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3 May 2009
Unfortunately, this is the final day of this first phase of my travelling fellowship
here in Norway. I am very thankful to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for giving
me the funding for this opportunity to visit some of the slightly more obscure and
hard-to-get-to corners of Norway, to meet with some very friendly and helpful people,
and to carry out some interesting research which I will use back in the UK.
Last night as the sun set over Aalesund, I was left with a feeling that the
environment and nature is something really special in this country – in fact it is an
integral part of the ‘folkesjel’ (soul) of Norwegians!
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30 April 2009
I had a very warm welcome today (in fact even got a bit sunburnt!) during my meeting
at Volda University College with Helga Lovell and Dag Erik Wold. This exciting meeting
highlighted the similarities and differences with the UK, and some future potential
ways forward in developing the teaching of leadership in the outdoors in both countries.
The Volda courses currently place a considerable emphasis on the moral teaching and
responsibility aspects of leadership, reflecting some of the changes in the concept
of ‘friluftsliv’ since the 1960’s. It’s now much more about what you can DO in nature,
rather than simply BEING in the outdoors.
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28 April 2009
I have spent the last couple of days in Bergen - my first ever visit to this small
city without rain! I managed to arrange a meeting with Ove Saele at NLA Teacher
Training College, before continuing on my journey north up this beautiful section of
coastline towards Aalesund. This really is the picture postcard part of Norway with
the fjords and mountains – well worth seeing!
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26 April 2009
As I have travelled further south again through Norway, the temperatures have gradually
increased to a very respectable +18C in Oslo yesterday (far too warm for me ...
bring back the snow!)
The last few days have been a great opportunity to catch up with my Norwegian friends
from previous expeditions to far-flung parts of the world ... and also to meet with some
of the relatives of some past polar explorers - Oscar Wisting and Fridjof Nansen.
It's interesting to investigate how much influence these leaders had on their
expeditions - was it the strength of their individual characters or, at the time, was it
a case of a need to bring back honour and glory for their country that meant that
their ventures had to succeed?
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22 April 2009
I stopped off on an island called Tomma near Nesna, Mo I Rama to meet up with a
group of teachers from the University outdoor life course - climbing in the rain
in conditions similar to a wet Scottish winter day. Thank goodness they had already
been taught how to light fires to keep warm earlier on in their course! It was interesting
to find out more about how leadership and outdoor skills are taught through the
Norwegian education system ... Experiencing the outdoors as a great big playground
(naturlekplass).
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19 April 2009
Today, I can safely say, is the first day ever when I wished I'd had my ice axe
and crampons with me to hold me to the ground at a bus stop! Needless to say, in the
strong winds and heavy snow ... the road was closed and the bus never came.
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18 April 2009
I'm now at 71 degrees North at the North Cape, the most northerly part of mainland
Europe ... the temperature feels positively balmy at -3C after the -20's in Svalbard!
It also feels strange, getting used to it going dark at night after almost 24 hours
daylight in Svalbard. It's been snowing hard since I arrived, making this part of
the rugged Norwegian coastline appear even more stunning. In fact, the area reminds
me of a much snowier version of some of the Scottish Islands ... accompanied by a
quite over-whelming smell of drying fish!
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16 April 2009
The last few days have been spent assisting a group with training and equipment needs
ready for their imminent 3 day North Pole trip. In extreme temperatures, as low as
-35C at the Pole this season, good preparation can literally be a life saver.
This is where an experienced guide knows exactly when to allow their groups to
'learn by doing' and where its better just to be autocratic and say what they need
to do or how they need to do it! I also managed to pick up many more ideas from
Thomas Ulrich, an experienced leader who has guided many polar expeditions at both
ends of the planet - Thomas's tips are worth their weight in gold!
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15 April 2009
Can you believe it? I was pulling a kayak full of equipment weighing 140kg in total,
and it just seemed to glide across the snow! When I get home I'm going to re-design
the front of my pulk (sledge) to make it more streamlined. This is just one small part
of the planning and preparation that I have been observing Svante and his friend Stig
completing for their forthcoming expedition over Nordaustlandet (an uninhabited
island almost totally covered by icecap, and home to a large percentage of Svalbard's
resident polar bears!) You can read more about their adventure, and the appeal of
visiting such a place, at www.latitude.no
or e-mail me
helenturton@hotmail.com
if you need help with translating the Norwegian into English!
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13 April 2009
Valuable time spent discussing the importance of food and nutrition, and how this links
into training and preparation to ensure the best chance of success on any expedition -
hungry work!
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12 April 2009
After spending the last few weeks wrestling with the Norwegian flight, train and
bus timetables planning the first phase of my fellowship, I have now arrived
in Longyearbyen, Svalbard at 78 degrees North. The guesthouse
www.gjestehuset102.no
has a familiar 'homely' feel to me, as the starting point for a few of my previous
polar expeditions. In a few days time, my journey will head further south from this
most northerly inhabited corner of Europe, but not before I have gleaned as much
information as possible about expedition leadership, planning and preparation from
my Norwegian friend, Svante, who has guided me to both the North and South Poles over
the past few years.
