summer on svalbard

so, summer. seems like ages ago, but really, it's only been a few months...

this past summer i was extremely lucky to spend a month paddling and leading up on svalbard.

we went out with 20 youths from all sorts of backgrounds from the UK and introduced them to camping, sea paddling, mountaineering, scientific fieldwork living in the arctic, working as a team, challenging yourself, all things that belong to a proper expedition. this time i was also fortunate in that i had support by two other science leaders and could spend more time helping mr d with the overall organisation and simply enjoying ourselves.

our basecamp was in adolfbukta, looking out to nordenskjølbreen. what a life, with such a view in such an environment!

more photos are on flickr and I'll keep adding them. apologies for not writing a decent report on what we've been up to, but there's too much. like paddling in brash ice, getting drinking water from icebergs, paddling surrounded by fulmars and puffins and seals, making bread and donuts on campfires, endless tales around the fire, bear watches, analyses sand samples on the beach, visiting ghost towns, beach olympics, and so on and so on. if you want to hear more about the trip, come over and visit!