A Day in the Life of….A Polar Traveller

A number of people have asked what a typical day was on expedition so I thought I would try and outline how it was for me. Read this sitting in front of a freezer (typically set at minus 19) with the door open to get a sense of the cold.

Turn on the head torch. Unzip the outer bivvy bag (which covers the sleeping bag). Unzip the sleeping bag (which covers the vapour barrier). Unzip the vapour barrier which stops moisture seeping into the sleeping bag. All of these zips are around your eyes as they need to cover almost all of your face. No time to feel claustrophobic here!

You are already fully clothed (you generally change clothes once every 7-10 days if you are lucky!) but need to put on additional layers of fleece tops, down trousers, down jacket and down mitts to keep you warm around camp.

Pull out your felt liners for your boots from within your sleeping bag and force into the boots. These need to be kept warm next to your body overnight to prevent the moisture in them freezing. With boots and down layers on, put a hat on and venture out of the tent. Feel the force of the cold air sting your exposed flesh and freeze the hair in your nostrils and cover up your face.

Every day starts the same. The first priority is to get the stove lit. Melting snow takes an awfully long time and the sooner you get the process going, the sooner you have boiling water. You don’t have to go far to collect the snow! Fill the pan with hot water from your flask to get the process going then add snow. Compress the fuel bottle to pressurise it and spark the petrol once it fills the flame spreader. Let the water boil.
Whilst the water is coming to the boil, start to get sleeping bags etc out of the tent. Compress the sleeping bag and put into waterproof bag. Pick up your trekking gloves and hat, both of which have frozen overnight and place on the top of pan on the stove to ‘defrost’. Brush teeth with the cleanest snow you can find – mind those fillings!! Be sociable around camp. Check others are feeling ok and offer to help. Team working is essential as everyone has good and bad days in this extreme environment.

Start to break down the tent, being careful not to damage it through carelessness. Its a long way to the nearest shop and a bit too cold to sleep under the stars! Put the kit away in your sledge. Everything has a place and personal administration is essential, space is limited.
Hopefully by now, the water has boiled. Open the dehydrated ration pack for breakfast (typically 800 calories and porridge of some sort, with raisins if you are lucky) and dont put in too much water . Eat and pretend it tastes nice. It is the only hot meal, well warm anyway, you will have for 12 hours. Clean spoons and pack away. Refill the fuel bottle, put the stove away in the sledge near the top as it will be the first thing you need when you stop. Fill flasks with hot water and check the time to leave. Get your ‘nosebag’ ready. My favourite was a combination of M&Ms, dried fruit and wine gums.

At the appointed hour of leaving and not before, otherwise you will get very cold very quickly, take off your down jackets/trousers and gloves and put on the damp gloves/hat that you have defrosted over the stove and your windproof jacket and trousers. Your hat/gloves will dry with body warmth generated once you start working. Put on your sledge harness. Skis are next and clip your sledge into the harness. Ready to go.

Each day was variable in terms of distance covered, largely depending on surface conditions. I found there were three main types. 1) Ice, with a dusting of snow. Great for pulling the sledge as it moves easily on ice. Tricky on skis as there is little grip. 2) Deep snow. Great for skiing as the weight of ones body is displaced along the length of the 2m ski but difficult for pulling the sledge and my favourite 3) Ice, with a good covering of snow. Great for skis and sledge.

Constant GPS reading and check points (a hut here, a junction of glacial paths there). Check calls to base to record current position and report on progress.
Stop every 60-90 minutes for 10 mins depending on the morale/strength of group. When really cold, put up a ‘bothie’ shelter – a thin piece of fabric that gives protection from the wind – drink hot water from flask and eat snacks from the nosebag. For me, savoury in the morning and sweet in the afternoon. Keep eyes open for polar bears and possible points of weak ice. Avoid both!

