Author: Test Your Limits

Skied 33 km for a net of 31.5km. Altitude 6050 ft. 12 inches of snow overnight. Thigh deep when not on skis, 6-12 inches deep on skis. Tough lead work breaking trail (Eric and Tay). Thanks for that!!

Weather was the same to start, like skiing through a giant marshmallow miasma (yes I wrote that). In fact only Benjamin Moore has more shades of white than Greenland. We saw them all today. The irony was not lost on me when the Beach Boys came up on my iPod random shuffle. Little deuce coupe, really??

In any case the weather cleared around noon and we had a few hours of sun. Then it closed off again as we finished our 6th push of skiing.

Camp is set. Everyone pretty shattered. Same again tomorrow.

MapShare: https://share.garmin.com/HeatherRoss2

27.5 km skied, 26 km closer to destination (see below), 6664 ft elevation. -10 and windchill.

We had huge snow drifts, big headwind blowing snow, and snow fall = snow cubed. The only tether to planet earth, allowing us to separate up from down, was gravity (thanks Sir Isaac). A complete whitewashed pallet with our jackets providing the only slashes of color.

If I had been leading we would have wandered around in circles (always hard for me to relinquish control…). The guides used a chest mount compass to try to keep direction on target, hence the 1.5 km difference between total skied and our goal. Remarkable really as I had no idea where we were going the entire day. Unfortunately same weather expected tomorrow.

MapShare: https://share.garmin.com/HeatherRoss2

We did 37 km today. Glorious start to the day and a miserable finish weather wise. Altitude 7054. Everyone’s working hard to make up our mileage, given our early delays. Tough strong work.

Taylor, guide, 23, incredibly accomplished, comes from a formidable pedigree, his dad Rick founded Polar Explorers. He’s a machine on skis and also plays a mean game of hearts. He plans to do an 80d canoe trip in the NWT!!

Eric, lead guide and my tentmate, 30, comes from Illinois, and rose through the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America. He’s 6’8” which means I have to ski twice as much to keep up, bugger. He has been remarkably innovative and agile on this trip, calculating food and fuel, distance, and plans b, c, d when plan a hasn’t worked. They are a dynamic duo to be sure.

John, our Kiwi, is a retired ranch owner, 67. He has accomplished an amazing amount, including 7 summits, with Everest in ‘93. He’s a numbers man, a walking calculator.

Ian, 54, is a consultant from UK, whisky connoisseur, also a seven summit, North and South Pole kinda guy. The crazy bit is he’s already done Greenland and came back to do it a second time?!? Incredible dry wit. He was with us at the South Pole and has TYL status!

Dale is doing what he does best. Getting the job done. 19 years post heart transplant and my testyourlimits partner in crime!

MapShare: https://share.garmin.com/HeatherRoss2

I kid you not. S’truth, honest…..well ok I get that it’s impossible but it sure looks and feels that way!

We did just under 38 km. 7678 feet elevation. -10 Celsius. Everything- snow, whiteout, sun, headwind. But a brilliant result.

Camp life is a 615 am start. Granola for brekkie. Melting snow for the day’s fluid. Out of tent at 8 am. Take it down, pack the sleds and start skiing around 830 am.

Once we’re done we do it in reverse. Put up the tent, hot drink, boil lots of water for drinking and food, eat dinner and crawl into your bag and crash. But this is a 5-star tent resort and I get 2, count em, 2 hot water bottles for my sleeping bag every night.

A ‘throne’ and its surrounding wall is dug out each evening, not so much for privacy (we got past that around day 3), but to provide a wind barrier. No one wishes to frostbite their nether-regions!!

Really cold day expected tomorrow. About -25.

MapShare: https://share.garmin.com/HeatherRoss2

We did approx 32 km, up and over 8200 feet – the top of the glacier – and down a bit on the other side to 8050 feet. The conditions were appalling – snow, poor visibility, headwind. Pretty much the worst ever. Taylor was a machine and led every push at pace. Gruelling.

And then an ephemeral moment. The celts call it ‘a thin place’, when the space between heaven and earth narrows so much that it becomes translucent, transparent, ‘thin’. I’ve had rare moments like this in my life.

Today the sky cleared, the sun broke through upon us. I was ‘waterskiing’ on my skis behind the dog sled with Dale beside me. We were cooking! The other sled with their 15 dogs came alongside.  In that snapshot of time, that pure moment, I was completely overwhelmed. What a ride!

The dogs are each on an independent line which is different than back home. They do it for dog safety. They frequently cross ice with a real risk of breaking through.

Don’t forget to visit our MapShare page if you’d like to connect with team. We’d love to hear from you!

Link: https://share.garmin.com/HeatherRoss2

Left camp a bit ahead of schedule and pushed down the gut of a steady 40 kph headwind with higher gusts. Greenland looked like my worst 70’s disco dry ice nightmare extravaganza memory, with blowing snow to knee and mid thigh, giving the appearance of ‘constant ground in motion’.

We did 3 pushes and then called it. 17.1 km, 8005 feet elevation (when is the ** damn top???). Hard to describe temperature. Likely -15 and with windchill?-40??

Set camp, all hands on deck, one tent at a time, given wind, and now safely tucked in. All fingers and toes accounted for.

Dogs are seemingly impervious! Julius and Salo stayed within visual contact throughout the day, though as I got tired they began to look more and more like a mirage.

About 29 km, altitude 7874 ft. Started in the clouds for the first 1.5 hrs, then it cleared up. Wind picked up over our left shoulder- kind of a crosswind.

As per Nansen who was the first European to cross Greenland in 1888, we of course have had no chance to wash up on this trip.

His excuses, which I wholly support, were:

1. They only boiled a small amount of water each day to conserve fuel.
2. Thirst was overwhelming. So they decided to drink the little water they made rather than using it to wash.
3. The option of washing first and hen drinking that water was unappealing.
4. Washing at -30 ~<>>#%^^*!!!!  ain’t a treat.
5. Sun exposure while washing, not minor, the sun is merciless.
6. Time. Not a lot of extra time to spend on frivolous pleasures.

So instead we celebrate clean undies.

Audio dispatch from Heather: https://soundcloud.com/user-590095375/voicemail-881621458695-20180518

Audio dispatch from Dale: https://soundcloud.com/user-590095375/voicemail-881621458695-20180519

Wow! -10, light crosswind, not a cloud in sight. We did 30.2 km to an altitude of 7530 ft. Tough work but strong team. Tomorrow we may crest the glacier, weather permitting. Michelin 2 star bacon and cheese quesadilla a la Eric, followed by spicey Italian sausage pasta! (In a bag).

Feet are doing well. Using the guides system. Sock, then plastic bag, then boot. That way no moisture gets into the boot, and your boot isn’t frozen the next day. Nasty on the feet to spend the day in a plastic bag, but hey?

Took a while to dig out of camp. On trail 930. Skied 29 km, at 7250 elevation, into a cross/head wind gusting to 25-30 kph. I remain as alway so amazed at Dale, so incredibly strong #myhero. Almost 20 years post heart transplant!!

Made camp beside the dogs and listened to their braying as they got fed. Spectacular beasts led by Salo, a legend in Greenland; and Julius. Cooking up spaghetti in a bag that won’t expire till 2047. Yum! Shout out to Outdoor Research for making exceptional gear!!