I am very grateful to the Young Explorer’s Trust for their generous support. Thank you for facilitating both myself and the wider group in completing this expedition.
Preparing for the Expedition
The expedition had been in the planning process for 2 years. Preparations began when I returned from my first Borealis Society expedition to Iceland in 2022. Since then I spent a large amount of time preparing for this expedition through both being involved in the planning process (which taught me a about the logistical side of expeditions) and by supporting the group as they got ready for the trip. I undertook my Summer Mountain Leader Training at Glenmore Lodge and also completed a 16 hour Outdoor First Aid Course. I regularly met with Nigel, our Chief Leader, to discuss the progress made and to benefit from his expertise. I accompanied the girls as they visited Sedbergh Archives and the Royal Geographic Society as well reading literature on previous Arctic expeditions and attending lectures about Arctic Flora and Inuit Culture. Having met the school nurse, I researched expedition hygiene and used my personal experiences to educate the girls on how they should prepare. My success in applying for grants made the trip a reality.
The Expedition
Changes to the Expedition Plans
One of the key learning points that I picked up throughout the expedition was the need to be adaptable, and to have viable back up plans.
A day before we were due to fly to Greenland, our Technical Leader dropped out due to medical reasons. This had a huge impact on the overall capability of the group and led to dramatic changes having to be made, devised by our Chief Leader. The biggest consequence of this development was that we could no longer trek across the ice. The planned route was now inaccessible and we would be unable to research arctic flora on nunataks. Our alternative plan involved two phases – the first on Ammassalik island and the second close to Tiniteqilaaq, including a day dedicated to arctic flora research.
Although at first it seemed a disappointment, I quickly realised that the new plan had some significant advantages, thus allowing me to gain experience. As the terrain was now equivalent to my Iceland experience, I could operate far more effectively and confidently as a new Mountain Leader. Furthermore, with one less leader, I had more responsibility available when I felt that I could cope with it. Retrospectively, I feel as though the ability of the group proved to be more suited to a plan where we had the opportunity to have a few ‘rest days’ in the settlement half way through.
On arrival to Greenland, further changes had to be made to the route due to polar bear sightings, weather and boat availability. These were adapted to quickly, and we realised this was merely part of the Greenlandic way of life.
My Role as a Mountain Leader
The expedition took me from being someone with the theoretical knowhow of mountain leading to someone who had real life invaluable experience. My skills and confidence developed noticeably over the trip. There were stark differences between the way I led the group the first time and the way I implemented my skills on the last day.
Navigation involved different techniques to those I would use in the UK. Our maps had a ratio of 1:100000 with contour lines of 25m intervals which significantly decreased their usefulness. Several stretches that had appeared to be plateaus were actually undulating glacier cut mazes filled with moraine and scree. Features such as re-entrants shown on the map were actually large valleys. The scale meant that if we used a compass it had to be followed accurately and couldn’t be used over small distances. These restrictions were all things I learnt to adapt to and by the end I could navigate a lot more confidently. Occasionally we followed sledging routes which meant that there were arrows or faint lines showing us the way. Most of the time these were unreliable and merely reassurance that we were on the right track. We noted that they were actually harder to follow when descending than ascending.
Being a leader also involved having the consistently assess the physical and mental state of the group. This involved giving first aid, and being able to provide advice about self-care in this unfamiliar environment. It also involved being able to read when the team were overwhelmed with the mileage, difficulty or length of the days and adapt to them accordingly. With such a long expedition, I realised that you cannot afford to let the group work at 100% of their ability at any point. I definitely ended up thinking about these things more regularly than I’d expected to, and learnt how important it was to success and safety.
Additionally, at any opportunity I was given, I enjoyed passing on knowledge to the group. This included letting them have a go at navigating. It also involved teaching them tricks and tips about camping, how to organise their rucksacks, how to look after their equipment etc.
Diary Extracts
Below is a selection of extracts from the journal I kept. They show my leadership development over the course of the trip.
