I’ve just got back from Norway and a fantastic weeks training on Europe’s largest and highest ice cap. We managed to successfully try out our science projects and our communication systems and spent time getting to know a little bit more about our tent mates…

We got to Norway and back on a 24 hour boat trip and I still feel like I’m on the sea. The trip back was pretty rough. Not all of us managed to stomach having dinner-but I won’t name names (…Carl). We spent most of our time in Norway on the beautiful Austerdalsbreen Glacier, three hours drive North of Bergen.

It was my first experience camping on ice. I shared a tent with Ruth and it got filled with water from condensation and the melting ice beneath us – it was like a swimming pool. We had to hang things from the roof of the tent to keep them dry. We had a few nerve-racking moments too. A rockfall quite close to our tent caused us a moment of panic and the creaking of ice and pounding rain at night kept me awake. There were plenty of avalanches on the icefalls above us too. Crashing noises of chunks of ice breaking away echoed round the valley. We also set fire to our stove board whilst we were cooking in the tent porch. Definitely not something we want to be doing again! Tent fires are one of the biggest ateam21.jpgdangers we’ll face in Antarctica.

Ian and I were delighted to be able to find and collect some lichens and moss. It was amazing to see them clinging desperately to rocks in the middle of an ice field. We had to take our hats off to these little organisms. We were feeling cold with three big layers and they were sat there quite happily and totally exposed. How can they manage to survive here- let along Antarctica? Ruth managed to find loads of cryoconite holes (see her pictures here), and Phil managed to get lots of data on our psychological profiles and how we were dealing mentally with the strain of the training.

It was great to get our communication systems up and running. We managed to send back emails, blogs and images from the middle of the glacier using our trusty ‘Toughbook’ and satellite phone. It should work even better from Antarctica with less interference.

We had a film crew from Teachers TV along too. It was quite strange having a camera follow your every move. Watch out for the documentary in March.

One of the hardest parts of the trip was getting all our equipment on to and off the glacier. It was a pretty big hike in and out with packs almost the same size as us and heavier than anything I’ve ever carried before. It made me feel for my Duke of Edinburgh pupils. I need to spend more time at the gym.

One of the biggest highlights was learning how to move roped up and how to rescue someone from a crevasse. We set up a mock rescue where Carl fell down a crevasse and we used a pulley system to hoick him out. It was reassuring to see how strong the pulley system was. Now I just need to practice so I can set it up on my own…. Any volunteers.

Carl preparing to fall down a crevasse

Down he goes……

Heave!

Bring on Antarctica!