FinalAnnReport 2004 _artwork - Hugha.co.uk

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ICELAND 2004 Chief Leader: Brian Needham INTRODUCTION The expedition to Iceland was the Society’s seventeenth in that most welcoming country, and was fortunate to have as its Patrons: H.E. the President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson; H.E. the Icelandic Ambassador to the UK, Sverrir Haukur Gunnlaugsson; and H.E. the UK Ambassador to Iceland, Alp Mehmet. The main expedition ran from 15th July to 16th August and comprised 16 leaders, 21 Young Leaders and 31 Young Explorers, making 68 in all, the largest youth expedition to leave the UK in 2004. Additionally, a volunteer group of 27 (four leaders, twelve Young Leaders and eleven Young Explorers) stayed a further week for a hike through Iceland’s centre, from north to south, covering over a hundred kilometres and straying west and east off the main track to take in the more beautiful or scientifically more interesting areas (and passing, incidentally, the BSES basecamps of 1951 and 1964). North of the Vatnajokull icecap lies one of Iceland’s most fascinating and varied volcanic landscapes. Ice and boiling geothermal infernos meet at the edges of the glacier, and there one of the largest remaining pristine wildernesses in Europe begins – a vast panorama of wild rivers, waterfalls, brooding mountains and mossy highlands thick with flowers. A large part of this is due to disappear under 150m. of water by 2006, when the Karahnjukar dam is completed. Work has begun and the resulting reservoir, to be called Halslon, will inundate a 57 sq.km. swathe of country. The deep springy mattress of moss, grass and flowers makes for difficult walking, but this is one of the main breeding grounds for the area’s reindeer, while thousands of pink-footed geese graze the uplands and it is a favourite haunt of the snowy owl, ptarmigan, and gyrfalcon. Red rocky gorges give way to barren black sediment ledges moulded by glacial movement and sensitive to atmospheric changes; these formations are the record of 10,000 years of geological and climatic change. This was the scientific fieldwork area, and projects were undertaken in botany, glaciology, and ornithology. Basecamp was established at the roadhead (at 64˚ 44’ 11" N, 15˚ 42’ 082 W, and 800m above sea level) and just ten kilometres to the south lay the vast Vatnajokull icecap. Brooding over Basecamp was Snaefell, at 1833m the highest 10 BSES EXPEDITIONS | ANNUAL REPORT 2004 Left: Hiking past Langjokull on the Kjolur Trek. Above: Glaciology Fire taking ablation measurements mountain in Iceland. The area therefore provided great scope for exploration. All expedition members participated in extensive mountaineering training and acquired the techniques for safe movement on glaciers. They also had the opportunity to complete the expedition and residential sections of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the Queen’s Scout Award and the Queen’s Guide Award. Additionally all members of the expedition gained the Explorer Award of the John Muir Trust, and had the opportunity to undertake the Bronze and Silver levels of the National Navigation Award, with 30 gaining both bronze and silver; (Iceland maps do not allow the setting of a sufficiently detailed course for examination at Gold level). THE EXPEDITION The Advance Party (comprising the Chief Leader and Base Camp Manager) left Aberdeen with the Landrover (most kindly provided by the Gordon Foundation) on 5th July, arrived in Iceland on 8th July and cleared Customs. They were then joined in Egilsstadir on 9th July by Malcolm Bell and Jeremy Ivens who had flown out from Heathrow the day before. Basecamp was established and all was made ready for the arrival of the main party on July 16th. After a two-day training session in basic campcraft and emergency procedures, the three Young Explorer groups dispersed to commence their activities, while the Young Leader group went straight onto the icecap for training under Mike Gilding and Ade Harris. As their training was completed they were replaced in turn by the Glaciology Fire, the Ornithology Fire, and finally the Botany Fire. At this stage of the expedition the weather was foul; very strong winds and rain dominated, and even at Basecamp survival became an exercise. Even so, the ice training went ahead, with each group hiking ten kilometres to the glacier edge and then a further ten kilometres across the glacier to the training area, with the leaders being ably supported by Young Leaders. All the normal activities of crampon-use, ice axe-use, ropework, glacier-crossing and crevasse-rescue were expertly taught and enjoyed, as well as camping on ice during many a storm. Meanwhile the scientific fieldwork was gathering momentum, with the ornithologists (led by Fiona Newcombe and Jackie Spong) hunting their pink-footed geese, first in the valley to the east of Basecamp and later in the
