Expedition Greenland: Headwinds and surprises on the way to Dye-2

Weather forecast and the final leg

We’re going to have headwinds, it’s going to be cold—minus 13 tonight when we get up. The last leg of an hour and fifteen minutes was a bit of a struggle for everyone, trying to squeeze out a few extra kilometers. Surprisingly, the weather tomorrow won’t be great again. We’ll have headwinds, it’ll be cold, minus 13 tonight when we wake up. And then the wind picks up quite quickly in the morning. It’s going to be somewhat stormy during the day.

Looking forward to Dye-2

We do have something to look forward to tomorrow and something to walk toward. Today we’ll see Dye-2 for the first time. It’s an abandoned Cold War radar station and basically a must-see for anyone crossing Greenland. And not only that: in Dye-2, we’re also going to find a few gifts for us from the other expeditions. We’ve had intensive consultations about our ski situation. The other teams came up with the option of using a kind of ski straps to mount the binding to the ski. One of the other guides said one of her clients once skied from Dye-2 to the coast using that solution. So both teams are leaving some of those straps behind for us. That’s really, really cool. They were there today, so they’re one day ahead of us because we’ve had some history with our gear here and there.

Camp Raven and the surroundings

The next station after we visit Dye-2 is Camp Raven. It’s a few kilometers away. It’s a kind of American base where two men are stationed in a small 4×4 meter hut. Pretty basic. They’re there to maintain the runway for planes. The purpose of that isn’t entirely clear to me, because really, for miles around us, there’s nothing but ice. But well, I’m sure they’ve thought it through.

Daily rhythm and sense of time

Just a quick update today, as everyone else is already fast asleep. It’s 3:30 PM here now. Time loses all reference because it’s light all day. So it’s just walking when you can, eating when you can, resting when you can, and repeating that. We’re trying to chip away as many kilometers as possible. So despite the bad weather—a statement for tomorrow—we’re going to try that again. At least to make progress toward Dye-2, take the time there to check out the radar station, and ensure we get a permanent solution at Camp Raven for the skis that aren’t working right now.

Outlook on recovery and weather

We’ll already have the straps to get that done in one day. After that, we’ll probably get a really good night’s sleep. Next week the weather should be fairly stable and calm, and cold enough so the snow doesn’t melt under us during the day… that gives us a little room to catch up on some rest now. Over the last two or three days, we’ve prioritized walking during the time windows when it was possible, which means we’ve had a bit less sleep. Okay, I’m going to close my eyes now.