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April 2009
Well I’m packing my bags and heading for Norway (and further north to Svalbard) yet again!
This time it is as a result of being awarded a fellowship by the Winston Churchill Memorial
Trust. The Travelling Fellowship will enable me to study leadership skills in extreme
situations, as demonstrated by current and past polar explorers. The Fellowship ties
together a combination of my past polar experience, and the work I do as an outdoor
education advisor. My passion is to encourage teachers and leaders, giving them confidence
to take groups into a ‘classroom without walls’…whilst feeling that they are still in
control. Polar expeditions have been dominated for many years by the British and the
Norwegians, so it will be interesting to explore the differences between how outdoor
leadership is taught in the two countries.
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You can read more about Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships at
www.wcmt.org.uk
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March 2009
Another highly successful week in the Norwegian mountains surrounding Finse…..this was the
first winter training trip that I had jointly led with my Norwegian polar friend,
Svante Strand www.latitude.no.
Obviously I had managed to share sufficient passion and excitement with my
friends to persuade three determined members to join me to find out more about what it is
exactly that gives me such a buzz about being out in the mountains totally self-sufficient
in the middle of winter! You can see how we got on in the new section on my website –
winter training. We are already making plans now to run a similar trip next year if this
is something that appeals to you!
"If you have a dream & you are looking for inspiration, then this trip is the kick
start to that dream. It was a truly a memorable expedition, lead by two inspirational
leaders." Paul Geering March 2009
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Felicity Aston (expedition leader) and myself representing the UK element of the team
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February 2009
What a fantastic
two weeks team selection and training event with the Commonwealth Women’s Antarctic
Expedition team on the Hardangervidda in Norway. The website blog
www.commonwealthexpedition.com
can only go so far to describe the amazement of some of the women who had never even seen
snow before having to arrive by snowplough, as the road was closed to our hut in the
mountains…imagine experiencing for the first time ever the excitement of taking to cross
country skis, pulling pulks weighed down with bags of logs, learning about the specific
training and nutrition required for our team to achieve their goal skiing to the South
Pole next winter.
Although in Antarctic terms, the conditions were comparatively mild at only
-17C, the wild wind and snow gave the team a real feel for the importance of learning
some of the necessary survival skills, such as always attaching equipment to something or
someone at all times. Losing a tent in Antarctica could have serious consequences!
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November 2008 - Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition
- I have just heard I have
been selected as the reserve member of the Commonwealth Women’s Antarctic Expedition
Commonwealth Women’s Antarctic Expedition,
and am understandably over the moon with excitement! The expedition, involving women from
the Commonwealth countries of Ghana, India, Singapore, Cyprus, New Zealand, Jamaica, Brunei
Darussalam and the UK, will see an 8-woman team skiing to the South Pole at the end of 2009
to mark the 60th anniversary year of the Modern Commonwealth.
The 30 to 50 day journey will involve skiing more than 500 miles across the icy wastes of
Antarctica, sleeping in tents on the ice in temperatures down to -30ºC and the winds reach
speeds of over 80mph, pulling sledges full of food, fuel and equipment weighing at least
80kg, battling through vicious snowstorms and avoiding treacherous crevasses hidden beneath
the snow surface.
At last, having the courage to finish my job to turn my dream ambition of travelling to
the Polar regions into a reality seems to be paying off! Now the fund raising, hard training
and publicity work really begins! Please contact me if you think you can help in any way -
helenturton@hotmail.com
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September 2008
- The summer has seen me taking up a range of outdoor and expedition
work, including a considerable amount of involvement with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
scheme in the role of assessor, supervisor and trainer at various times! I believe this is
such a great way for young people to gain confidence in enjoying the great outdoors.
It’s also hugely satisfying to feel that I’m helping others to get the same buzz out of
the outdoor lifestyle that I love with such a passion -
www.dofe.org
The highlight of the summer involved leading the NVQ level 3 Leadership Development
Programme in Central Norway for BSES. It’s such a rewarding feeling when you finally see
the product of months of the planning, preparation and training finally coming together
‘in the field’. Not so much of a highlight from the expedition was a reminder of the
monotonous aspect that ration pack food takes on after 37 days!
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March 2008
- Winter assessment completed, and a few weeks in Norway leading skiing and
snow shoeing groups in fantastic powder snow conditions, has certainly made this a great
winter! Polar preparation is more of the written variety at the moment - sorting through
hundreds of photos, preparing talks and presentations, and starting proposals to attract
funding and publicity for the next polar dream ... hoping to take a group of young people
to the North Pole in April 2010!