En route to snow and ice training ICELAND ICELAND soon-to-be-flooded valley to the west. Botanists under Malcolm Bell and Doug Jardine were already in that valley, taking an inventory of the botanical life before the waters closed over it all, and finally the glaciologists (led by Marina Smith and Jeremy Ivens) began taking various measurements on the glacier edge soon to be lapped by the artificial lake created by the dam. The Young Leader Fire was a new initiative by BSES, designed to give direct leadership training to its members. Nineteen of the twenty-one were experienced BSES expeditioners, ranging from Greenland 98 to Greenland 03, and had as their instructors Anne Humberstone, Liz Brookes, and Ian Pike. We had gained permission (the first organisation to do so) to run the British Sports Trust Basic Expedition Leader Award (BELA) overseas, and while the programme of BELA was followed, instruction was given right up to Mountain Leadership level. Armed with their new knowledge, the Young Leaders were then able to assist with the running of the Young Explorer Fires, although (and frustratingly for them) because of their inexperience and lack of qualifications they could never be given full control, since that had to stay in the hands of the Leaders approved by Council. There were no fewer than eleven successful ascents of Snaefell, with sixty-two members of the expedition reaching the summit, some twice and even one for a third time, with various routes being used (including a complete north-south traverse). Other lesser peaks in the area were also tackled (with one Young Expeditioner claiming all twenty-four summits of 1000m or more). On their return from Ice Camp, Mike and Ade established Rock Camp where expeditioners could practice single-pitch rock climbing, abseiling, and tyrollean traversing, all under qualified guidance. LAST PHASE ICELAND | 2004 The last week of the expedition enjoyed magnificent sunshine (all that wind and rain now forgotten) and this continued through what some of us called the "tourist" phase. At the start of the expedition we had reached Basecamp from Reykjavik by a long journey round the south and east of the island, seeing en route all that was to be seen; our departure was via the north coast and a route down through the volcanic desert of the country, by Dettifoss, Myvatn, Gullfoss, Geysir and Pingvellir on the way. It was in this final phase of the expedition that the Trek party got under way, leaving the main party at the hot springs at Hveravellir in the west-central part of the island. They formed into four separate groups and hiked a hundred kilometres south to Gullfoss, with many a diversion en route, before visiting Geysir and Pingvellir before the final night in Reykjavik. These treks were uniformly successful, with just one participant pulling out (with an infected blister) on the last day. The route took them through magnificent country – volcanic desert between the twin glaciers of Langjokull and Hofsjokull, past the mountains of Kerlingarfjoll, past Hvitarvatn Lake, over the keel of Iceland, up Blafell mountain, and down through the Hvita valley to the waterfall at Gullfoss. It was a journey to remember for all who made it, and was led by the Young Leaders and Young Explorers. The homeward flight from Reykjavik to London on August 23rd left just the Chief Leader as the Rear Party,. He drove back across Iceland, boarded the ferry at Seydisfjordur, and arrived back in Aberdeen on August 29th stopping on the way in the Faroes and the Shetlands. All that remained was the long journey south to BSES stores and Guildford to hand back the Landrover to The Gordon Foundation. CONCLUSIONS The expedition went to an area of Iceland new to BSES. It accomplished all that it had set out to achieve, and brought everyone back safe and (almost) sound. When asked directly, all owned to having enjoyed their time in Iceland, some massively so. Some aspects of the expedition could have been better (with better weather), but a lot could have been worse; when all is said and done, we did see sunshine on an amazing 82% of the 50 days between the arrival of the Advance Party and the departure of the Rear Party, with 76% of the days totally dry). Was it a successful expedition? Since the main purpose of BSES Expeditions is youth development through adventure and scientific fieldwork, then only time will tell. 11
Page 1 and 2: BSES EXPEDITIONS 2004 ANNUAL REPORT
Page 3 and 4: I am pleased to report that the num
Page 5 and 6: BSES EXPEDITIONS OFFICERS AND COUNC
Page 7 and 8: major risks. A review of potential
Page 9: Statement by the Trustees The summa
Page 13 and 14: TANZANIA 2004 The Mountain of God E
Page 15 and 16: Survey Fire on the rim of a sunken
Page 17 and 18: Tunabreen glacier The mountaineerin
Page 19 and 20: THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, EXPEDIT
Page 21 and 22: Maurice Dybeck asked why the expedi
Page 23 and 24: STAR SCHOOLS 2004 Schools from whic

FinalAnnReport 2004 _artwork - Hugha.co.uk

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