Hallo

Here is a piece of news I wrote about a trip we made to the south, about a week or two ago.

We've been on a four-day field trip. Seven of us went to a mountain about 80 km from here to leave a depot of helicopter fuel. This fuel will be needed in the summer, in case of rescue operations. It is nothing more than ten drums of fuel left in the snow, marked with two poles.

We left here on Thursday (28 November) afternoon, and reached the Grunehogna base at about 23:00. This is an old summer base, previously used by the helicopter crews, but now disused. We found it almost buried in snow, and had to dig the doors open to get inside. We soon had the generator running, that gave us heat and light. After a midnight supper of sausage and noodles, we went to bed.

Friday morning at 11:00 we left Grunehogna and travelled to Nashornet.On the way we stopped to let the two mountaineers on the team inspect Istind. Istind is a beautiful mountain peak that has not been climbed yet.

At exactly 20:00 we reached the point where we had to make the depot. Unloading the drums was the work of a few minutes, and we camped not far away.

"Camping" is a misleading word, because we don't use tents. We travel in a Challenger, a Caterpillar tractor with rubber tracks that tows two sleds. On the first sled is the cargo, and fuel for the Challenger, and on the second sled is the caboose. The caboose is a thing like a big caravan, with a gas stove and beds inside. We also took a small electricity generator, so that we could have electric light and power for the computer for downloading pictures from the digital camera.

Saturday morning we went up the hill to look over the Jutulstraumen, the big glacier that runs directly from the polar plateau to the sea. Unfortunately it was overcast, so that we could not clearly see the huge crevassed areas that makes this glacier so spectacular.

We left Nashornkalvane at 13:45, and reached Grunehogna at 17:30. Again we had to dig open the doors, but the inside was still free of snow. After driving all day I was very tired, and after our meal of pork sausage and instant mashed potatoes I went to bed.

Sunday morning started with poor weather: thick clouds and a strong wind. Sleeping seemed the best way to start the day. By 10:00 the coulds had cleared away, and the wind had moderated. I went for a walk around the mountain, while a party of three went up the mountian.

By 14:00 we were on the road again. This part of the journey, between Vesleskarvet and Grunehogna, was the most bumpy of the lot, and slowed us down a lot. By 19:00 we were back at base for a hot supper and shower.

Regards

Niel