// Trip Reports  

Report name	Bristol Grammar School, Arctic Adventure
Date submitted	Jul-10

Lingen Alps at sea Photo Ed Chard,

The first of two teams from Bristol Grammar have just retuned from expedition. It was a fantastic trip where we travelled through an unspoilt wilderness and explored deep into the pristine fjords of Arctic Norway. We travelled by sea kayak and set foot on an ice cap with views across mountains and fjords 400km north of the Arctic Circle. The trip then went north to spend three days trekking around the North Cape, the furthest point north on mainland Europe. The last day was spent taking in some art and culture in Oslo before we flew back to Heathrow and the brown fields of the UK.

We spent 7 days in sea Kayaks. None of the group had spent much time in big sea boats before so the first two days were spent in sheltered bays and coastline. Day one of the trip is a day the group won't forget in a hurry, we had to make sure everyone could exit a boat if it turned over so we all had to get wet in the process. Upside down in an Arctic Fjord is a great way to spend the day!

On our second day we decided to try our hand at fishing as we kayaked down the fjord. After about two minutes of dragging her hand line in the water Rachel felt a heavy weight, within a few minutes she had a 13kg cod sat on her deck, incredible. This was also the first day we saw Norwegian Sea Eagles, a bird with a 2m wingspan.

It would be wrong of me not to mention at this stage the fact that it hadn't stopped raining until day three and we were accompanied on our trip by mosquitoes the size of sparrows. Day four started with sun, a light anti mosi breeze and smiles. From then on things got better, folk got used to living in tents and everyone got used to working together with heavy loaded boats first thing in the morning.

Our paddling ended with a couple of days in Jokelfjord, where the ice meets the sea. Again fishing was successful and everyone ate some fish from an open fire.We had a rest day and washed all the kit out ready for the next group, staff drank coffee and we had a gear check ready for the mountain phase.

We drove around two hours to catch a ferry over to the other side of Oksfordjokeln, a remote spit of land jutting out into the North Sea. We walked in to our base camp over moraine and large boulders at the foot of the ice cap flow. Everyone woke up early the following day ready for making our way onto the ice. After a two hour walk in we got to the ice. Everyone got used to wearing crampons and played some walking games before lunch. The route onto the top involved roping up and crossing a whole series of crevasses; we picked our way around them and got established on the flat expanse of ice near the top. Folk were getting tired so we had one last push to get to the high point, over looking the fjords we had been on the week before. There was a lot of snow left over from the winter so we decided not to camp as planned but head back down happy with what everyone had achieved.

Flossy and dinner Photo Ed Chard,

We traveled north the following day in poor conditions, back over the ferry seeing some Orca Whales on the way. We finished the day in some camping huts in Alta. After a morning shopping trip for food in the town we headed up toward the North Cape. We trekked in and spent two nights camping out on the Cape. We got up to see the midnight sun and spent time away from the crowds at the visitor centre. We got to 71 degrees north. Getting back to Alta and showers we visited the rock carvings, most over 6000 years old. The trip finished with pizza and sleep, as always.

Ed Chard and Mark Hendry, Leaders.