Next month I am off to Norway on an expedition with the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES).
It barely seems as though I have unpacked from Russia and I’m already gearing up for another expedition but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
This expedition will comprise some 36 teenagers and a dozen leaders, of which I am one. We are destined for the Loppa Peninsula, a few hours’ drive from the town of Alta at the very top of Europe. The Young Explorers (“YEs” as they’re known) will split their time between mountaineering on the icecap south of basecamp and kayaking out to sea. My legs, however, will stay largely on land and, in particular, the Oksfjordjokelen ice cap.
I visited the base camp area on a recce last September and have spent the past year working in the BSES office, helping to organise the logistics for the trip. It’s a complicated beast but nothing out of the ordinary for BSES who regularly run large scale arctic expeditions.
After the expedition’s completion, I plan to cycle south towards Oslo.
I’ll pop a few more details here over the next few weeks.
2 Comments
Michael Halls-Moore
So…how long do you reckon the cycle will take? If it’s undulating terrain, it could be quite a while!
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Well, it’s about 1000 miles direct to Oslo. If I hitch a ride to North Cape it would add a nice narrative to the trip (pedalling south from Europe’s northernmost point) and another 150 miles.
I’ve got about 3 weeks before I get picked up. 1,150 miles. 21 days. 55 miles a day.
It might be hilly and I’ll have a lot of kit (tent, stove, food etc) but I should be fit from a month’s hill walking, the days will be very long (near 24 hour light up top) and I’ll be going solo which always helps reduce faff and delays.
So, in short, I think getting to Oslo in 3 weeks is achievable.
Sound reasonable?