Mileage
After an unintentional lie-in (exactly who slept through which alarm, we're not entirely sure) we set about cramming our wordly possessions into our rucksacks, before skiing off down the valley towards our depot.
The slightly downhill bits were great. With moderate weights on our backs (a little over 20kg each) we were able to maintain an exaggerated langlauf 'kick 'n' glide' style, often with a single stride carrying us for a few metres. It was only on the two steep downhill bits that things got out of hand.
Within seconds of the gradient steepening, both Tony and I had face-planted in spectacular style, thanks to a combination of wind-blown, rutted snow (think moguls with sharp edges), XC bindings and top-heavy rucksacks.
Wiping out became a recurring theme on the next steep bit, and the surface left a little to be desired throughout the day – it seemed to alternate between icy-hard slabs and deep powder with a deceptively crusty layer on top.
We skied late into the evening (hence the delayed update) and I think Tony found the going quite tough – he's already zonked out in his sleeping bag as I write this. I'm pretty tired as well, but today brought back fond memories of my solo expedition to the North Pole last spring; there's something immensely satisfying about 'giving it your all'.
Here's to tired legs, big dreams and ski tracks as far as the horizon…
— Filed under Greenland