At the end of the day, a cross made by ski poles from the expedition leader was the very welcome signal to those in the following line to make camp. First task is to get the stove going. More boiling water required for supper! Then tents up. All in a line, spaced a few metres apart to ensure polar bears do not feel enclosed in the event that they wander into camp and with space for them to run away (hopefully!). Down jacket, trousers and gloves on. Eat supper.

Team meeting, recap on day. Plan route for following day. Confirm location of bear flares (used to scare him away), rifle (in case he gets too close!), radios, satellite phone, emergency location beacon and crevasse rescue kit. Read out diary entry for the day before. Tell jokes/stories. Allocate teams for bear watch – a two hour waking watch walking around camp keeping eyes peeled whilst listening to colleagues snoring away.

At last, time for bed. Run around camp, press ups and silly dancing. Last chance to get warm before bed. Brush teeth. Escape into the tent. Down kit off. Boots off. Liners out and placed in the vapour barrier. Check for blisters. Treat. Wet wipe wash. Batteries next to the body to keep them warm. Reading, diary or MP3 player – depending on how hard we pushed that day. Squeeze into vapour barrier. Put vapour barrier into sleeping bag. Put sleeping bag into Bivvy bag. Hat on. Head torch off. Say good night to everyone back home. Zip up vapour barrier. Zip up sleeping bag. Zip up bivvy bag. Out in seconds…Same time tomorrow?!

Perils of Polar Travel

After a months training inside the Arctic Circle, including an expedition through the Sassendalen valley in Spitsbergen, we are now trained and ready to begin our polar adventure and world first attempt to the Arctic Pole (Pole of Inaccessibility). The only problem is, that the condition of the sea ice off the northern coast of Canada (our starting point) is so poor that earlier this week, the decision had to be made for the attempt to be postponed until conditions improve. I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed the team is. We were all mentally and physically preparing for the challenge of a lifetime. Having developed skills and knowledge and been able to put these into practice on the training expedition, competence levels (and expectations) have been raised to a high level. We will now be making the attempt in 2011 which will give me more time to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity and provide more exposure for those corporate organisations who have sponsored me to date. Although this is difficult to come to terms with, it does bring home the reality of polar travel. This is not an environment where you can easily get on a plane, travel to your destination, enjoy the sights and then return. The AP expedition was never a holiday. It is all about the personal and team challenge of undertaking a journey in extreme conditions, albeit with a goal in mind – the ‘Arctic Pole’, rather than just getting to a particular place on the globe. My limited experience of the high Arctic to date has shown me the awesome power of Mother Nature and given me a much greater awareness that you respond to the power of nature on her terms. When the sea ice is so broken that you would have to spend as much time swimming as pulling a sledge, perhaps it is right to stand back, regroup and try again another time. It was ever thus. Countless polar explorers in times gone by had to change their plans as a result of the conditions they faced and there is no reason why in 2010 this should be any different. The challenge of a lifetime is still on – its just a bit further away. In the meantime, the team are now heading out to Northern Canada (Baffin Island) for an expedition in March to ensure that when the opportunity comes again, we will be even more prepared…

Training in Svalbard, Norway – week one

As I write this weeks update, I’m looking out at the silhouette of a landscape carved by glacier, framed in complete darkness with just a glimmer of light in the far distance.

After a weeks training in the arctic circle, I’m getting used to an outside world where 3am looks much the same as 3pm in terms of light levels. Here in Svalbard, locals have this for two and a half months. A normal balance is then restored until later in the year when two and a half months of continuous daylight is presented.

In practical terms, this means that it is much more difficult to spot polar bears….a thought that was never far from my mind as we pulled our sledges, put up tents and scaled steep hills with our ice axes last week. Was that a bear in the distance? Did it just move? Now where exactly did we put that rifle?

As I reached for the flares in my pocket to frighten the bear away, I realised that it was just my imagination compounded by the sensory deprivation of operating in the inky black arctic night.

More of the same to follow. Advanced training next week, including ice water immersion, followed by a training expedition up to the Sassendalen glacier.

