The green stuff

It's always a contentious topic but important to tackle every now and again. Environmental issues are forever linked with polar travel and so it's not something we can ignore.

There are some facts:

- Contracts/permits are now being issued at an increasing rate for drilling and mining in Arctic territories.

- Humankind requires energy, minerals, metals and other resources.

- Shipping routes are open now in the summer, which previously weren't.

- Conditions on permanent icecaps and in sea ice regions are deteriorating.

- Ice levels fluctuate and sometimes are an increase on the previous year.

- Some estimates of ice loss year on year are vastly exaggerated.

- Headline grabbing claims of ships reaching super-high latitudes are misleading. For example, the 2009 Greenpeace voyage to the Hall Basin in the Nares Strait was due to an anomaly in the ice (ice arches not forming either end of the straits) which has not occurred since.

I have some misgivings about the current relationship between polar travel and environmentalism:

- Green claims are shamelessly used to enhance the worthiness of a proposal for sponsorship.

- Expeditions, even those labelled as responsible and carbon-neutral, are not good for the environment. They burn fuel and use resources.

- Campaigning by polar travellers can lead to bizarre 'saving the world' slogans when their understanding of the science can be non-existent. It can often be more for personal egotism.

So, where do we go from here? I'm a firm believer in the free markets and to a broad extent, capitalism. It fits in well with my understanding of the way the real world and the natural world works. It therefore makes sense that isolated and idealistic attempts to campaign or lobby will ultimately fail in the fight against profits and bottom lines. People, naturally, will tend to be most generous and 'green-minded' when they have spare cash. To that end, in my mind the only way to make serious inroads against any human-caused damage to the global environment is to make it commercially viable and profitable.

Those who control the direction in which large sums of money are invested need to decide that mining minerals and exploiting fossil fuels is not the best way to make more money. Recycling is a good example of this - one of the few success stories. Using existing waste materials, like plastics, to create new products has proved more efficient in the long term than starting from scratch. Until the conceptual and technical leaps are made in other fields, I don't believe anything will change, no matter how much good-intentioned campaigning there is.

I think that the reality is that the vast majority of us want the same thing - a pristine natural environment, a conserved natural world and a prosperous civilised world. What can be harder to take is that the practical way to achieve this might not be by appealing to a person's better nature, but to their wallet. The same end result, but a route which works with human tendencies, not against them.

Down vs Synthetic Sleeping Bags

Sleep is one of the best parts of an expedition. You've toiled all day to an intensity which drains the life out of you in conditions which sap your energy. Because of this, getting a good night's sleep is one of the vital aspects of any journey. The noise of the wind, the extreme cold and moisture can make this very tricky indeed. Thorough research and preparation is therefore vital. The choice of what you sleep in is a good place to start.

Polar expeditons are not all made the same. Some are at altitude - some at sea level. Some at -40 degrees and some which vary from freezing to thawed temperatures. This makes the choice of a sleeping bag complicated and also critical to the success of a long expedition. Poor quality rest will degrade someone's ability to work in extreme conditions over many weeks or months. Here are some of the decisions that I make when choosing a sleeping system.

- Down bags -

Bags filled with goose or duck down are a traditional method of creating insulation through loft and a warmed air layer. It's enormously lightweight and allows the bag to be compressed down very small for storage in a sledge or rucksack (I tend to keep my tent-bag in a rucksack on my back - partly so I have a life-saving sleeping bag should my sledge be lost in a crevasse or lead). They do however perform less well in the wet. Moisture from a sleeping person and items drying in a bag will move through the inner lining and into the down (unless a VBL is used). This wet down will then lose its loft and stop insulating to anywhere near its original ability. This moisture will most likely freeze on the down and will not escape through the water-resistent outer shell easily. Water can also enter the bag through this outer shell which, by way of being breathable, is not fully waterproof.