‘Today was a crucial day of finding out abilities, strengths and confidences. Therefore designed to be fairly challenging. Some were slower than others climbing up and down the scree slopes. Some got upset and felt overwhelmed. I listened to how Nigel gave them advice and convinced them that they did not need to worry.’ – Day 3
‘I helped some of the group adjust their rucksacks and gave them advice on how to pack them, as they got used to the heavier weight.’ … ‘Due to a broken bridge, we had our first river crossing. Nigel found an appropriate place to cross. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me, but I understood his reasoning for it.’ – Day 4
‘One student, felt ill and was quite overwhelmed so I sat with her and encouraged her to continue. Due to this, we decided to make a base camp for the next 3 nights, and explore the area. This way we would only need day sacks which are considerably lighter. These allow us to go faster, further and do more adventurous routes.’ – Day 5
‘I led the group up to a steep ridge. It was uneven ground with hidden drops. I had to be constantly thinking about the best route that would match the ability of the group and go at a speed that would allow people to tread carefully and not cause undue stress.’ ‘I noted on the way back that going downhill was far harder and may have been a struggle if we had gone further (traversing a steep ridge).’ – Day 6
‘Still not fully used to the scale of the map but learning to use big features like re entrants to navigate. Did a small river crossing and a erwards reflected that I should have led the group closer to the coast.’ – Day 9
‘I joint navigated with Rosie along a simple stretch of coastline. We used this to practise identifying catching features like valleys and summits. We are definitely getting better.’ – Day 10
‘We were slightly apprehensive about the upcoming tricky bit of navigation, but it worked out perfectly as we carefully followed the way signs (faint blue spray paint). I kept the pace right down and as we had less stops, we covered the 7km in a comparably quick time. Once again the group are moving confidently on the tricky ground, and we definitely did not have to check up on them as much.’ – Day 11
‘Some of the group continued to the top of the ridge, whereas I led the remaining back the tents. It was a valuable experience of leading the group solo. When we came across some less desirable ground, I found a good path which the group were able to confidently scale down the scree.’ – Day 16
‘Exploring my options, I found a small down scramble that would allows us to drop 3-4 metres onto the path. I got confirmation from Nigel that it was OK for the group to go down. I’m not entirely sure that I would have been able to make the judgement on my own yet.’ … ‘All in all, a successful day where I’d had a lot of responsibility leading and had learnt a lot about managing a tired group, whilst being fairly exhausted myself.’ – Day 17
‘It was an easier day walking, although we came across some braided streams. I correctly identified the best path across, something I wouldn’t have been able to do so confidently two weeks ago.’ – Day 18
‘A decision was made that we would make progress towards Tiniteqilaaq instead of having an easy day. I agreed it was sensible to get the large backpack out of the way. I felt more confident route finding. Using the map and faint traces of path we made our way around the summit, contouring until we found some small lakes.’ … ‘I was particularly proud of my pacing today, and how we regulated stops/breaks/lunch on a regular basis.’ – Day 19
Living in the Arctic
I have now spent 48 days in Arctic/sub- Arctic areas when you combine this expedition with Iceland in 2022. I know I will be returning. I love the simplicity of living out of a tent, eating practically the same thing every day, having the same morning routine, spending evening chatting in the tent or playing cards or listening to music sitting on a rock. The days are filled with over 6 hours of trekking over complicated landscape, observing the flora and fauna and surrounding geology.
We were fairly unlucky with the weather in Greenland. We had several days of cold, misty weather. This had a impact on the morale of some members of the group. But when the sun returned again and evenings could be spent sat outside the tent, enjoying the 24 hr daylight, the high spirits returned. The UV was intense enough that we need to cover ourselves in factor 50 every morning, yet the air temperature was often around 2 degrees centigrade.
Due to the threat of Polar Bears in the area, we carried a shotgun when we were outside of the settlements. We also carried out night watches. These were 2hr shifts with one leader and one student on each. At first I shared my shift with Rosie, the other Assistant Leader, but as we gained confidence we began to lead our own shifts.
When were away from the settlements, it felt like true wilderness extremely quickly. We rarely saw anyone. In an emergency we would have had to contact a helicopter as a rescue plan making safety even more of a priority. We carried a satellite phone and Garmin InReach satellite communicator for emergency communication and to give weekly updates to parents.
My Personal Highlights
There were many highlights of the expedition. On the first day, the short boat journey from Kulusuk Island to Tasiilaq was extended, as the first whales of the summer greeted us. The three boat drivers weaved in and out of the ice talentedly. The whales were so close that at one point, we were startled by one of them surfacing.
Seeing the mainland ice cap was spectacular. It was hard to comprehend the scale of it. The glaciers that we passed by were also amazing to study.
One of my favourite species of birds in Iceland were the Great Northern Divers, so I was delighted to see them again. I packed up my tent quickly one morning, so I had time to watch them swimming and diving on the lake.