The darkness Im starting to get used to. Polar bear evasion techniques may take a little while longer….did I mention the polar bears?

Arctic training starts now…!

Well, this is it then. I’m on my way to Svalbard tomorrow (via Oslo), which is halfway between the northernmost coast of Norway and the North Pole. The main objectives of this element of our training is to get the team fit, experienced and comfortable working, travelling and living in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. The location has been specifically chosen to give us experience travelling on the frozen Arctic Ocean (sea ice) and really tough conditions, including 24 hrs of darkness, so that on the polar expedition itself later this year, nothing will come as a surprise. Which is great but I’m guessing it won’t be much of a holiday!!

I’m now getting excited as the opportunity to put the training into practice approaches. I think I also have a healthy level of trepidation but this did increase slightly this afternoon to paranoia after reading ‘Visit Norway’. The guide helpfully outlined that there are over three thousand ‘Barents Sea’ polar bears and approximately half of these are located on or around the islands of Svalbard, with an average of 12 polar bear dens per km². Now, I don’t know much about polar bears but that seems quite a lot to me and as cute as they are, I’m much happier looking at them in photos rather than face to face. I hope I don’t need to use that expedition rifle!

It will also be really cold but given the drop in temperatures in Devon over the last week, I don’t reckon I will notice too much difference, that is providing I can get myself to Heathrow. I’ve also worked out how to ‘tweet’ and send video clips to you tube from my mobile phone, so people can keep up to date on my progress as and when I get phone reception. It will all be on www.leadingfromthetop.co.uk but don’t expect too many video clips of polar bears…if I do see any, I will be too busy running the other way!

Boots, sewing and insulation tape?!

I returned from picking up the remainder of my expedition kit yesterday, ready for our training in Svarlbard next week. So this morning, I thought that I would ‘break in’ my new Arctic expedition boots that are much the same as snowboarders but have felt liners so you can remove them from the boot and get rid of the ice that accumulates as the sweat freezes. They are surprisingly comfortable but still a fair bit heavier than the leather walking boots I’m used to.

As I was out for several hours, I took some time out and boiled water from my water bottle using my camping stove and made myself a cup of tea. It won’t be long before I will be collecting snow to melt every morning for drinking water and to hydrate the dried rations. Even today, the reassuring noise as the stove roared into life was very welcome. In the Arctic, this will probably be one of the most welcome sounds I will hear (Not to be confused with the roaring into life of a polar bear…!).

I couldn’t help but think about the Arctic conditions that I will be experiencing in a week or so and whilst the early Dartmoor morning was very cold and bright, it was only a few degrees below freezing, I still had to keep moving to stop myself from getting too cold.

Now I have all of my protective clothing for the Arctic (unfortunately it’s not white as in those second world war films but black to absorb as much heat from the sun as possible), I’m sewing corporate logos onto it as I’m keen to get as much profile as possible for my corporate sponsors. I remain immensely grateful to everyone who has supported me so far and donations to the Fire Fighters Charity have reached over the £5,000 mark with several months still to go.

I’m also in the process of putting insulation tape on every zip as my skin will freeze immediately if in contact with metal, even for a few seconds (For those of you who have seen the Jim Carey film ‘Dumb and Dumber’, I don’t want to have a ‘frozen tongue on chairlift’ moment) and I’ve also added lengths of cord to help me undo the zips whilst wearing gloves as absolutely everything has to be done with gloves on. Every single task. Even tying the laces of my new expedition boots, which I think have just got heavier or is it my imagination?! I guess it wont be long before I find out….

Arctic Training Beckons…

With Christmas behind us and the New Year just about to begin, my thoughts are increasingly turning towards the advanced Arctic training which I start on the 12th January. It won’t be long before the long type pulls on Dartmoor will be replaced with cross country skiing lessons, ice water immersion and arctic camping skills honed with cold fingers in sub zero temperatures and do you know what, I really can’t wait.

