64
Out of School
Trips
SWBGS Greenland Expedition 2012
Destination: Ammassalik Island, East Coast of Greenland – Dates: 13
th
July 2012- 2
nd
August 2012
Participants: Pedr Charlesworth, Marcus Cracknell, Matt Croall, Sian Douglass, Sid Green, James Robins,
Kate Reynolds, Fran Stafford, Olivia Sweeney, JemWatson, Mrs Nunan, Mr King, Carolyn (Expedition leader)
Aims: to carry out research projects both relevant to the Arctic environment and our A-Level studies; to camp wild in the
high Arctic; to disseminate the experience and research to the school and local community
Our journey began with two training weekends to the Peak and Lake Districts involving our first wild camping in
challenging conditions including leaking minibuses, wet clothes and lots of McDonald’s!
The biggest risk we faced on the trip was polar bears. To minimise the danger they cause we had polar bear watch
running throughout the night. These were two hour shifts starting at 10pm and ending at 6am (when Mr King woke up).
We took watch individually and it actually turned out to be Arctic Fox watch…
A fog horn and two shotguns were the only precaution we took against the infamous ice bears so when we found that
our guns had not arrived it was a bit of a worry. It was our first night away from the airport and any civilisation and to add
to this, we were camped on a beach, the most likely spot a polar bear
would come onto land. To try and sort out the problem, Carolyn and
Mr King hiked off into the mountains to find somewhere safer to
camp. Fortunately they found some Danish glaciologists who were
kind enough to lend us two rifles. Our guns were dropped off the
next day.
Our biggest challenge didn’t come from 24hr daylight or polar bear
watch, but instead the sighting of a real polar bear. It was three
o’clock in the morning when Jem saw a bear on the ridge of the
glacier (a polar bear highway). The bear ran away at the sight of
Jem so he went to wake up Carolyn who immediately sprung out
of her tent, and along with Mrs Nunan, grabbed the gun and went
searching for the bear. Whilst this was happening, Mr King and Jem
woke the rest of group who jumped out of their sacks and huddled in a group in case the bear re-emerged. Fortunately,
or unfortunately, the bear could not be seen so two warning shots were fired to scare the bear off it if was still lurking
in the area. We had to move out of danger so we packed everything up, in a record time of an hour, and headed off the
glacier towards a future destination. Two hours later, and a few hundred metres away from where we were camping
as the bird flies, we found fresh footprints in the snow that were definitely not human. At about the size of dinner
plates, the only explanation could be a polar bear. As a result we walked for about ten hours to our final destination.
Our ten hour hike was rewarded with an ice cold wash in the lake and no polar bear watch. Instead this was carried out
by a hunter and his dog. The Greenlandic hunting dog is
adapted and trained to smell and spot a polar bear so acts
as a very early warning system.
Other than this encounter, the trip went swimmingly and
everyone had the most incredible time. Friendships were
made between some unlikely people and the memories
will last a lifetime. Although we could not properly wash
for three weeks and the dehydrated food was nothing to be
desired, we had the time of our lives and would definitely
recommend this to anyone. Lastly, we would like to give a
huge thanks to Mrs Nunan, Mr King and BPE for making this
trip possible.
