These days we made fantastic progress by covering a huge path on the flat ice of the mountains on the north coast of Greenland. This region is known to be the northernmost land in the world. We navigated through a huge ice plate that had been pushed up, standing at least 40 feet tall, which is about three stories high. Navigating in the north in a vehicle can be challenging, especially in whiteout conditions. Despite the challenges, communication is maintained through radios and a combination of lights.
We always knew that the crossing from the moving ocean ice in the high latitudes to the “land fast” ice connected to the Greenland coast would be difficult since the currents and wind push these together to create a vast graveyard of packed ice and broken sheets. Even seasoned Arctic fox Vasily Elagin said: “This is not a travelling to which I was looking forward.” But we did it. It saw the most difficult ice chipping and the most technical driving of the whole expedition. And now we’re on the ice connected to Greenland. It doesn’t mean we don’t still have a lot of work to do. But it does mean that the biggest unknown on the ocean is now behind us. And we will take our first full overnight sleep for many days.
We always knew that the crossing from the moving ocean ice in the high latitudes to the “land fast” ice connected to the Greenland coast would be difficult since the currents and wind push these together to create a vast graveyard of packed ice and broken sheets. Even seasoned Arctic fox Vasily Elagin said: “This is not a travelling to which I was looking forward.” But we did it. It saw the most difficult ice chipping and the most technical driving of the whole expedition. And now we’re on the ice connected to Greenland. It doesn’t mean we don’t still have a lot of work to do. But it does mean that the biggest unknown on the ocean is now behind us. And we will take our first full overnight sleep for many days.