This training culminates in a two week expedition, designed to bring all the skills together and also allow the team to bond in the process. This takes place high in the Arctic Circle in Svalbard (located at approx 77 degrees latitude), which is a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean about midway between mainland Norway and the Geographic North Pole. To put this into perspective, Plymouth is at 50 degrees with the North Pole itself at 90 degrees latitude. As each degree of latitude is about 70 miles, I will be travelling 1,900 miles north to undertake this training and will only be a tantalising 910 miles from the Pole itself!

It will be dark, as well as cold, as the sun will stay below the horizon throughout the day but with a ‘faint glow of light visible at midday’ to look forward to. I’m not quite sure how we are going to deal with the practicalities of doing everything in the dark for just under a month but that will be part of the fun. Also, I understand that depression can set in due to the absence of sunlight, so add another one to the list of challenges: pulling sledges weighing more than I do; up to minus forty degrees centigrade; starvation and exhaustion; polar bear attacks; frostbite and now possible depression. This really is a challenge of a lifetime! But I’m going to have to write myself a note to take with me explaining why I’m doing this as I’m sure I will be asking myself this once or twice whilst I’m away.

On a lighter note, I have recently had to apply to the Governor of Svalbard for an “Application for permit to hire a rifle, for protection against polar bears on Svalbard” but had to guarantee that I am ‘sober and responsible’. The second part is ok, but sober? This depends on the time of the day and certainly won’t be true this New Years Eve!! I do hope that my licence is granted as I will be just a little bit happier knowing that I am the one with the gun…(Did I mention the polar bears?!).

Finally, Happy New Year to you all. Let’s hope 2010 is a good one for us all!

Cold? Did I tell you about the time…

As the temperature drops here in the UK, it starts to bring home the reality of just what I’m about to face during both the training in Norway and the expedition on the Arctic itself. Like most people, I have no idea what -40 will feel like as I’ve not experienced anywhere near these temperatures before.

As a fresh faced teenager, I had a Saturday job stacking food into freezers in a supermarket which required me to go into the industrial storage units and the freezer lorries to collect the pre-packaged food for me to put on display. I remember the hairs on my nostrils freezing and the intense cold hitting my face as I opened the door. But that was -21 and I wasn’t in there for very long. The warm staff restaurant was much more inviting. That is my only experience of being really cold and I was being paid to do it then.

Some 25 years later, I’m heading head up to the Arctic Circle, 350 miles north of Norway, to sleep under canvas (well polypropylene at least) and practice cold water immersion by skiing into open water deliberately – and I’m choosing to do this as well?! I could have done so many other things instead of this challenge. Mid life crisis. What crisis. Suddenly that that sports car seems like a much more sensible idea now.

I’m hoping to come back with the same number of fingers and toes and without any frostbite, which whilst it sounds like a badge of honour for explorers in days gone by, is apparently incredibly painful as ice crystals form within the blood and inflame the tissue. It can lead to gangrene and amputation, so all in all, it is probably best avoided.

Despite the risks and the discomfort, I am really looking forward to the challenge. More than ever before in fact as the date for the Arctic training comes closer (I head off in mid January). I deliberately chose something that was really difficult, that would test my resolve and courage and I know I’ve found a challenge of a lifetime. It seems like only yesterday that I was loading up Birds Eye frozen desserts in that supermarket but after this challenge, I don’t think I will ever be able to look at an Arctic Roll in the same way again…!

The science bit…

It won’t have escaped your notice that there is a summit of world leaders taking place in Copenhagen this week trying to see how we can reduce our carbon emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change. This has captured my attention perhaps more that it would otherwise have done, given the Ice Warrior Arctic Pole 2010 expedition I’m preparing for next year.

Jim McNeil, the Ice Warrior founder and leader of this expedition prides himself in providing “purposeful, worthwhile expeditions” and the Arctic Pole expedition is no exception. As well as being a world first (no-one has reached this point before), we will also be contributing to the body of scientific knowledge at the same time.