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February 2008
- Having now returned safe and sound from the Antarctic, with just a small
amount of frost damage to my finger ends, the slightly milder snow conditions of Scotland
are calling me to the mountains again! I need to get some practice time 'on the hill' before
my Winter Mountain Leader assessment next month ... no time for rest yet!
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January 2008
- Imagine ... only 9 months ago I was standing on the top of the world
at the North Pole, and now having stood on the South Pole too, these opposing polar
environments couldn't have been more different. Of course, there is the similarity of cold
temperatures and surviving with all that we pulled behind us in our pulks, but in many
respects, the South Pole was much more like skiing over the Greenland Icecap. With the
endless snowy horizon and the ever-perpetual winds blowing down across the icecap making it
even colder than the recorded -40C, it felt comparatively warm on the night when I slept
out in the igloo which we had built at 89 degrees south!
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December 2007
- As one expedition draws to a close and I leave the group in Punta Arenas,
I am of course just as eagerly looking forward to the next one beginning, heading even further
south to the bottom of the world! This will be my first New Year 'upside down', so maybe
I'd better go steady with the celebratory drinking of pisco sours (local cocktail)!
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November 2007
- As part of the Advance Party for the BSES South Georgia expedition, I am
now firmly established in the Southern hemisphere for the next 3 months! Having been 'escorted
in' to Mount Pleasant International (MPA) airport by an RAF tornado jet on the final leg of our
flight from Brize Norton via Ascension Island, this expedition promises to be a very memorable
one! See the BSES website www.bses.org.uk for more
details of the expedition over the next two months.
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Late October 2007
- Last minute changes are all part of expedition life, but this is
quite a major one! Only a matter of a few weeks before departing from the UK, we are informed that
the HMS Endurance had engine problems and, therefore, won't be able to assist with the logistics
for our expedition. The trip has now taken a different means of travel ... using 2 yachts owned by
Skip Novac to cross the Southern Atlantic from Falklands to South Georgia. This is possible
due to a huge amount of fundraising efforts, largely undertaken by the BSES office staff and,
although it means that the Antarctic Peninsula is now no longer a posrt of the expedition,
it will still be an amazing experience.
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October 2007
- taking every opportunity now to go tyre-pulling, take long walks
with a heavy pack ... and eat well! The equipment for my South Pole expedition
has to be loaded onto HMS Endurance next week (the Royal Navy's ice patrol
vessel which we will be using on the BSES expedition). Organisation is the key
thing now to check I haven't missed anything - it seems a bit bizarre now,
packing all my equipment for an expedition in January ... and its only the
beginning of October!
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September 2007
- Good news! The rest and strengthening build-up of my knee has
now meant that, by the end of the month, I have now finally progressed back to
the usual training regime, pulling 2 tyres around the local reservoir where I live.
Also, big progress has been made on the insurance plans for my South Pole trip -
it's always a little bit of a scary reminder when the written quote uses the
words 'extreme expeditioning' in the premium description! The cost is high ...
but then again so are the risks I suppose. If something goes wrong in these sorts
of regions, it's often not simple (and never cheap) to resolve! The best bit of the
insurance news is that I can now move straight from one expedition to another,
flying from the Falklands across to Punta Arenas, Chile, where we depart for the
South Pole a few days later, without having to fly twice to almost the same
place (and cause a huge carbon footprint in the process!) The initial insurance
plans meant I would have to come back to the UK in between both expeditions,
just so that the new policy could start from the UK!
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mid August 2007
- Ouch!!! Whilst training in North Wales, with the next BSES group
which I will be volunteer leading to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica
in November/December, I slipped on a rock and damaged my medial ligament and
meniscus in my left knee. Physiotherapy and ultra-sound, lots of sound advice
from friends telling me to rest a little (what's that?) and lots of stretching
have become the focus for the last few weeks, rather than tyre-pulling!
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July / mid-August 2007
- not a rest from training, but simply a change! Off to
Svalbard again, this time leading a group of young people on an expedition
allowing them to focus on their NVQ level 3 in leadership and management.
Great to be able to share some of my own outdoor skills, have such a good laugh
with the other leaders and also learn so much from them ... and continue my
training, but in a different way, by carrying a heavy backpack (and a lot of bean
and veg curry ration pack food!) See BSES website for more details -
www.bses.org.uk
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June 2007
- Endless sponsor letters and grant applications result in a very slow
'trickle' of funding towards this next goal, the South Pole. Taking this amount of
rejection and not giving up is just one of those elements that has to be accepted
as part of this kind of expedition planning! Tyre pulling has started again,
but I can't move faster than the flies that keep chasing me at this time of year!
At least I might have been one of those people who was glad it was been a wet
summer, as the waterlogged conditions on the ground create less friction on the
tracks as I trained pulling my tyres!
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May 2007
- after returning from my latest 2 trips to the North Pole, its time
to give the body a rest, a chance to rebuild any injuries however minor,
and focus on eating whatever I like to regain weight (not such a difficult or
hard-work task!)
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Helen
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