Rest for the Wicked

With the advance party having gone well and all the base camps stocked, Ade grants the team some down time so it's off up the glaciers by the guesthouse to explore peaks and ice caves - back in time for tea @ the Huset.

Homework

After a day at the container or on skidoos and a BeWell dinner, it's time for homework to start. Each night is different ranging from sewing to counting to packing. Tonight's job - comms kit (arranged in the coridoor is everything the expedition will use to keep in touch with each other and BSES HQ in London).

Windy day @ BC3

Battling against strong winds filling in the holes just dug with fresh snow, Adam and Pat get BC3 all wrapped up - not to see daylight again until the expedition arrives here at the end of May!

Sea Ice Nervousness

With avalanche conditions unfavourable, a short drive across the sea looks like the way forward to get to BC3 on the scooters - after a quick depth test for peace of mind, approx 20cm ice thickness is enough to get us to drive nervously across.

Old Friends & Polar Bears

Yann Rashid, a YE on the extreme arctic 2006 expedition and currently in Svalbard studying biology at UNIS, rounded up all the scooters and drivers he could to help the advance party get the stores out to BC2 in record time - leaving enough spare to cruise across to Templefjorden and search for elusive Polar bears - see the results of our search below...

BC1 Complete

A good start to the food drops - day one and BC1 is all stocked up.

Mission HQ

Ade and Jackie diligently pack and record every last flap jack and ice axe to be sent to be buried at future base camps from Mission HQ (a canvas hangar on the Longyearbyen coast).