Whilst on the ice, we will be taking ice and snow samples in order to measure levels of pollutants. We will also record the condition of the sea ice that we will be travelling on as well as counting polar bears for the Norwegian Polar Institute (I’m hoping we come back with a very low number for this one!).

Perhaps most importantly though, we will be measuring the thickness of the ice and our measurements will be used to validate and calibrate data taken remotely from both satellites and submarines. The data we will be collecting will be used by the NASA backed National Snow & Ice Data Centre.

It’s funny how climate change only really starts to hit home when you consider the effect that it has on you personally. Now I’m very interested in what will come out of Copenhagen. Not just to see how we will be protecting the planet for generations to come but also from a selfish perspective.

I don’t want to fall through a thinning polar ice cap, in any way, at any time. Not just because the Arctic Ocean is bitterly cold, or that it is so very deep (4000m in fact), it is simply that my sledge is going to be heavy enough as it is with all the fuel, rations, tent and medical pack I will be pulling for over 200 miles. I don’t want to have to take a scuba diving kit with me as well…!

Navigation for Dummies…

My training schedule is now back on track and having pulled a calf muscle earlier this week, it was with some trepidation that I found myself heading out very early into a jet black Sunday morning, facing horizontal rain and high winds with a Bergen on my back weighing a touch under four stone. I did however, have the comfort of a newly acquired Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking device which hung proudly around my neck.

It is quite extraordinary that only a few years ago, satellite navigation was only provided in military applications and now business and leisure users alike use GPS almost without realising it. They are not always simple to use though and whilst I have some experience in using them during night navigation exercises on Dartmoor, it still took me quite some time plotting the grid references and waypoints for the route – my five year old daughter would probably have done it more quickly if only I had swallowed my pride and asked for help!

Returning from my yomp five hours later, my confidence in my new found technology was dented as I was convinced that I had walked much further and faster than it said I had. I suppose those technical people at NASA know what they are doing though and five satellites can’t all be wrong.

Maps are pretty useless in the Arctic as there are obviously very few landmarks although I’m sure it won’t be very long before you will turn a corner and see a Costa Coffee or a McDonalds. Whilst on the ice, GPS will be used to keep us on track and help us got to the right rendezvous point at the right time. It will be the only way that we will know we are actually at the Arctic Pole and it will also reduce the number of comments like “are we there yet?” and “Do we turn left or right at the iceberg”.

As great as they are though, they won’t identify the hazards. They don’t measure ice thickness, how much food is left or where the nearest man eating polar bear is. Did I mention the polar bears?…

Who needs sleep anyway…

Another week has passed by in a flash and work commitments have meant that training has been a bit limited. I’m quickly finding out that endurance events, such as the 2010 Arctic Pole expedition, require a lot of training time as well as mental application. I think I may need to take a leaf out of Ben Fogle’s book (you may have seen him and James Cracknell racing to the South Pole on the BBC programme ‘On Thin Ice’). Ben resorted to doing a lot of his training at night and in the early hours of the morning to fit it all in. He also used this to prepare for the sleep deprivation he would face. Due to the cold, you don’t sleep too well on the ice, which is hardly surprising, so I’m trying to get my head around not having eight hours uninterrupted sleep every night. It won’t only be the cold that will keep me awake though. The constant moving of the frozen Arctic Ocean, as it crushes together (forming ridges) in some parts and opens up in others (forming open water ‘leads’) plays havoc with your imagination, as you apparently hear all kinds of everyday noises as your brain tries to rationalise the sounds, whilst living in a vast expanse of nothingness. The other thing that may keep me awake is the thought of the ice floe, that we are camped on, moving apart, plunging the tent and all of us inside it into the inky black Arctic Ocean. Did I also mention the polar bears? Oh well, there will be plenty of time for me to catch up on my sleep when I get back home and as I will become a consummate bore on all things Arctic, I expect others around me won’t have problems sleeping either…