We are back, safe and well!
We were originally supposed to have been picked up on Monday 4th June, but weather and mechanical problems meant that was delayed until Friday 8th. Frustrating, but ultimately understandable. The pilots did a great job getting to us.
It was a great adventure: cold, always windy, fantastic scenery and lots of sights experienced for the first time by any human.
More details, a report and loads of photos will appear on the web site in the next few weeks.
Sincere thanks goes to our families and our employers for their support and understanding. Thanks especially to Anne for decoding our occasional satellite phone ramblings and updating the blog.
Tim
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Last Camp
A call from Tim on Friday:
They have now moved to their seventh & final camp at the pick-up point. After three weeks of generally cold & always windy weather Friday was actually a very nice day, sunny & ( comparatively ) warm. Gerwyn & Tim climbed a very large peak ( wednesday ? ) & found a cairn on the top, climbed another on Thursday morning that they knew had already been climbed & there was also a cairn on that one.
They have met up with the other group out there, nice to see some new faces.
They must have contacted the flight organisers as they are aware that the weather, 'though good where they are, is too bad at the refueling point for the plane to land. Since pick-up is not 'till Monday there is time for this to change.
They have now moved to their seventh & final camp at the pick-up point. After three weeks of generally cold & always windy weather Friday was actually a very nice day, sunny & ( comparatively ) warm. Gerwyn & Tim climbed a very large peak ( wednesday ? ) & found a cairn on the top, climbed another on Thursday morning that they knew had already been climbed & there was also a cairn on that one.
They have met up with the other group out there, nice to see some new faces.
They must have contacted the flight organisers as they are aware that the weather, 'though good where they are, is too bad at the refueling point for the plane to land. Since pick-up is not 'till Monday there is time for this to change.
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Birthday Blues
Gerwyn's birthday on Tueasday & the following from his call home:
Monday night very promising, nice weather so spent time planning what he wanted to climb on his birthday the next day. Unfortunately Tuesday brought really bad storm winds, not much spindrift but bitterly cold so they spent the entire day stuck in the tent. Not the best birthday he has ever had but certainly one he will never forget. Weather started to ease off towards evening & a better day looking likely for Wed, so plan to move camp again.
Monday night very promising, nice weather so spent time planning what he wanted to climb on his birthday the next day. Unfortunately Tuesday brought really bad storm winds, not much spindrift but bitterly cold so they spent the entire day stuck in the tent. Not the best birthday he has ever had but certainly one he will never forget. Weather started to ease off towards evening & a better day looking likely for Wed, so plan to move camp again.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Hauling Sledges
This received on the answer phone from Tim on Sunday, a very bad line so some details lost:
Sunday
A very very long day pulling heavy sledges, 4/5 hours seemed to go on for ever but made camp now & everyone fine. Not able to do anything yesterday due to a blizzard ( not sure about the word blizzard as the line so bad at this point. Tim & Gerwyn climbed another peak ( day indecipherable). Plan to go meteorite hunting tomorrow.
A quick message from Russ on Monday evening:
Not far from the pick-up point now with still a week in hand. No-one has seen any polar bears. The satellite phone batteries are getting low now so may not be any more messages.
Sunday
A very very long day pulling heavy sledges, 4/5 hours seemed to go on for ever but made camp now & everyone fine. Not able to do anything yesterday due to a blizzard ( not sure about the word blizzard as the line so bad at this point. Tim & Gerwyn climbed another peak ( day indecipherable). Plan to go meteorite hunting tomorrow.
A quick message from Russ on Monday evening:
Not far from the pick-up point now with still a week in hand. No-one has seen any polar bears. The satellite phone batteries are getting low now so may not be any more messages.
Sunday, 27 May 2007
"Brilliant"
Sorry for the delay posting this, these details recieved from Gerwyn on Thursday 24th:
It is absolutely freezing cold, -40, & the wind-chill is very bad. Despite this they are all well & having a "brilliant" ( this particular word featured more than once ) time. They have climbed a few more mountains & seen lots of sedimentary, volcanic & metamorphic rock. At one point they could see the seabed which had been pushed up thousands of feet, millions of years ago. They are very impressed by the sheer scale of the geography, their camp looks like a tiny dot, lost in the huge expanse.
They built an igloo ( bet that was Tim's idea ) & were having supper in it on Thurday, very warm & cosy apparantly. Plan to climb some more on Friday & move on to another camp, then keep on moving North.
