Frozen Five at AGU

This week, the Frozen Five education & outreach project was unveiled in the largest gathering of geoscientists in history, the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). With about 15,000 registrants, and keynote speakers of Al Gore's (made famous through the movie documentary "An inconvenient truth", apart from having been "the next president of the USA") calibre, the scene was perfect to present our project.

Kim attended the week-long conference, presenting a Frozen Five poster as part of an "Education & Outreach during the IPY" session. Through the positive comments the poster generated, and the liaison with other IPY projects, we aim to make as many high school students aware of our expedition by the end of February. The website, which will shortly include an educational component, will serve as a reference point for all global students, without geographic restrictions to the schools where we plan post-expedition talks.

Needless to say, the AGU poster will be available for download in the media section shortly. Greetings from San Francisco!

Kim

Frozen Five are Five again, and no longer hungry

Over the past few weeks, the Frozen Five project has been steadily picking up steam, probably fuelled by the now traditional Thursday morning Skype meetings (Wednesday evenings for our European contingent, lucky buggers that don’t have to get up). Almost too much has happened to update you in one blog, so expect a few more blogs coming this way as we try to re-capture the happenings.

Definitely the most important change concerns the team. Due to unfortunate circumstances, and unavoidable university commitments, Jirka will not be able to join the team for the traverse. This was a big blow to the rest of the team, since Jirka’s experience, good humour and culinary skills (he makes the best Czech dumplings ever) will be missed. Jirka is still heavily involved with the project, having volunteered for perhaps the most demanding job of all, getting food for a bunch of hungry Arctic wanderers. About 50 kg of Czech food was bought (okay, maybe chocolate bars and instant soups are not the exactly “food”) and is currently en route to Svalbard where it will be sorted and re-routed to our food depot at Hornsund. Thanks Jirka!

Sponsorship by Göteborgs Kex!

When you set out on expeditions, big or small, it’s of great importance that you have enough of cookies and biscuits with you. We estimate that we will eat three packets of cookies per day. That makes 210 packets for the whole trip! Well don’t worry; we will have loots of chocolate, nuts and dried fruit as well! The famous Swedish cookie producer Göteborgs Kex has promised to help us out with the cookie problem. However, it’s not an easy task to decide which cookies you will take with us. Kim’s favourite is the plain old Guld Marie (produced since 1888!!!), Ulli would rather take the Brago Pepparkaka (ginger style) while Mats and Lucas likes the Safari Cookies best. But all in all it’s about the calories inside. The higher energy/weight ratio the better =)

Sponsorship by Shelby!

We are proud to present our first full sponsorship partner: Shelby. Shelby will provide us with nice 100% merino wool 1st layer long sleaves! For activities in a cold climate merino wool is the very best option to have close to your skin. Wool have an exceptional capacity to keep you warm for a long period with out the unpleasant smell that use develop after a few days in synthetic 1st layer clothing’s. You might think that wool would be too itchy to have as 1st layer. However, the nice thing about merino wool is that it doesn’t itch at all! Merino wool is also, according to Mats, the best material for boxers both in arctic conditions and in warmer conditions like Australian rainforests!
Shelby provides heavy gear fabrics for all outdoor activities and will soon also start providing clothing’s. Since Mats likes to make his own skiing jackets and trousers he ordered some fabrics for reinforcements on knees, shoulders and bum from Shelby (Action Cordura and Reflective Cordura®).

Frozen Five welcomes new team member

From earlier this week, the Frozen Five expedition has a new member. Ulli Neumann, our heroic tester of the tracer unit, will complete our team. The rest of the team is extremely delighted to have Ulli onboard, with the only concern expressed regarding the fact that our name no longer works. However, Ulli’s Arctic experience, great character and skills for almost any situation make him a perfect addition to our team that will greatly enhance the chances of success for us.

Ulli is a Master’s student of glaciology at the University of Svalbard (and the University of Oslo, though he spends very little time in Oslo, a place he describes as “the town which has more than one shop next to each other”), looking at the mass balance of Bogerbreen, a glacier about 10 km away from Longyearbyen. He has spent the best part of the last 3 years living, studying and working on Svalbard, visiting its most remote corners (including Nordaustlandet and Edgeoya) as part of his work with the University of Svalbard. He is often seen in the company of his four-legged friends that accompany him on various trips, summer or winter, across the Svalbardian wilderness.

Welcome to the Frozen Five Ulli!

