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Hi de hi campers - Sat 29th April

You will no doubt be pleased to hear that everyone has survived their night out under either canvas or snow depending on where they slept. Two options were on offer; two large four person tents or a superbly crafted 4 person snowhole. We didn’t leave until 10.30pm but since it never gets dark that wasn’t really a problem although it is amazing how much kit we needed - four sledges were required to be hauled out to the gorge which is about 2 miles away. (See photo)

On arrival we decided it would be best to get to sleep rather than try cooking anything. It would be unlikely that anyone would be getting hungry since the students had fish and chips for lunch, followed by Caribou steak an hour later, steak a couple of hours later and then a lucky few twisted Randy the cook’s arm to hand out some more biscuits. (See photo)

We also organized a Polar Bear Watch and so each student had to do an hour on watch at the entrance to the snowhole so that in the event of an emergency Ady could be woken up to deal with any bears. I decided that in the event of an emergency I could be contacted at the bottom of my sleeping bag. The system worked well for most of the night apart from for James who was supposed to hand on to Matt – unfortunately Matt had difficulty getting up and so promptly went back to sleep leaving James on duty for two hours – he was not best pleased!!! The only upside of this was that James saw the sun set and then rise again during that two hour period.

In the morning chief cooks Kizzie and James ably assisted by Matt and Lucy made breakfast. This went down really well for most of them although I’m not sure Lucy was too keen (See photos) I’m not really sure what was in it – I think it was some sort of cheese and pasta thing?

Our trek home continued without incident although some of the sledges were now really heavy because the tents had been roped onto them as well. To the credit of everybody involved we all made it back safely and at a good pace. We even saw a tiny break of blue in the grey sky which has been constantly with us for the past five days.

We have spent the afternoon recovering and drying out all the tents and sleeping bags as well as doing some video interviews of local people for our citizen project. (see the website for more details and perhaps fill out a questionnaire for yourself).

All the students did fantastically well for their first night out under the stars in the High Arctic and worked together really well as a team. Congratulations to them all!!

Everyone here is now feeling the pace and looking very tired (I certainly am) but we are determined to make the most of our last two days.

Andrew

PS
In return for helping move a couple of beds around the hotel we managed to get a flight for half the group out to Devon Island to see a camp which a Spanish team have prepared for some top Spanish Executives so that they can go Polar Bear spotting. We held a draw to see who would go tonight with the other half of the team going tomorrow morning. The lucky four on the first flight were Kizzie, Harry, Sarah and James. There were spectacular views of the cliffs as we came in to land and they had set up a fantastic dining room directly on top of the sea ice which gave it a fantastic aquamarine hue. (See photo). We flew on a 15 seat twin otter plane and landed on skids which in itself was a great experience.

Previous Logs

Camping Under the Stars - Fri 28th April No student diaries tonight I’m afraid – we are taking all the students out for a night under the stars instead. Unfortunately our proficiency at building igloos has not improved enough to build an igloo good enough to sleep in and so we will be sleeping in two tents and a snowhole. One tent will be for the girls and one for the boys – we had thought about sharing but the girls are not surprisingly a bit worried about using a pee bottle in public
More Antics from Resolute Bay - Thurs 27th April Unfortunately tonight’s log may be a little shorter than you are used to. This is partly because we are all absolutely shattered after all the exercise, late nights and early mornings but mainly because our very hard working network manager, Sarah Rogers has a blind date. We wish her all the best and hope it goes well. Seriously though, Sarah has had the massive job of uploading all the material and photos to the website as well as keeping me calm when we have had difficulties getting the pictures and messages through. She has worked hard every evening and the team really appreciates her efforts. The postcard is in the post!
Ski Mountaineers Are Us!!! - Weds 26th April Unfortunately the weather got the better of our plans today. The North Pole was not to be as the flat light gave limited visibility for our plane to land. So being full of beans and some strange red juice that I refer to as loopy juice that by the way has become Andrews latest addiction, we needed something exciting to do.
High Praise for Students - Tues 25th April There is praise and high praise and today Geoff who is an Inuit Ranger and a very quiet, unassuming but highly skillful young man said that our students were really tough on our trip out to Griffith Island. They had made full use of their short time there even though the wind was very strong and blowing a lot of snow around but despite it being very cold and uncomfortable on the sledges no students complained about the conditions.
Komatic riding across the Arctic Ocean - Mon 24th April After another hearty breakfast (everyone is well into fried breakfasts now) the day started really well with a trip to the school to see some lessons and have the opportunity to meet students from Resolute Bay. We visited a range of classes from Kindergarten through to senior school and spent recess there with Matt showing off his piano skills and Harry teaching them guitar.
What a fantastic welcome! - Sun 23rd April It’s a chilly morning with poor visibility but that isn’t going to interfere with our morning cross country ski. Everyone’s flying now, either gliding elegantly across the snow (Harry and Kizzie) or flying face or bum first (Lucy, James, Andrew - Davis that is! and even Ady) or flying through the air Liane!! (See photos)
First Day fun in Resolute - Sat 22nd April After our late arrival in Resolute last night we made the decision to make the most of every single moment up here in the High Arctic. Therefore it was an early rise at 7am for breakfast which consisted of a hearty fry up to provide plenty of calories for the days full program of activities. The wind was whistling past the window which was a sure sign that it would feel pretty cold - indeed our measurements of wind speed and still air temperatures showed it to be -32C.
Arrival in Resolute Fri 21st April Have made it to Resolute Bay after a bit of a horror 6 hour flight on a small plane that felt like it was never going to end - it even stopped for fuel on the way!!! Very tired and weary!
Out & About in Ottawa! Thurs 20th April Have safely arrived in Ottawa and are now settled into Adam's Airport Inn all ready for the flight North tomorrow. Temperature in Ottawa is an abnormally high +23C So the students went out in shirt sleeves tonight for tea - some even had shorts and flip flops on.They will experience a huge temperature change tomorrow as in Resolute it is currently -22C.  No more flipflops I suspect!

Thanks!

Now would seem like an appropriate time to thanks all those that have supported this expedition. Even though only 8 students are going to the North Pole, 10 students have made up the team and the two reserves have played their part in supporting the team with both dignity and enthusiasm – thanks to Katrina and Alistair we will be thinking of you when we get to the Pole. Thanks to the students and teachers at Exmouth Community College for taking part in fundraising events that has helped us achieve more than £26 000 towards the expedition. In particular, to Paul Jeffery who has been a massive help and to Pete, Sue, Angela and Paul who served on the PQ Management Group. Sarah Rogers and her ICT team have also been invaluable in helping to build the PQ website and advice and training on the laptops and cameras we have brought with us, as well as keeping the Ice Log up to date. Thanks also to The Pain trust and Adventure Trust for Girls for their financial assistance which has been crucial. Exmouth Town Council have also been very generous along with, ROK Construction, Faber Maunsell, Citizen Project, Ashfords, Fulfords and Bradleys Estate Agents and the Rotary Clubs of Exmouth who have all made donations which are allowing the students this once in a lifetime experience. Our sincere thanks goes to all those individuals and organisations who got involved.

Once we reach Resolute Bay we will be sending daily e-mails to report on the activities that we have been getting involved in so please keep logging on to this space to find out what we are doing. If you want to get in touch with us please e-mail the team - polar.watch