An evening from the Tasiilaq campsite was particularly beautiful. I wrote ‘Watching the sun go down behind the snow covered peaks. The sky turning orange, sending shimmers of light across the icebergs. Occasionally, a boat adds a moment of chaos followed by gentle lapping waves on the ice clad shore. An Arctic tern swoops down and glides across the water before heading out to sea. A peaceful end to a hectic day.’
The following day was also special. As the boat was delayed, we had the opportunity to summit a peak next to Tasiilaq. The clear sky gave us views everywhere we had visited on phrase 1. It was satisfying to see how far we had backpacked.
On one 6-8am polar bear watch shift, a particularly nosy Arctic Fox visited us several times throughout the two hours. It made circles of our tents, investigating. Despite us ‘fox proofing’ our tents, it managed to get hold of a bag of rubbish leading to us having to convince it to drop it. That campsite was one of my favourites. We had a convenient stream at the backdoor of our tent and a larger stream a few metres away that had a waterfall before flowing into the lake. Rosie and I, showered in the waterfall and then relaxed in the sun.
At a high level campsite, close to Tiniteqilaaq, I was on the 10pm to Midnight shift of polar bear watch. However I stayed up until 2am watching the sun go down behind the misty ice fjord. Pink sky spread throughout the glacier and mountains. Behind us a full moon rose across the sky. It was hard to take it all in, and certainly could not be fully appreciated in any photos or videos we took. It was very relaxing to sit and walk around the perimeter of the campsite and a hard decision to go to bed at 2am!
On one of our last nights in Tasiilaq, a whale was swimming around the bay. Seeing a whale from a tent isn’t something I ever expected to experience. It breached above the water and we fell asleep listening to it surface and dive below the water.
Greenlandic Society (Past and Present)
Tasiilaq is an array of brightly coloured wooden homes. The bright reds, blue, greens and yellows help brighten up the town during the long dark winters. There is no real concept of land ownership or boundaries. The buildings have deep foundations to protect them from the Piteraq winds in winter. These are strong katabatic winds off the mainland ice cap that translates to ‘that which attacks you’ and can reach 200kph. After a particularly strong storm in 1970, a warning beacon was created at the centre of the town to indicate a storm on the horizon.
With a population of about 2000, it has two supermarkets, a post office, football pitch, a four star hotel, campsite, gift shop, museum, laundrette, hospital, church, fast food restaurant, community hall, and further facilities for the locals. It is accessible by boat and helicopter. Children play outside, even by the side of the rubbish dump on the end of the town. The settlements of Tiniteqilaaq and Kulusuk were smaller, but similar in many ways.
The supermarkets are well stocked. We saw the Royal Arctic container ship come into the port several times while we were there. They sold many global brands as well as Danish, Icelandic and European foods. Fresh fruit and vegetables were of low quality but available everywhere. They sold fresh bread and hot coffee as well as clothes, guns, ammunition and tools. Larger household items like furniture have to be ordered and shipped in.
The coverage and quality of the phone signal felt very strange. It was better on the outskirts of Tasiilaq than you’d find in similar towns of the same size in the UK. There are a network of steep roads throughout the town. Many locals have rundown cars and there is a taxi service. Police cars and ambulances could also be seen speeding through the town.
The locals are very friendly towards tourists. I had expected a level of hostility due to the drastic impacts rising tourism had had, but it seems they are all grateful for the increased income. Many spoken fluent or broken English, and sometimes Danish or Icelandic.
There is an expedition centre in Tasiilaq called The Red House which owned the campsite and provided the gun and the boat journeys for us. We used this base as a place to collect local knowledge including weather and polar bear movements.
At the end of our stay in Greenland, we went for lunch in the hotel. It was a buffet with salmon, prawns, white fish, herrings in curry sauce paired with rye bread, pickles, coleslaw and a multitude of other sauces. Also fresh apples!
We had the chance to visit the museum in Tasiilaq where we learnt about the history of civilisation in the Angmagssalik District. Around 2000 years ago there would have been Eskimos communities that died out due to the harsh climate. It was then uninhabited until ‘The Thule people’ arrived between the 14th or 15th century. We had seen evidence of Eskimo ruins on the maps we had been using. Although in the 18th Century there were Danish colonies on the West Coast, due to the ice, the East coast remained isolated. In 1884, Gustav Holm reach Angmagssalik and noted a population of 413. However this had diminished to 294, when a new Danish expedition reached the area in 1892. The mortality rate fell though, when the Danish established a colony on King Oscar’s Harbour.
