Posted: Jun 12, 2008 02:55 pm EST
(ThePoles.com) The two Brits, Alex Hibbert and George Bullard, have crossed the Icecap. This is only halfway for them. They have turned around and are on their way back to their nearest and seventh depot.

They report about their expedition by sending short text messages via satellite phone.

At the end of May the two men experienced high winds. “We made a brief foray into the wind which was recorded at 52 mph [83.7 km/h] maintained. Only just managed to erect the tent. Frustrated.”

Amazing coastal features

On 30 May they got a break in the weather and tried to ski during the night, but they “aborted due to even worse surface.” The coast came nearer as they got glimpses of mountain tops. The next day they got a glimpse of the sea. After being for so long on the featureless Inland ice they say these “coastal features seems amazing after sensory deprivation.”

Crevassed area

On 2 June Alex and George camped at the top of an unknown glacier in a crevassed area even with one under their tent.

The next day at 10h27 they completed their east-west crossing of the Greenland Icecap, a distance of 703 miles (1131.4 km). “Strong glacier decent ended slightly short due to weak crevasses.”

The return journey started

The return journey to the East coast started with going uphill again, “Very steep gradients and headwind as we climb back onto the plateau!” reports Alex. The reported wind speed: 31 mph or 49.9 km/h.

A powerful 34 mph (54.7 km/h) wind kept Alex and George tent bound in the morning of 5 June. That the afternoon they moved over a hilly terrain and then the wind dropped totally so that they experienced their first silent night in two weeks. Not for long. The wind returned and they were “trudging into an energy sapping head wind.”

On 8 June they report, “Moral taking a hit as we haul into melee. Can’t remember a time before the wind. Barley sleeping due to wind.”

On 11 June the wind finally gave them a break and they had a “full nice day – miracle. With a healthy contingency of food set to reach depot in 2.5 days.” They left their sleds at the last depot and skied the last few days to the coast with their backpacks.

11 June 2008
Temperature: 4°C
Wind speed: 12 mph (19.3 km/h)
Miles covered today: 17.7 (28.5 km)
Total miles covered: 822 (1322.9 km)

Alex and George started their expedition on 26 March, pulling 180 kg sleds. Their aim is to traverse Greenland and return, unsupported, unsupplied via a new route from the Nagtivit glacier on the East coast to Baffin Bay on the West coast and back (1400 miles / 2250 km).

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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