Sleeping at -30Once water and ice-logged, drying out a down bag is difficult. On icecaps where there is potential for reasonably flat, stable surfaces and periods of sunshine, the bag can be left on top of a sledge and the ice allowed to sublime out. The down will then recover and loft up. On sea-ice or heavily crevassed ground, it's impractical to have the sleeping bag strapped to a sledge and so drying it out is harder.

- Synthetic bags - 

There is an alternative; using bags which replace down filling with other man-made fibres, often Primaloft or similar. These are a lot heavier and harder to pack down than their down counterparts. It's harder to therefore get such a low temperature rating for a given weight. One great advantage of these bags is the fact they keep their insulating properties even when wet or ice-logged. This is great for when it's impossible to stop moisture entering from within (e.g. when having to dry lots of clothing inside the bag) or when the ambient temperatures are straddling zero degrees, meaning that ice/frost melts and enters from the outside.

VBLs (vapour barrier liners) are waterproof bags that sit inside a sleeping bag and stop moisture from a sleeping person entering the bag. This can result in a clammy night's sleep and a silk liner within can avoid the 'plastic bag' sensation. Socks and gloves that need drying and keeping warm are usually put between the VBL and sleeping bag.

So, the big question is what would you use for different conditions? There are various opinions on this and no clear answer with so many variables. Just because, for example, you're skiing over the sea, an Arctic Ocean expedition would not necessarily need a synthetic bag just to protect from water as the temperatures are averaging so low - there are other factors.

Greenland icecap (spring) -35 to -5 degrees - DOWN

e.g. Mountain Equipment Snowline, Iceline or Everest depending on how warm you sleep

Greenland icecap (summer) -20 to +25 degrees - EITHER (down if weight-conscious)

e.g. Mountain Equipment Snowline or Mammut Ajungilak Tyin 5-Season or Mountain Equipment Starlight IV (for warm sleepers)

South Pole/Antarctic (summer) -40 to -10 degrees - DOWN

e.g. PHD Hispar 1000 or Mountain Equipment Everest 

North Pole (spring) -55 to -10 degrees - SYNTHETIC (due to lack of opportunity to dry out bag during day)

e.g. Mammut Ajungilak Denali 5-Season or -30/-40 rated down bag (both with PHD Overbag)

Iceland/Norway (winter/spring) -25 to +15 degrees - SYNTHETIC (due to wetness of freeze-thaw alternation)

e.g Mountain Equipment Starlight IV

(NB Northern Outfitters, a USA-based manufacturer, are producing impressive equipment but I've yet to test them)

Essentially, synthetic is the 'safe' option but is heavier and harder to achieve low temp ratings with than with down bags. Hopefully the right decision results in a good night's sleep!

New Greenland photography coffee-table book due

After five years of travel to the icy wilderness of the arctic regions of Greenland, I'm delighted to announce that my second book, a photographic account of Greenland across all the seasons and from the coastal hunting communities to the sterile icecap will be released in the early summer.

Pre-orders will be available from early April at a discounted price. The RRP is planned for £25.

Here are a few images to whet the appetite. (Unauthorised reproduction of images is strictly prohibited)

 

Icelandic Expedition Clarification

In the light of some extensive press interest and coverage regarding the attempted winter Vatnajokull crossing in Iceland, an open statement is issued below. Due to the sensationalist behaviour and reluctance to stick to facts by certain journalists, no further interviews will be given and this statement will be final.

On the 31st Jan, Alex and his team-mate set out from the junction of the roads 1 and F206 in order to cross the Vatnajokull from west to east in winter. Before even beginning the icecap crossing, 50km of lava fields and valleys would need to be crossed. By the 3rd Feb, this was achieved.