It is absolutely freezing cold, -40, & the wind-chill is very bad. Despite this they are all well & having a "brilliant" ( this particular word featured more than once ) time. They have climbed a few more mountains & seen lots of sedimentary, volcanic & metamorphic rock. At one point they could see the seabed which had been pushed up thousands of feet, millions of years ago. They are very impressed by the sheer scale of the geography, their camp looks like a tiny dot, lost in the huge expanse.
They built an igloo ( bet that was Tim's idea ) & were having supper in it on Thurday, very warm & cosy apparantly. Plan to climb some more on Friday & move on to another camp, then keep on moving North.
Monday, 21 May 2007
More Peaks
A quick phone call from Tim on Sunday imparted the following:
Now at the third camp, had to stop & make emergency camp ( camp 2 ) a couple of days ago as it was getting too cold to keep going. Have climbed two more peaks which they have named 'Copa Rosyn' & 'Lliwedd'. Still very cold & windy but everyone ok. Tim & Gerwyn went out today to scout out more potential peaks to climb. No sign of any meteorites, too much blown snow.
Now at the third camp, had to stop & make emergency camp ( camp 2 ) a couple of days ago as it was getting too cold to keep going. Have climbed two more peaks which they have named 'Copa Rosyn' & 'Lliwedd'. Still very cold & windy but everyone ok. Tim & Gerwyn went out today to scout out more potential peaks to climb. No sign of any meteorites, too much blown snow.
Friday, 18 May 2007
Weather Everywhere
A very quick message on Friday night gave the following:
Thursday
Very bad weather, not able to do anything.
Friday
Good weather, visibility excellent, did lots ( but no details as to what 'lots' might be).
I will add details to these two days if any are received, Tim, Russ & Gerwyn are taking it in turns to phone so sketchy messages are being passed around.
Thursday
Very bad weather, not able to do anything.
Friday
Good weather, visibility excellent, did lots ( but no details as to what 'lots' might be).
I will add details to these two days if any are received, Tim, Russ & Gerwyn are taking it in turns to phone so sketchy messages are being passed around.
So cold
Saturday
All went well with flights, transfers etc.
Sunday
Plane to Greenland, landed at 5pm - 36km west of where they should have been as the ground at the original site was too dangerous. Very cold, exposed & windy so made camp straight away, building snow walls to protect themselves.
Monday
Lots of spindrift. Reinforced camp & built a kitchen out of snow. Tested skis, after 10 mins Gerwyn's bindings broke so turned back.
Tuesday
Russ's birthday. Ski to apparantly nearby peak. Arrive one & a half hours later! Climbed very broken ridge to the summit which they named "Birthday Peak". Saw lots of fossilised ferns. Gerwyn's crampons broke ( detecting a theme here ). The ski back was uphill & arduous, had a whiskey toast for Russ's birthday on return to camp.
Wednesday
Planning day. Lovely weather. Checked guns, skis & sleds; changed route as original one far too icy & cravasse- filled. Everyone ok, Gerwyns breakages fixed, got far too much food.
All went well with flights, transfers etc.
Sunday
Plane to Greenland, landed at 5pm - 36km west of where they should have been as the ground at the original site was too dangerous. Very cold, exposed & windy so made camp straight away, building snow walls to protect themselves.
Monday
Lots of spindrift. Reinforced camp & built a kitchen out of snow. Tested skis, after 10 mins Gerwyn's bindings broke so turned back.
Tuesday
Russ's birthday. Ski to apparantly nearby peak. Arrive one & a half hours later! Climbed very broken ridge to the summit which they named "Birthday Peak". Saw lots of fossilised ferns. Gerwyn's crampons broke ( detecting a theme here ). The ski back was uphill & arduous, had a whiskey toast for Russ's birthday on return to camp.
Wednesday
Planning day. Lovely weather. Checked guns, skis & sleds; changed route as original one far too icy & cravasse- filled. Everyone ok, Gerwyns breakages fixed, got far too much food.
Friday, 11 May 2007
Nearly Off
Today is the last day of preparations before we leave.
My back is better, bags are almost packed and mild panic is settling in.
Tomorrow at 05:30 Gerwyn and I will begin our journey to Heathrow and on to Reykjavik where we will met up with Russ. We then fly to Akureyri whre we will stay the night before flying to Greenland to meet our equipment in Constable Pynt. Once we have sorted our kit we fly North into the unknown...
Tim
My back is better, bags are almost packed and mild panic is settling in.
Tomorrow at 05:30 Gerwyn and I will begin our journey to Heathrow and on to Reykjavik where we will met up with Russ. We then fly to Akureyri whre we will stay the night before flying to Greenland to meet our equipment in Constable Pynt. Once we have sorted our kit we fly North into the unknown...
