed and froze and then thawed it created the gravel road. En route down we found Soren’s water bottle and mitts which fell off on the way up. We were all quite lighthearted and joyous now as the last of the crevasses and white outs were behind up. 

After some 4 km down the medial moraine we found somewhere to camp on the clean ice beside the “gravel road”. Of course we could not use tent pegs and I had to put my tent up with 4 ice screws and a rope connector to a fifth on another tent. It was incredibly slippery on this glacier without crampons on. With the tents set up we all withdrew inside to sort ourselves out and cook dinner. We took water from the surface stream as there was no snow to melt. My bear shift started at midnight so after dinner I wrote the blog and then had an hour’s sleep. We were all incredibly excited as there were just 8 kilometres to Adolfbukta in Billefjord where we would be extracted by boat on Saturday the 17 August, some 2 days before schedule. However there is still a lot of work to do and all the pulks will have to be carried for a kilometre or so over moraine covered ice. The sense of achievement is growing and our shared respect for Ine-Lill, the team leader and guide, is at an all time high. 

Day 11. August 16. Glacier Camp Southside Ferrierfjellet to N 78.38.168 & S 017.01.034 . 6 hours. 11 km. 240m up. 550m down. My bear watch was the one from midnight to 0130. It was probably the best option on the rota. It was a beautiful night and there were some atmospheric views looking towards Ferrierfjellet, which we were camped just to the south of and also up and down this southern branch of the Nordenskiodbreen glacier. It was very slippery outside and one could not really walk around the tents and certainly not down to the open surface stream of clear water in the blue icy twisting slot where we got fresh water. After sleeping after the midnight shift I woke at 0700 for the departure at 0900. 

It was still a nice morning compared to some of the days we had had although it was overcast and the upper ramparts of the mountains were lost in the mist. The mountain sides were incredibly dry and barren and there was not the slightest hint of greenery on these slopes. Were it not for the glaciers one could be forgiven for thinking you were in an arid mountainous area of Central Asia. We walked from our campsite, each tent perched on a slight mound of ice with a groove between them, down to what we called the “gravel road” again. Of course it was not gravel but it was dirty ice which was covered in a beige dust and much smoother than the surrounding knobbly bare white ice. I think the gravel road was a medial moraine ridge from Nemtindfjellet originally but occasional floods of slushy water filled the adjacent stream and this slushy water then froze into a 10 metre wide strip. Whatever the geographic reason for it it was certainly must easier and quicker to follow than the knobbly glacier. After a couple of kilometres however the gravel road veered to the south and at this point many boulders from the underlying moraine came to the surface. So it was back onto the knobbly ice. 

It was incredibly lumpy with hard icy moghills everywhere. Between this metre high knobbles were groves and channels and the trick was to link them up and twist around the moguls without going over them. The pulks were crashing, banging and overturning frequently and it was very noisy. I was amazed at the solid construction of the pulks, made by Snowlsled and I think a Paris Pulk would have shattered long ago. Jan and myself joked I would have to buy him a beer each time my pulk overturned. It would have been worthwhile for me to buy a brewery. It was not just me but everyone who suffered multiple capsizes. With all this crashing and bashing and unknown to me the top came off my mini nalgene salt container and covered the insides of my whole kitchen bag and stove in salt. 

We had to veer WNW across the glacier towards the much more obvious Ferriermorenen, which we also had to cross. It was a 30 metre wide strip of rubble up here and much more further down. As we crossed we became good at linking up the channels between the mounds and moguls and it was like we were on some sort of bobsleigh run. It was much easier but we soon hit a few ridges which were old crevasses which had been filling in with ice and melt water. It still held  us up a bit but soon we were on a long smooth slope heading diagonally down to the Ferriermorenen. It was easier to let the pulk go in front and drag us down the slope rather than drag it behind us with it crashing into our heels constantly. We reached the moraine at a much higher place than when we crossed it on the way up which had the benefit of it being narrower and also we did not have to negotiate the deep stream which caused some issues and time on the way up. We quickly carried the pulks over and carried on down. 

Ross was in front as we approached a convex bulge in the glacier. At the start of this bulge he stopped saying there was an enormous uncrossable 5 metre crevasse. It was so big it even went right through the morine and across much of the other side when we had been. There was no option other than to go back up and go round the north side of the bulge. Thankfully there was a route some 15 minutes to the north with an ice ramp going down beside the bulge. Again we walked down with the pulls in front of us pulling us down until the glacier levelled off again. We perhaps then veered too much to the north before curving round to the south again to get to the position of our Camp One on the way up. It was a smooth icy slope with a film of water over everything and incredibly slippery. At the bottom of this slope was a large stream in a deep slot. Had anything slid into it it would be gone, even a pulk would have been lost. We secured all the pulks here, a kilometre from the sea and potential bears and went for a reconnaissance to see how the route back to the beach had changed. 

