Day 8

After a really good sleep I woke as usual at 5am and snoozed for a 7am breakfast.  We then took our time getting ready for a 10am departure and a long day of touring.  Today’s itinerary started with an easy ascent to a col between Big Man and Fanibawz, a long but bumpy decent to sea level, with good snow in a protected wave feature. 

The start of the descent down to sea level.

I poke around the cracks in the ice at the water's edge as the other take a close up look at this small iceberg.  We found what we guessed to be Arctic Fox prints in the snow.

Day 7

Another colder night, easily –20C.  I slept well but my sore shoulder gave me hell.  The only way to relieve the aching pain is to sleep with my elbow above my head, and in a sleeping bag that means a very cold forearm.  Our time in Greenland is running out too fast, with several good peaks and tours remaining, we won't be able to do them all even if the weather holds out.  Our radioed forecast called for a change.

Today had perfect weather; blue skies, no wind and temperatures between –10 and –15C.  We set out for the highest peak in our area, nicknamed ‘Big Man’.  The approach was easy, followed by an easy snow climb, 40 degrees maximum. 

The group climbs Big Man

Day 6

Some of the team on the sunny summit that capped off a great day of touring

One of the guys said it was about –26C during the night.  I certainly felt colder than earlier nights, but still comfortable despite my frozen sleeping bag shell.  I woke at 5am and snoozed.  After breakfast, more of the same Greenland touring ensued.

We toured to the accumulation zone of our home glacier and from there rode across toward the ocean, taking in two ok gentle angle descents on mostly hard and bumpy then crusty snow.  It was fun, but nothing to rave about. However the itinerary took us to a new part of our environment and we rode right down onto the frozen saltwater.

Walking across the frozen salt-water fjord we found a nice seaside bay with only thin ice for a lunch break.  Once again, it was a stunningly beautiful spot.

As mentioned on the cover page of the Trip Reports book, not all excursions into the Hakuba backcountry are recorded as TR's.  If not in TR format, most days out are briefly recorded in my Mountain Diary, usually with a picture or two.  The Diary can also be accessed via the menu at the top of each page. The Mountain Diary is worth checking if you are looking for more action.