Alex and George have started at the east coast, on the Nagtivit Glacier, near Kulusuk. “As the team proceed west, they will lay depots along the route containing supplies to support them on their return journey. Once they have laid sufficient supplies and have made strong progress, they will haul North towards Baffin Bay.” Image courtesy of the Expedition Website (click to enlarge)
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Greenland: First expedition underway – the return journey
Posted: Apr 07, 2008 05:16 pm EST
(ThePoles.com) Two young Britons, Alex Hibbert, age 21, and George Bullard, age 19, are well underway on their Greenland return expedition. Their aim is to complete the longest fully unsupported polar journey of all time, 1400 miles, starting near Kulusuk and turn around at Baffin Bay.
“In the early stages, they may need to haul their loads in relays,” according to their website. “This means hauling a single sledge at a time and returning to retrieve extra supplies.”
Depots
“As the team proceed west, they will lay depots along the route containing supplies to support them on their return journey. Once they have laid sufficient supplies and have made strong progress, they will haul North towards Baffin Bay.”
They have started at the east coast, on the Nagtivit Glacier, near Kulusuk. Their gear was taken with dogsleds to the starting point at the coast and they were flown to that point by helicopter.
The team reports via short text messages
On 26 March Alex and George started their expedition by climbing the glacier in heavy snow, thick powder and steep slopes.
Day 3 they reached the Icecap. On 30 March they lost sight of the coast and felt the load of the 180kg sleds when their muscles complained.
On 2 April they made their first depot for their return journey at N 66 15 199 W 39 26 906.
During a white-out where they were unable to see their feet, they fell over and had a good laugh. On 7 April they were tent bound due to high winds and were afraid that they won’t get their tent up again and reported the temperature in the tent at night –19°C.
They have covered a distance of 75.2 statute miles so far and experienced temperatures ranging from –11 to –24°C.
Alex Hibbert grew up in Hampshire, was educated in Dorset and read Biology at the University of Oxford. 2007 - Elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the home of British exploration - Greenland climbing and manhauling expedition - Selected for the 2008 Royal Marines Young Officer Batch after first passing selection at 16 years old.
George is on a year out between high school and university. Having returned from South Georgia and the Falklands with BSES, he was been bitten by the ‘exploration bug’. This expedition is an ideal opportunity to further develop his polar experience after leaving Eton College where he gained A-Levels in Biology Chemistry and Russian and an AS in Maths. He has been sailing down in the South Atlantic and exploring one of the most pristine environments on planet Earth, South Georgia.
Biographies courtesy of the Expedition Website
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