On the way down I thought much more ice had melted and some of the outcrops were much more prominent. At the bottom of the slope we eventually reach the area where the glacial torrent emerged from two tunnels. It looked like a nightmare of a carry lay ahead tomorrow. Perhaps 6-7 hours of it, as to carry the pulks 1 kilometre meant 5 kilometres of 4 people carrying a pulk and then 4 kilometres of returning. So 9 km for every one gained.

However, I noticed there was another possibility when we arrived on the boat over a week ago to start and was quite insistent we check it out as we had plenty of time. It went to the NW just above where the tunnels emerged from under the glacier. Here the convex curve of the end of the glacier met the moraine which emerged from its terminus over the last decade. Between the two was a shallow icy valley where we could easily drag the pulks. It looked good but then the moraine disappeared and there was quite a steep slope at the end of the glacier. But it was not steep enough to thwart us or even to be hazardous enough to rope us as a slip and slide was very limited. As we went down we were all delighted to see it went all the way to the sea. We could drag the pulks all the way to the sea without carrying them. It would take an hour from camp rather than the 6-7 of the other route. The small bay, which had probably just emerged from the ice in the last decade, was also deep enough for the boat to pick us up. We returned to camp quite joyous at finding this easy alternative. 

We put the tents up on the ice where the pulks were and had to use all the ice screws, ice axes and pulks to fasten the tents and guy ropes to. Anything like a nalgene bottle, or pan would disappear down the slope and into the large stream slot at the bottom never to be seen again so we had to be careful. However the substandard Garmin weather forecast was not predicting much wind so we felt OK. We all ate in the largest tent on our last night and reset the alarms from 0200 to 0800. As we ate the wind picked up a bit before the first bear watch started at 1930, a whole shift before the official start as we were so near the coast and were retiring to bed early. I was on a later shift and had a few hours in bed before my turn around 2230. As I lay in my sleeping bag I couldn’t help noticing the wind was getting up quickly and it was battering the tents. I optimistically put it down to a fall wind or katabatic wind with cold air sweeping off the higher icefields to the east and descending to the lower coast and as such it should soon abate. However it did not and in fact got worse. By the time my shift started it was a mild gale with some stronger gusts!

Day 12. August 17. N 78.38.168 & S 017.01.034 to Adolfbukta to Longyearbyen. 1 hour. 2 km. 10m up. 140m down. During the bear watch I was constantly going round the 3 tents strengthening their anchorage. The most important thing was to give all the ice screws another few turns so they were down as far as they could go. A few were proud and these were starting to melt their way out. Gusts were ferocious and a few must have been force 9. Kneeling on the ice was cold as the surface was running with both rain and melt water which was flowing down the slope in rivulets and into the large stream in its deep slot. I slept better after the shift but was woken frequently by the tent shaking. 

In the morning it was no better and there was a real danger of things getting blown away. Ine-Lill helped me wrestle my tent down and into its bag as I was alone.When all the tents were down it was quite shocking to see the area where we had been sleeping. In all three tents there was an insulated mat which covered the entire groundsheet. This also insulated the ice from the warmer temperatures above. When all three tents were down you could clearly see that the area under the mats was now on a plinth some 5 centimetres higher than the rest of the ice which it was not when we pitched the tents. Some 5 centimetres of ice had melted off the surface of the glacier since we pitched the tents 15 hours ago. That means that in these conditions the glacier would lose 1.5 metres of ice in the course of August and perhaps 3 metres over a summer. With no snow replenishing the ice here it is no wonder the glacial fronts are receding so quickly. It is in the Arctic that global warming is at its most pronounced with temperatures here rising 4 times the global average, and to see these 5 cm high platforms where the tents had been brought it home. 

We set off at 1000 allowing almost 2 hours to get to the bay. With our crampons on we let the pulks pull us down the slope of the glacier to the moraine at the bottom. Here we veered north along the foot of the glacier which was flat. A few sidestreams splashed down deep channels but at the bottom the channels flattened out as the rivulet entered the stream. Occasionally there was a small pool at that junction which we hopped over and the pulk floated over. After 500 metres the stream disappeared under the tongue of ice and we went on top of the ice keeping close to the lower edge in case we slipped on the steeper incline. After 10 minutes of this steeped slope we were at the water’s edge and it had not even taken an hour. There were high fives all round as we took off our pulling harnesses, climbing harnesses and crampons for the last time. We had two hours to kill until the boat arrived.

