Rest day 😀 0km 0hrs… as planned due to bad weather all day. Litlos has a new winter cabin since my last visit… lots of map checking, planning, stretching, eating and sleeping. Joker made it somewhat less restful by suffering cabin fever… the intense moonlight after the storm encouraged some less than sleep inducing howling […]
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 15 Read More »
Hellevassbu to Litlos, 18km, 4 1/2hrs. Today was not a day for sleeping. Joker woke me by licking my face at 6am. Nice. Still dark for another two hours… I guess it’s time to get up. We started from #hellevassbuin the dark… and what a #sunrise! Joker had energy to spare and pulled most of
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 14 Read More »
Haukelister to Hellevassbu, 22km, 6hrs. First day skiing with Joker! Bjørg Selvåg kindly met me at Haukeliseter fjellstue after an epic drive to share a day in the mountains and give me guidance on how to look after Joker on this next stage. Joker is her greenlandic husky and as she told me in December…
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 13 Read More »
Holmavasshytta to Haukeliseter Fjellstue. 20km, 5hrs. Wow… what a day… left two couples holed up at Holmavasshytta after the bad weather with a late start because I didn’t think the weather would be good enough to go… but the wind dropped through the night, and visibility actually improved! The strong winds had compacted the snow
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 12 Read More »
Bleskestadmoen to Holmavasshytta. 18km, 7hrs. Left the cabin in the woods with high hopes of better weather… sadly not to be 😂 the wind picked strongly about midday and decided not to try to link two days… good call! It was enough just getting to Holmavasshytta!
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 11 Read More »
Krossvatn to Bleskestadmoen 25km, 7 1/2hrs. Started in stronger wind and less visibility but a good, long day across a lot of lakes and a big descent before the final climb and this video… Today I fell over a lot.
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 10 Read More »
Vassdalstjørn to Krossvatn, 10km 3hrs… and a leisurely afternoon at an amazing hut. ❤️ Started with wind and poor visibility, lots of defensive skiing and careful navigation. Picked up old sled tracks and the visibility turned magical!
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 9 Read More »
Storevatn to Vassdalstjørn 40km, 11 1/2hrs. Good forecast, no snow, light winds, but flat light. Make hay whilst the sun shines… and GO! 😀 Long day out alone in the winter hills… decided to try to get past Blasjø reservoir. This vast dammed lake provides 17% of Norwegian power (so I’m told). Last light as
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 8 Read More »
The Ice Maiden Expedition has become the first all-female team to cross the Antarctica continent from coast-to-coast using muscle power alone. The Ulysses Trust is proud to have been a major sponsor for such a challenging and ambitious expedition. After spending 62 days on the ice, the six soldiers crossed the finish line at the Hercules Inlet
Wow, what a trip! I am sitting in the airport at San Francisco, waiting for the flight home, reflecting on the last two weeks. It is hard to know where to start. I could run through the ‘stats’ (everyone climbing between 50 & 60 pitches or 2500 to 3000m of rock over the course of
Dragon Venturer Cadet Rock Yosemite 2017 Read More »
In August 2017 twelve Officer Cadets (OCdts), two instructors and a member of support staff from Oxford University Officer Training Corps (OUOTC) flew to Alberta, Canada for a twelve day open canoeing adventurous training package. The main aim of the expedition was to challenge OCdts, most of which have never open canoed before, by tackling
Blue Poseidon 2017 Read More »
In the corner of a quiet Essex pub, ‘three nods’ around the table meant we’d just agreed to run Essex Wing’s first ever overseas paddling expedition. A fantastic journey down the Ardèche River had begun … In the months that followed, routes were chosen, letters of intent sent and a staff team built. The nominations
The summer of 2017 saw Royal Air Force Air Cadets from the Bristol and Gloucestershire Wing take on the Canadian Rockies. The self-supported cadet expedition which was the result of two years of planning, fund raising and training was, led by Adult Sgt Edward Smart. It saw 19 cadets & staff from 9 different squadrons fly
Mountain Storm 2017 Read More »
The Upper Valais region in Switzerland, with routes up to 3,000 meters altitude and surrounding the magnificent Groesser Aletsch Glacier, was selected for a summer mountaineering expedition, exercise ALPINE BULL, which took place between 24th and 30th July 2017. Twelve personnel with a mixture of background, qualifications, and experience from 11 Infantry Brigade and headquarters
Tiger Alpine Bull 2017 Read More »
The aim of the expedition was to introduce Officer Cadets to Alpine mountaineering, including teaching them crevasse rescue techniques and skills for moving on a glacier using ice axe and crampons, and to give them experience of summiting an Alpine peak. There were 11 military participants and one civilian International Federation of Mountain Guides Association
Gaukhei to Håheller. 22km 5hrs. Started in the fog, tricky navigation, mostly white, linking lots of frozen lakes. Saw ptarmigan and a fox… then into my cosy cabin for the night
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 7 Read More »
Bortelid to Gaukhei, 22km 5 1/2hrs. First 5km on empty tracks then… into the wild. Strange sand castle trees and lots of white! Making @4k/hr A little nervous, snow showers, light winds, visibility could be better! “Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life”
25th Anniversary Appeal Expedition: Day 5 Read More »
Introduction On the 16th June 17, myself and a team of mountaineers left Northern Ireland heading to Chamonix, France for what would be one of the most memorial experiences of my life. Flying into Lyon it was late evening when we arrived in Chamonix. Despite the long journey, seeing the mansion that our exercise planner
Shamrock Glacier 2017 Read More »