Tracking a Svalbardian's Sailing Expedition

For two weeks at the start of September, it was a very exciting time to be part of the Frozen Five expedition. During this time, our good friend and supporter Ulli Neumann, together with his friend Tobias, sailed around Svalbard's largest fjord. Their journey was special in many respects, covering a distance of more than 200 nautical miles aboard the 14-foot dinghy "Alizée" throughout the Ice Fjord, locally known as Isfjorden.

During this trip, Ulli reported seeing on polar bear on his chosen lunch spot and thus had to keep hungry for a bit longer. Avoiding polar bears is the number one priority in the High Arctic. For the Frozen Five team this expedition was doubly interesting. Not only did Ulli and Tobias inspire us further by doing this trip, but they also agreed to test the tracer we have been provided by Guardian Mobility to monitor our progress next week.

Even though the Svalbard archipelago lies well past the usual coverage of the GlobalStar network, the tracer worked perfectly, as seen by the waypoints Ulli transmitted from their campsites. For us, this was a huge relief since many school projects that will follow our progress next year will be able to follow our progress in near-realtime.

As Ulli stays on Svalbard, studying the beautiful glacier Bogerbreen, he agreed to continue testing the unit on more of his fieldwork and private trips, to give us an idea of battery requirements in the cold Arctic climate. But right now, he deserves a good rest, after such an exciting expedition!

Thanks to Ulli for testing the unit, and to Guardian Mobility for allowing us to borrow it!

Kim

An update on our project: Frozen Five - Svalbard Scientific Skiing Expedition

For two months in 2007, an expedition of 5 young European adventurers will attempt to cross the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, located about 1000 km to the south of the North Pole. Kim, Hella, Lucas, Jirka and Mats, having already spent a year living in the heart of the Arctic as part of their studies, know what it takes to survive in the harsh climate of the high Arctic.

This expedition will start in March 2007 in Longyearbyen, one of only two sizeable settlements on this island of about 3000 inhabitants. First, we will begin skiing south across the ice-covered landscape, passing dangerous crevasses on the way to Sorkapp, the southernmost point of the island. At this stage, some 2-3 weeks into the trip, we will change direction and head north, along the polar bear-infested East Coast, to Verlegenhuken, an isolated promontory past 80°N. The final stage will be a race against the snowmelt, as we try to reach the abandoned mining town of Pyramiden and subsequently Longyearbyen. The distance covered will exceed 1000 km, with heavily loaded sledges and the Arctic weather slowing us down.

Apart from being a major sporting achievement, this expedition has both a human and a scientific side. The ability of people to exercise in such cold environments will be addressed through a medical collaboration with some of the world's leading researchers. Equipment testing for various companies will improve our knowledge of polar travel and the specialist equipment it entails. Various presentations are given by the multinational team members in their home towns to educate the public on the issues facing the Arctic. Even this remote wilderness is struggling to equilibrate to the changing climatic conditions of our world.

Hella, Kim, Lucas, Mats & Jirka

Expedition training on the Tasman glacier

Last weekend, Kim, Hella and geologist friend and expedition supporter Emilie went up and over the snowline to get into shape for the Svalbard Scientific Skiing Expedition. The goal was no less than the traverse of New Zealand's longest glacier, the mighty Tasman glacier. This enormous river of ice, up to 600 m thick in places, measures just under 30 km in length, extending past some of New Zealand's highest peaks, including the highest one of them all, Aoraki (Mt Cook). At 3754 m, it may not seem like a Himalayan-like mountain but it surely feels like it when you stand underneath it.

Over 4 days, we traversed some very varied terrain, from easy moraine-top walking, through moraine bashing to glacier skiing. One part, involving the ascent of a snow and ice-covered moraine towards De La Beche Hut, one of the National Park's cosy huts, involved the use of ropes and protective gear, a skill that will prove invaluable on Svalbard. While the nights were truly chilly, we managed to please the weather gods and enjoyed some of the most stable and amazing weather this winter. We spent very little time sleeping, since even the night moonlight was enough to do a little bit of backcountry skiing, in the glamour of the surrounding peaks.

One of the highlights of the trip surely has to be a night spent at Tasman Saddle Hut. Perched on the rim of a rocky precipice at about 2400 m, the hut has a truly amazing view. It doesn't pay to too much down, however, as the hut overlies a vast field of crevasses. Even getting the drinking water involved some belaying. Upon leaving this wonderful hut, we enjoyed some of the most amazing skiing conditions possible, with about 15 km of downhill. The gradient was gentle enough to enjoy the spectacular views, while steep enough to make the skiing fun. If only all training trips were so much fun!

Kim, Hella & Emilie