We are so sorry for the lack of updates since we returned, we truly haven’t stopped. We have been here, there and everywhere giving talks, interviews to the press and TV, sorting footage and visiting sponsors etc.

We have had brilliant press coverage since our return, which amazingly is still coming! Our first film ‘The Great Walk of China’ was shown at the Dijon International Film Festival last month and will be showing at Dundee Mountain Film Festival next week and Autrans Mountain Film Festival the week after that. We will both be speaking at Kendal Mountain Festival this Friday about the Rivers of Ice expedition for the very time, at 11.30 in the Parish Hall.

For anyone who hadn’t been following the Rivers of Ice expedition there is a very brief summary below;

From the Jorge Montt glacier we made great progress across the ice cap for 25 days. We successfully traversed one of the world´s harshest environments before reaching the most notorious section of the journey two-thirds of the way in. Tent-bound for 5 days in winds of up to 60 knots, we waited for a suitable weather window: we knew the next technically demanding section could not be attempted without good visibility. At this point, the tent suffered a critical failure leaving us to erect a survival shelter as quickly as possible from what remained of the tent.

Despite having multiple exit strategies along the ice cap none were in range without a fully functioning tent. So despite being aware of the difficulty of descending the Spegazzini glacier, we calculated that it offered the best chance ofsurvival due to its close proximity. In total, we spent 5 nights in makeshift shelters as we slowly negotiated the descent from the ice cap via the glacier in storm conditions. We had hoped to leave as we had arrived, by boat, however the unstable nature of the glacier mouth made it unsafe for a boat to collect us. Subsequently, the El Calafelet 42 division of the Argentinian Gendarmarie were called to provide a safe pick up by helicopter. We spent one night in hospital as a precautionary measure and were discharged with mild frostbite to the toes and snow blindness.

Alhough we did not accomplish our ultimate objective of a full crossing, we did successfully achieve the longest crossing of the Southern Patagonian Ice by a British team as well as the longest ever crossing by a woman. We still believe our fast and light approach is an effective way to complete a full unsupported crossing and will be heading back next year for ‘take 2′.

We have finally launched our new expedition.

‘Rivers of Ice’ will depart on the 16^th of August in an attempt to traverse the complete length of the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap with out the aid of sail kites or pre-placed food caches.

The fully unsupported journey will see us kayak, ski and climb 554km across the world’s third largest ice cap in as little as 37 days. Traditionally expeditions across the ice cap have been undertaken with the aid of pulks (sledges) ensuring the ability to carry sufficient supplies for long crossings. However, this makes for an arduous and laborious task having to shuttle loads across the heavily crevassed sections. In contrast we have taken an ultra light and fast approach, undertaking the journey with only backpacks and 1kg micro sleds that attach to the packs. Having reduced the equipment from over 120kg (traditional amount taken on previous attempts of this journey) to 45kg each, we are mobile enough to move fast over the difficult terrain. However, with only 37 days of food rations, we cannot afford any mistakes or delays!

The new ‘Rivers of Ice’ expedition website is finally up and running. I would describe it as innovative and interactive, jam-packed with technical information about the journey and the ultra-light equipment being used to make it happen. Once the expedition gets underway we will send daily updates back to the site as podcasts, allowing for the facts and emotions – be they despair or elation – of the day’s events, to be shared. Between now and departure we will regularly be updating the new website with short videos of our physical preparation, as well as the kit, food and logistical preparations, giving an insight into the pre-expedition work load.

So until mid October it is good buy from the Primal Journey news page but we hope to see you over at www.rivers-of-ice.com

and 1kg micro sleds that attach to the packs.

Sorry for the long delay since the last post, time seems to just be flying past. It only feels like a few weeks ago that we last put up any news but I just saw the date and it has been way too long. One problem that seems to be recurring throughout our lives is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. We have been furiously organising and training for our next trip which leaves on August the 16th. I know that the project itself hasn’t been released but there is a very good reason for that… the website (www.rivers-of-ice.com) and marketing isn’t quite finished yet. I had hoped to have it online by now but as with all expeditions, everything is running slightly behind schedule and we are seriously pushing to get everything up and online in the next two weeks. In the mean time you can speculate on the expedition based on our training out in Chamonix this week.

I had originally hoped to spend 5 days on the Glacier D’Argentiere but found that it was closed and so we opted to climb from Chamonix back up to the Aiguille du Midi via the Mer de Glace. At 20km it’s not exactly ground breaking distances but it was an incredibly useful excises. The main purpose of the trip was to test out every last piece of equipment that we will be using on the expedition to make sure it could hold up to the job. There are a few little pieces that need tweaking and there will be a full breakdown on the website when it goes live, but on the whole I was very impressed with everything and I am now extremely confident that we have the best kit we could possibly hope for. Sadly this means that it pretty much comes down to use now and whether we can hold up to the challenge!

That said we have learnt some valuable lessons this week such as how to abseil and manoeuvred in and out of crevasses with 32kg packs. I expect some of you have tried this before and have found that it’s quite easy to end up upside-down on the rope with such a heavy pack and that really makes life difficult. As a general rule crossing large fields of crevasses isn’t exactly a humorous affair but Katie did manage to make me laugh when after having crossed a precarious snow bridge she triumphantly (and slightly cockily) returned to its edge to take a photo of her exploit when the wafer thin 3 meters bridge of snow promptly collapsed into the depths of the crevasse and she came running past me exclaiming that it was time to leave.

The total ascent was a little over 2 vertical kilometres and as we neared the 4000m mark Katie started to feel the effects of the altitude and progress became incredibly laborious. We are taking 2 days off to recover before heading back out to finish off all the training we didn’t get round to last time and I’ll post again on the long drive back to England on Thursday.