Goal: To cross the Greenland icecap by human power
Adventure Status: Not completed
Read the Blog: Pedal the Icecap
Details:
300 miles across the second largest ice cap in the world by human power.
300 miles across the second largest ice cap in the world. Again I am challenging tradition: What happens when we mix cutting edge technology with optimal human performance to cross an ice cap. Maybe in record time? Can we use technology to improve upon the traditional cross country ski?
About the Greenland ice Cap
The Greenland ice cap occupies 85% of Greenland’s landmass. It covers 1,833,900 square kilometers and is second only in size to Antarctica’s icecap. It measures 2,500km from north to south, and up to 1000 km from east to west with an average thickness of 5000 feet. The Northern dome reaches over 10,000 feet in elevation and is the thickest and coldest point.
Temperatures on the ice sheet are much lower than elsewhere in Greenland. The lowest mean annual temperature is about -31° C (-24° F), and occurs on the north-central part of the north dome, and temperatures at the crest of the south dome average about -20° C (-4° F).
This icy behemoth contains 1/8th of the total global ice mass! If the Greenland ice cap melted, the sea level would rise 20 feet!! Scientists have found that global warming could push the ice sheet over a threshold where the entire ice sheet will melt in less than a few hundred years.
About the Greg’s route
In 1995, Norwegian Sjur Mordre set the fastest crossing by ski when he travelled from Isortoq on the East Coast to point 660 on the West coast in 8 days.
The route that Greg has chosen is the same route that Sjur Mordre travelled. It measures 550 km from Isortoq to Point 660 and features an elevation gain of 3000 feet from sea level to the summit.
From the start at Isortoq, Greg will battles a steady climb into a cold headwind blowing down from the summit. At the summit at 600 feet, Greg will be exposed to temperatures ranging from -20 C to -50 C. Once he reaches the summit, it’s downhill with the push of a tail wind to the western edge of the ice cap at Point 660.
About the human powered ice vehicle
This project is still in a very early stage. I have experimented with a few methods of gaining traction on snow and ice, and ‘flotation’ in deep powder with limited success. I definitely think there is room to improve upon the traditional ski and pulk, and I am looking forward to the challenge.
Here are some early concepts as to what this human powered “ice machine” could look like:
