Så langt har det vært så godt som snøfritt, men i sin siste blogg forteller jentene om 40 cm med nysnø. Det gjør naturligvis sitt med framdriften, selv om pulkene blir til sammen 7 kilo lettere daglig .
De siste par ukene har jentene blant annet tilbragt noen dager sammen med David Tyler, som bor ved Sam Ford Fiord i to måneder. Han kunne skilte med både pizzabakeri og disko. I tillegg hadde de en topptur til 1890 meter høye Broad Peak. På veien videre kom de forbi verdens eneste inuittsirkus, så vi anbefaler å lese rapporten fra den svensk-norske ekspedisjonen på Baffin Island.
Her er hjemmesiden, og her er bloggene.
Record breaking babes 22nd of april
-Hello there girls! Try some of my homemade biscuits. And later on I'm gonna make you some pesto pizza. Are you up for some pizza?
-If we are up for pizza? I will give you one guess only!
We had been skiing for 10 hours in strong wind and had just come around a mountain when we see him. Mr David Turner in true person. This dark tall knight from the state of California is spending two months here in Sam Ford Fiord to climb some first acsents on the big rock walls. We met David shortly in Clyde River so we knew he would be somewhere in the area. We also knew that he was bringing his pizza oven!
The pizza tasted absolute fabulous, the company was supreme and the beauty of the surroundings beyond all my imagination. I had reached a state of mind where I believed that life for certain couldn't get any better. Then mr Turner does his next move. He turns on his ipod and out of the small speakers is coming danceable hip hop tunes. The evening sun shares its last red glow when our new friend once again brings out his magic oven. The next course on the menu is brownies, wicked good brownies!
We decide to hang out with this smiling dude for a couple of days.
Together we ski up the 1890 meter tall Broad Peak. We find a good way up the right hand side moraine, continue up the low angeled glacier and boot up the last 600 meter to the summit. Woooow! What a fantastic feeling to be standing on top of the highest mountain in this area! Glaciers, fiords, tall peaks and huge smooth rock faces fills the 360° view. This is for sure a true paradice for climbers, base jumpers and babes. Not only one but two two records are made in the same day; The Baffin Babes are the first babes ever to be standing on top of Broad Peak, and the smiles that were spreading on our faces as we were skiing back down in fluffy powder snow, are the biggest smiles ever to be seen.
-iiiiiiiiiiiiha!
Kkristin
Dihreea in the moraine jungle 26 april, 70.3833N,71.3707W
We left Sam Ford Fiord and Daves luxury base camp life thinking we were all well after a sweet day on Broad Peak and lots of jammy food. But once we got going both Inga and Vera start feeling ill, aching bodies and upset stomachs. Ever since we left Clyde River, 13 days ago, we been struggling with dihareea and vomiting, taking turns on who has been ill. And I tell ya, its not that fun having dihareea when the wind blows up lots of cold snow up your ass and its a limit of how much toilet paper you can use. So facing steep hauling up moraine ridges to enter Stewart Valley have been hard work.
Vera was sent out on a scouting mission, skiing before the rest of us without a sled, up the rocky ridges, trying to find a good way through the moraine jungle. While the rest of us are slowly moving forward. Inga having to stop now and then to get different liquids out of her body. All we can see are new moraine ridges covered with gravel stones, rocks and ice. In the steepest passages we have to unpack the sleds to take some wieght out. Pull one up, three persons on one sled, unpack it on the top and go down to get the rest. That means climbing the same small hill at least 8 times instead of 4. On the second run the sky suddenly opens, in a few minutes all the thick clouds are gone and we can see the steep mountain walls of Stewart Valley. Its like a treat, an energy boost to get us going up that moraine again and again. And some how I feel completely satisfied struggling up that small hill over and over again. Eventhough all hard work we just cover a distance of 1.5 km. We planed to get futher, and are a bit behind schedule. But Stewart Valley lays in front of us, it feels a bit hidden, like a secret valley. And its if you had to struggle and fight a bit before reaching it, to make sure you would appreciate its beauty and magic.
Emma
The call of spring 1st of may, 70.5753N,721050W
The mountains raises up from the narrow fiord, with sharp and clean walls shaped by the glaciers that now forces themselves down in every gully and couloir. They all have different carracters, some of them smooth and soft while others hangs down with deep crevesess and I can feel thier strong energy and powerfullnes.
When the sun touches the sharp ridges and the tall peaks the mist is slowly dancing away. And we are getting our wakeup call from a singing bird. Spring is here. The Arctic fox that is tripping across the fiord, calling for a soulmate in the early morning, has started to change its thick white winter coat to a brownish summer one. The ringseal is sunbading on the ice and as we ski layer after layer of our clothes is getting of.
Like a nomadic family we are moving. The daily rutines are working without any discussions and words, we got the flow. 10 hours of skiing passes, time is nothing here. My thoughts are flying ahead, sweeping back and taking round trips. My whole body knows why I love this.
Vera
And so came the snow 2009, 10th of may, 71.3727N,73.2917W
60 days of skiing has passed and we have hardly had any snowfall at all. Until now. The 40 cm thick snow carpet that suddenly one morning was rolled out on the fiord ice is slowing down our progress big time. Every step is a struggle and pulling the sleds are heavier than ever before, despite the fact that they are loosing a total weight of 7 kilograms every day.
We are skiing in a line and take turns in breaking the trail in this magnifique area. We pass huge icebergs that from far away look like sail ships on the frozen ocean. When we get closer they turn into beautiful sparkling diamonds. Daily we spot sunbathing seals, and every now and then we can enjoy the happy tunes from a singing bird. We cross a metre wide crack in the ice with ease, and hope that the cracks to come won't be much wider. It IS getting warmer here in the arctic, but still, bathing season lies a few weeks ahead.
There have been norwegians in this area before. We look into Tromso fiord and leave Styrmann island behind us. To the east of Bergersen island is Isbjorn strait and to the west is Maud harbour. To the north is just the endless ocean that takes your thoughts on endless journeys every time you look in that direction. We look there all the time. The frozen horizon is where we are going.
After an hours hard work it's time to take a break. We sit down on our sleds, drink a cup of hot blueberry soup and enjoy a piece of chocolate. Maybe two pieces. Or three. And then the fourth one. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, damn it! It's not yet eleven o'clock and my bag of chocolate is already empty.
-What about some self control, Kris, I hear Emma say. I couldn't agree more. We still have six more hours of hard work ahead before it's time to set up camp and prepare dinner.
-Tomorrow, I tell myself. Tomorrow I will reach my goal and have a piece of chocolate left for dessert. I will make it! And if for some funny reason I won't make it tomorrow, I'm sure I will make it some day!
Kristin