It was still a bit windy but nothing like it was earlier as we sat in a circle so we could see if a bear approached. Ine-Lill sat with the rifle propped beside her. During these 2 hours I got quite cold and a bit anxious the boat would not arrive on time. However I was pleasantly surprised when it came round the corner at 1240 right on time. It did not come for us but went over to a peninsula a kilometre away and launched the small tender to come and pick us up from there, which I found strange. The tender took ages to wiggle through the ice to reach us but eventually came and we loaded everything on and started back.

It was only then that we learnt that the boat, The Billefjord, was actually sitting off the peninsular because there was a polar bear and a cub there, sprawled out on a rock, semi asleep conserving energy. Everyone on board was viewing them. We often joked on the trip the best place to see a bear would be on the rocks when we were back on board and yet here it was playing out for us. We boarded the mothership, stored out pulks and then shot up to the viewing platform to see the bears. They were perhaps 700 metres away high above the water on a shelf on the rounded rock slabs and it was easy to see them, but the photos did not do it justice. After 10 minutes the Billefjord motored off slowly and we were shown a private suite on the upper deck of the boat away from all the day trippers. Once settled the crew brought us a large lunch and beer. It was a great feeling to have completed the expedition. 

En route back to Longyearbyen the Billefjord went to Pyramiden. It was once a thriving Russian coal mine with 1200 miners living and working here throughout the year. However it closed some 25-30 years ago and now there was just a population of 11 living here all year. They maintained a presence just to keep their foot in the door because if they abandoned it they would never be able to return. It was one of the most dismal places I have ever been. Utterly devoid of any charm the barrack type buildings were falling into disrepair, where nature was reclaiming them. Our Russian guide showed us around with a sense of pride but he must have been deluded as there was nothing here worth seeing or preserving. It might have made a good stage set for a dark Hitchcock movie. After two hours the tour was over and we were back on the boat heading to Longyearbyen. It took 4 hours and we got there about 1900. We got a taxi with a trailer to take everything up to the store and dumped the wet stinking pulks there and went to the Coal Miners Cafe. Here we had our celebratory meal while arranging accommodation for the evening. Ine-Lill had floorspace in a rustic house belonging to Ousland Explorers while the rest of us shared a family room at the Polarrigg guesthouse. Jan and myself shared the double while Ross and Soren had the children’s bunks. We all showered and then slept well. The ambience and character of this hotel was very good and I for one was reluctant to leave after the superb breakfast and return to the more perfunctory and overpriced Gjestehuset 102 where we all had bookings. For the rest of our first free day we spent almost the entire time unpacking the pulks, putting the tents up to dry and spreading our gear about the rooms on makeshift drying lines to dry it off prior to packing. The next day was spent relaxing about town and going to the Svalbard Museum where for me the most fascinating and shocking exhibit was a taxidermied 500 kilo polar bear which had been shot in self defence some 10 years ago. If I had ever opened the tent and saw that advancing towards the entrance I would have been petrified. 

The weather was not great for our final days in Longyearbyen but it was great to hang out with the team. I am not sure August was the best time for this trip. The perceived advantage of August over a spring season tour was the greater stability of the weather, the 24 hours daylight and the higher temperatures. However the weather was very unstable and the temperatures were so high it was actually a hindrance as it was so wet. The main issue of August was that so much snow had melted from the surface of the glacier and the moraine below it, entailing that gruesome portage of the pulks for a day, then the knobbly bare ice for 2 days before we finally got to the snow and even here it was so diminished many of the crevasses were open. It certainly made for an expedition as we saw no one else at all the whole time. However because of the difficult conditions I certainly learnt a huge amount about glacier travel. I think spring would be a better time to do this trip but this is the main season and there would be many other groups, on ski or with snow scooters or with dog-sled teams so it would not be the same on-the-edge wilderness experience. However it would still not be that pedestrian. 

Perhaps the main thing that made this trip a success was the people on it. It was an exceptional mix of people in our team and we were all blessed with each other’s company. I had never been on an organised group trip before having always done my trips independently. Because it was an Ousland Explorers trip and because it was to Svalbard and outwith the main season we all found ourselves cut from the same cloth. There is little opportunity to do this trip safely as a solo individual given the bear and crevasse dangers so one has to go in a team of friends or on an organised tour. It was fortunate I picked Ousland Explorers and it was also fortunate Ousland Explorers picked Ine-Lill as their guide on this trip. Many other guides would have baulked at the conditions and thrown in the towel – but not her!

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