10 August 09

The most significant part of this latest missive is, as it should be, the writings of the YEs – in this case Qaqqaq (Geology) Fire. It captures the sense of fun and adventure but don’t be mislead into thinking that this is merely some outdoor camping experience that revolves around snowball fights and singsongs – important as these activities are, they are only a part of the total experience. Qaqqaq have also highlighted the teaching and learning of skills that allow safe participation in exploring glaciers and mountains. What perhaps is less obvious from their writings is how they have been living and reflecting on the BSES virtues. Of course we all hope that some of them will return to glaciers and mountains in the future (and no harm is they don’t) but it is the virtues that we hope they will all keep reflecting on and thinking about as they develop the sense of direction and purpose for their lives.

(If you are left wondering what these virtues are then there are more details on the BSES website but briefly there are nine; curiosity, courage, exploration, experimentation, imagination, discipline, inspiration, sociability and thoughtfulness. They are complimented by nine skills. Equally applicable are the Army’s six core values; courage, discipline, respect, integrity, loyalty and selfless commitment. These values are applicable to all but especially the element of junior soldiers from the Army foundation college at Harrogate.)


Over the last ten days the Qaqqaq fire have bee enjoying the adventure phase of the expedition. The first couple of days consisted of getting equipment and stores to the very scenic mountain base camp which is situated near the base of a waterfall where three glacier valleys meet. The group were also very pleased to welcome Ben to the Fjord having recovered from illness in the UK.

To entertain ourselves during the walk to mountain base camp the ‘Qaqqaq Choir’ performed some (pretty bad) renditions of Queen and Abba.

The following days consisted of glacier and mountaineering training including lessons on ice axe arrest, rope work (tying into the rope system and travelling on the rope), training to walk with crampons and practicing crevasse rescues. The group grasped the new skills quickly and it was soon time to decide on where our adventurous expedition would take place. We decided to spend one of our expedition days exploring a valley which had not yet been explored by anyone from BSES. We managed to find two picturesque glacial lakes (one of which wasn’t on the map) with beautifully deep blue water and mountainous surroundings. At the back of the valley the group found an ideal snow slope for a YE vs. Leaders snow ball fight! Great fun and the only thing damaged were a few of the leaders egos! (I must interject and raise an important fact; at one point the YE’s raised the white flag in surrender but then raised a counter attack to free the three captured YE’s……written by an impartial observer). For the remaining three days of the adventure expedition the group decided to travel up the side of the waterfall to one of the three glaciers that feed into the river at mountain base camp. Some of the group tried to ‘eat’ small pieces of the glacier, Lee stated “that is the freshest water you could drink” to which he got the reply “Yeah and its probably a few thousand years old” from Andy Rockall our mountaineering leader.

After the first day on the glacier we found a small ledge just large enough to fit six tents on the rock face about 50m above the glacier. The views up and down the valley were spectacular.

From our new campsite the group decided to climb the two nearest peaks with heights of 1233m and 1240m. We Had great fun getting to the peaks and when we got there the views were the most spectacular of the whole expedition. From the first peak (1240m) which was the furthest from the Tassermiut fjord, we were able to see the vast stretches of glaciers and mountains which continued hundreds of miles north on to the polar plateau that makes up the remainder of Greenland. From the second peak which was closer to Tassermiut fjord we were able to see across the fjord to the expedition base camp and along the fjord to where it meets the snout of other glaciers. A few of the more daring of the group enjoyed peeking out over the edge of a ledge sticking out from the summit which was 1000m vertically above the glacier.

After taking hundreds of photographs we returned to our camp site having enjoyed one of the best days of the expedition so far! Over the next couple of days the group returned through mountain base camp to the expedition base camp for a couple of days to change from expedition mode back into scientific mode for the final part of our science phase.