- The expedition proceeded on schedule and as planned for the first 7 days. Their final position was only 1.5 days from their chosen glacier, where they would descend off the icecap. They were on the ice for a total of 9 days, not 30 as reported in some places.
- The pickup by ICE-SAR was undertaken entirely in daylight hours
- There was no search. GPS coordinates accurate to 10ft were given and the skidoo team drove directly to our position.
- The ICE-SAR were thanked in person at the time and publicly in the initial press statement. Only one publication made the decision to print this part of the statement.
- Wet and cold conditions played no part in the decision to evacuate the team. Iceland in winter is wet and cold and the team were prepared for it, coping adequately throughout.
- Three separate members of the home team forecasted wind speeds of 120kph+ for the night of the Thursday. The team therefore asked for a Wednesday pickup during a lull in the wind.
- The tent was usually able to withstand high winds. Due to a change in wind direction during a period of 100kph wind, the tunnel design of the tent worked against it and part of it snapped and collapsed. Alex decided that this damage made it unable to withstand another major onslaught.
- A weather window of reduced wind was identified on the Wednesday prior to even higher winds.
- The tent canvas was not wrapped around the bodies of the team to keep them warm.
- Alex's UK-based team varies in size and type depending on the length and scale of the expedition in question. It can include logistics managers, experienced friends, members of his family and the family of other team members. In this case, it happened that he was in dialogue with his father, who naturally acted to activate the pickup.
- Press interest would likely have been much reduced should it have happened to be another member of his home team who made arrangements.
- The team had registered their PLB (personal locator beacon) with the radio administration and had notified the National Parks officials of their plans.
- The PLB was not activated due to adequate communication via phone.
- ICE-SAR offered to perform an immediate pickup. The team responded that they could secure the tent for the night to allow for a daytime operation.
- It is standard procedure to transmit vital information quickly and briefly to a home team via satellite phone and then let them make lengthier arrangements. This is due to limited battery power.
- The team was fully aware of the 112 Icelandic emergency number.

I hope that this answers many of the questions posed by interested parties and dispels some of the myths. Thanks again to all those involved with the expedition and evacuation. On a wider note, the only way to avoid the possibility of non-completion is to attempt easy challenges. This is not my style. The expedition will be relaunched in future years.

To escape criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. Elbert Hubbard

Back to the cold place in winter

FOR UPDATES PLEASE FOLLOW THE TWITTER FEED ON THE RIGHT OF THE PAGE OR @ALEXHIBBERT

This winter brings the prospect of two interesting projects, both of which have been mentioned briefly over the past few months.

The first is a Greenlandic winter documentary I'm presenting along with a film crew comprised of the enormously talented trio of Kerr Loy, Adrian Samarra and Matt Pycroft. The blurb goes as follows:

“In the depths of the arctic winter, film-makers Adrian Samarra, Matt Pycroft and Kerr Loy will join Alex Hibbert in the Inuit communities and wilderness of Greenland.

They will produce a 30 minute documentary highlighting the lives and culture of the local villages as well as the spectacular and brutal conditions in this frontier nation. Combining highly creative camera techniques with a strong narrative with presenter Alex Hibbert, the team aim to capture a completely new angle on an amazing location.

The first instalment of a series, in Greenland, will tackle the notorious local weather, the northern lights, walking across fractured sea ice and travelling with local hunters as they work on the frozen sea with their dog teams. Adrian Samarra, Matt Pycroft and Kerr Loy are experienced and highly creative film-makers. Combining cutting-edge techniques with a keen attention to detail, they produce sequences which produce the ‘wow’ factor again and again. Their credits include the BBC, Kendal Mountain Film Festival, RAB and the BMC."

Following the period of filming in late January and after the film crew have returned to the UK, I'll be joined by a climber and outdoorsman friend in order to take on the notorious Icelandic Vatnajökull icecap in winter conditions. This expedition will be a full west to east crossing and will include a long approach and exit ski/hike instead of using local super-jeeps. Crossing the windy and heavily crevassed icecap in spring/summer is a major target but the darkness and tough conditions of the winter have inspired this expedition which will total over 120 miles of technical and complicated ice, snow and lavafields.

Supported by:

To contact Alex and team for free whilst on-location, follow this link and use this satellite number: 881632589071