Tim
Friday, 13 April 2007
Old injuries
An old injury has come back to haunt me.
While undertaking the very difficult and dangerous task of picking up a carton of orange juice I did something to my lower back. It is very very painful and I can barely move; though experience tells me it will be alright in a few days.
Just don't tell Gerwyn or Russ...
Tim
While undertaking the very difficult and dangerous task of picking up a carton of orange juice I did something to my lower back. It is very very painful and I can barely move; though experience tells me it will be alright in a few days.
Just don't tell Gerwyn or Russ...
Tim
Thursday, 5 April 2007
Media week
It seems like this week has been 'media week' as the local and national (Wales that is!) media interest in our expedition has been particularly enthusiastic. I had a live interview with BBC Radio Wales at 5.50pm on Monday 2/4/07 regarding the expedition and at the end I had hoped to be able to say 'Happy Birthday' live on air to my daughter Bethan who was 17 that day. Unfortunately, I think we over-ran talking about the exped which left no time for the greetings!
This morning (5/4/07) I have pre-recorded interviews with BBC Radio Cymru (in Welsh) which will be broadcasted at 6.45am Monday 16th April; also with Champion FM Radio in both Welsh and English, they will be broadcasting on Tuesday 10th April. All have asked for further interviews nearer the time and after our return.
Gerwyn
This morning (5/4/07) I have pre-recorded interviews with BBC Radio Cymru (in Welsh) which will be broadcasted at 6.45am Monday 16th April; also with Champion FM Radio in both Welsh and English, they will be broadcasting on Tuesday 10th April. All have asked for further interviews nearer the time and after our return.
Gerwyn
New boots and...
Last Thursday (29th March) I travelled to Ilkley to be fitted with a new pair of Scarpa Denali ski mountaineering boots. I had been given a pair by a friend to try but unfortunately they were a bit tight and after a short walk in them they cramped my 'flipper feet'. After a 3 hour journey I arrived at Backcountry UK where I was expertly advised and fitted by Dave and Andy. They told me that the avarage fitting time was about 1.5 hours (these boots are moulded to the feet of the customer) and that they'd seen every size and shape of feet in the 12 years they'd been providing this specialist service.
I took my shoes off and immediately Dave asked if I was a fell runner (yes I am) - he could tell by my rather obvious heel spurs! So to work on the custom fitted boots and following a series of measuring and testing and much sweat and tears on Dave's part I ended up at 8.00pm with a custom fit pair of boots. Apparently the 4 hours that it took is the longest on record to date! They worked long and hard to ensure that everything was right before I left the shop - thanks fellas, I appreciate it!
Gerwyn
I took my shoes off and immediately Dave asked if I was a fell runner (yes I am) - he could tell by my rather obvious heel spurs! So to work on the custom fitted boots and following a series of measuring and testing and much sweat and tears on Dave's part I ended up at 8.00pm with a custom fit pair of boots. Apparently the 4 hours that it took is the longest on record to date! They worked long and hard to ensure that everything was right before I left the shop - thanks fellas, I appreciate it!
Gerwyn
Monday, 2 April 2007
Introduction
Hi Tim,
Nice to the web site up and running.
We do not have long left before we make our way up North. I am currently in the process of sorting and packing kit. Most of our kit will be transported to Greenland a month before we leave. Hopefully we will meet it in Constable Pynt.
Russ
Nice to the web site up and running.
We do not have long left before we make our way up North. I am currently in the process of sorting and packing kit. Most of our kit will be transported to Greenland a month before we leave. Hopefully we will meet it in Constable Pynt.
Russ
Saturday, 3 February 2007
DLL2007
Hi
This is the first entry to the DLL2007 blog.
We are now less than four months away from the start of the trip and there is still so much to do...
Kit to get; flights to pay for; travel to arrange; meetings to be had; nervousness to be dealt with; and I really should think about getting fit. So far I have convinced myself that writing to a blog is enough.
So, what is DLL2007? Well it is an expedition to an unexplored region of South Western Dronning Louise Land (hence DLL) in arctic Greenland for climbing and meteorite hunting. Yes, meteorite hunting. More on that in a later post.
This is the first entry to the DLL2007 blog.
We are now less than four months away from the start of the trip and there is still so much to do...
Kit to get; flights to pay for; travel to arrange; meetings to be had; nervousness to be dealt with; and I really should think about getting fit. So far I have convinced myself that writing to a blog is enough.
So, what is DLL2007? Well it is an expedition to an unexplored region of South Western Dronning Louise Land (hence DLL) in arctic Greenland for climbing and meteorite hunting. Yes, meteorite hunting. More on that in a later post.
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