The museum contained a fascinating collection of photographs taken when the people of Tasiilaq were first visited in 1884. Surprisingly the structure of the wooden homes hasn’t changed a great deal in the last 100 years or so. However the communities in Tasiilaq have developed a lot since the photos were taken. From stone age hunters who would perish if they didn’t catch enough food to having a GDP of £43,305.35 per capita.
In the museum there was a skin boat and the harpoon with its shaft and bladder. The men made the wooden frameworks from Siberian drift wood, while the women sewed the boat coverings from seal skins. The Greenlandic Inuit were forced to develop these boats to perfection, as their survival depended on it.
The development of healthcare was shown by the equipment of the first midwife, Sofie Jørgensen, who was the only health worker on Ammassalik Island until 1933.
The Danes brought Christianity to Greenland, but evidence of the their old beliefs can be seen. The Thule Inuit religion believed in a range of powers and spirits. The angakok of the community could communicate with the spirits. There was an evil being called a Tupilak that people could make out of dead bodies of animals, and could be sent to carry out acts of revenge.
We were able to visit a replica of a winter house. Several families would take refuge in these cramped structures in winter. They would burn fat to provide light and heat. The walls were seal skin lined for insulation and the windows had gut-skin panes. The women would sew clothes for the next summer.
Arctic Flora
The local flora has adapted to be able to survive in low temperature, under snow, and in high winds. Therefore they are all low growing and ground hugging out of the wind and where temperatures are warmer. Asexual reproduction is common. Wavy/hairy leaves to prevent loss of moisture and heat. They flower quickly in the limited summer months when there is 24hr daylight. They grow in clumps to protect from low temperatures and high winds.
We spent a day documenting the arctic flora over a small area (37° 46’ 65° 39’), using textbooks that we had brought and Nigel’s expertise. In just a 50m² stretch, we documented the following species:
Geological, Glaciological and Geographical Observations
I found the landscape staggering on a level I had not experienced before. It was harsh, and unforgiving as we climbed over rock fields, moraine and ice cut cliffs. Powerful glaciers sat above u-shaped valleys and fluvioglacial streams. It truly brought any glaciology I had studied in school to life. The braided streams at bases of glaciers were a challenge to get the group across, due to their force and cold temperatures. By reading the landscape and understanding how the water differs throughout the day, we found the best ways to cross them.
East Greenland has basement rocks as old as 3.6 billion years, situated to the west of the mid Atlantic ridge. When we saw the mainland icecap, we began to perceive how Greenland is 81% is covered in ice and holds 6.7% of all freshwater on the planet. Interestingly, if it were to melt sea levels would rise by 7m and would do so at a quicker rate to Antarctica because of its smaller size.
Greenlandic Fauna
I found there was a small variety of fauna, especially in comparison to North-West Iceland. We were lucky enough to see Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) on all of our boat journeys, as well as from our campsite. We watched them propel themselves out the water, and fell asleep listening to them swim around Tasiilaq.
On night watch, we were often visited by Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus). We were surprised by how tame they were, coming right up to our tents in an attempt to steal our rations. The foxes were also fairly dissimilar to those I had seen in Iceland, the limited access to food making them smaller and scruffier.
In terms of birds, we saw Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis), Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), Great Northern Divers (Gavia immer), gulls, footprints of Pink Footed Geese (Anser brachyrhynchus), Ravens (Corvus corax).
We noted a singular species of butterfly (Boloria chariclea)—an insect that is struggling to adapt to rising Arctic temperatures. As well as moths and wasps.
When we visited the settlements, we saw many husky dogs and their puppies chained up on the outskirts.
Post Expedition
On return from the expedition, it took a while to adjust back to normal life. I spent a large amount of time compiling my photos, looking through the notes and the journal I had made. Then I moved onto writing my reports and planning lectures. I have been asked to speak about our learning journey at The Arctic Club Dinner in December 2024 (I have applied to become an Aspirant member of The Arctic Club) and will also talk about the expedition at The Mount School.
It is amazing to reflect on the last two years, how much work I’ve put in and how much I have learnt. I have a new sense of confidence and ambition in regards to being a mountain leader. We have just started work on another project involving a second expedition to Greenland in 2026. One that is really exciting and builds on this 2024 trip, further enhancing my development as an Expedition Leader, especially one specialising in Arctic environments.
