The Expedition in bullet points
- Date: May 2023
- Distance: 118 km/73 miles
- Duration: 7 days
- Location: Vatnajokull ice cap in Iceland – the largest icecap in Europe by volume
- Style: Team, sled-hauling cross-country skiing expedition
- Risk factors: Crevasse, rain, hypothermia, volcanic eruption under the icecap
- Topographic features: Glaciers and icecap
Expedition report:
The epic team of 8 guys and I from different parts of the world completed the 10-day Vatnajokull expedition. We skied a total of 118 km/73 miles with a heavy sled and traversed Vatnajokull Icecap from the West to the East. We got all kinds of weather, from snowstorms, rainfall, and day whiteouts to burning sunshine.
On the fourth day of the expedition, we headed to the hut on top of the active volcanoes for a rest day. 11 hours of skiing towards the hut, at times a very steep incline, was worth it. The hat even had a steam bath from the natural geothermal activity! We didn’t get to sit across from each other and chat during the regular skiing and tent days, so it was very nice to hang out as a group and chill out with warm meals.
SCIENCE
In part of the microfiber research at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UCSD, I collected a total of 24 snow samples from the eight remote locations across the Vatnajokull icecap.
Learn more about the research from the Discovery Channel video to the right.
Ayuka Kawakami 