Gregers Gjersøe’s blog

Gregers Gjersøe

Hello everybody

Thank you very much for 2007! Wish you all a happy 2008!

Best regards from Gregers 

Finally at the Southpole.

På ski til Sydpolen - Fotoudstilling og foredrag.

(English translation below)

I forbindelse med et foredrag jeg skal afholde på Søndersø bibliotek den 13. februar 2008, om den første danske ekspedition til Sydpolen, kan du se en fotoudstilling på Bogense bibliotek.

Fotoudstillingen hænger på Bogense bibliotek fra den 19. december 2007 - 14. januar 2008.

På Otterup bibliotek fra den 17. januar 2008 - 30. januar 2008.

Fotoudstillingen slutter på Søndersø bibliotek fra den 1. februar 2008 og frem til foredraget onsdag den 13. februar 2008.

Du kan læse mere på www.nordfynsbib.dk

English:

Fotogallery and lecture.

I am giving a lecture at Søndersø libary on feb.13 2008, about our expedition to the Southpole. In connection with this I have made a photo gallery of pictures from the expedition. You can see the gallery at different locations in the period up to the lecture.

You can read more on: www.nordfynsbib.dk

The tekst for the gallery is in danish and the lecture also in danish.  

Julio Fiadi

I was just following Mr. Julio Fiadi` s interesting polar sledge experiment for solo travellers. My first impression was that it was too heavy, but the latest is, that he has had condensation problems with the door. And he has dropped his expedition this year to solve the problem.

Grand Tetons

I had a interesing comment from Roboter here yeasterday about the Grand Tetons. Wich made me think of where I had heard of the grand Tetons before, and then I remembered that some some friends of mine climbed in The Grand Tetons a few years back and had a great time with exellent climbing.

So I just checked the Grand Teton National park at the net, and I have put some information here below:

Mountaineering in The Grand Tetons 

The mountains in Grand Teton National Park offer some of the most accessible and diverse climbing in the country. A wide array of rock, snow and ice, mixed routes are available that range from easy outings to very difficult undertakings. Nearly all of the peaks have been climbed in one day. The higher and more remote routes and the longer and more difficult routes are usually climbed from a high camp or with a bivouac, however, and can take two or more days. There are many inherent risks and hazards associated with climbing and mountain travel (hiking, skiing etc.) Risks include, but are not limited to: lightning, rockfall, avalanches, crevasses, and extreme weather conditions (even during the summer months). Falls on steep snow and the subsequent inability to use an ice axe to preform a self-arrest have been the number one cause of accidents and deaths over the years. Any person pursuing these activities assumes all risks of and responsibility for any injury, including death, that may result. Competent technique, experience, safety equipment, physical fitness and good judgment are essential to preventing or minimize the chances of an accident occurring.

Permits are not required for mountaineering, but climbers on an overnight must have a backcountry permit to camp or bivouac. Current and detailed information is available at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station; in the summer call 307-739-3343, in the winter call 307-739-3309.

Norwegian expedition at the South Pole

There was a race to be the first to reach the South pole. It was between a Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen and a English expedition led by Robert Scott, The Norwegians used dogs to pull their sledges. On the way to the South Pole when they climbed up the Axel Heiberg glacier they shot a lot of the dogs, and the place is still called "slagteren" translated "the butcher site", the dead dogs served as food for the reminder of the dogs, for the rest of the expedition. This was very brutal and something Roald Amundsen, has been critised for many times since.

Robert Scotts english expedition, wanted to man haul the sledges to the South Pole, wich was the old British way to do those kind of expeditions. The brought some skis, but did not use them. They also brought a norwegian to learn them them how to use skis. He did not follow the expedition to the North pole, but it was him that found the men in their tent dead, next summer.

Their was enourmous differences in the two expeditions, for instance the british expedition dragged a lot of stone samples,wich they collected along the way for geological research. The Norwegian expedition was a totally trimmed sports expedition.

I have put some information about the norwegian expeditions arrival to the South Pole here below:

On December 8, with the sun shining brightly, they passed Shackleton's farthest south, 88°23'S. They were only 95 miles from the South Pole. The dogs were hungry and exhausted, the men had many sores and frostbitten faces, yet still the party pushed on. The closer they came to the Pole, the more Amundsen worried that Scott had already beaten them. The temptation to race on, at full speed, was shared by everyone. At 3:00 pm, on Friday, December 14, 1911, there was a simultaneous cry of "Halt!" as the sledge meters registered their arrival at the South Pole. They had achieved their goal. Symbolic of their struggle in unity, each of the men, with their weathered and frostbitten hands, grasped the Norwegian flag and planted it firmly at the geographical South Pole. Amundsen named the plain King Haakon VII's Plateau. There were festivities in the tent that evening with each man sharing a little seal meat. At midnight observations were taken that put them at 89° 56'S. Arrangements were now made to encircle the camp with a radius of approximately twelve and a half miles.

At noon, on December 17, the observations had been completed and it was certain the men had done all that could be done. In order to come a few inches closer to the actual Pole, Hanssen and Bjaaland went out four geographical miles and promptly returned. Bjaaland surprised Amundsen when he pulled out a cigar-case full of cigars at dinner. A cigar at the Pole! Following the festival dinner, preparations for departure began. A tent was erected, naming it Poleheim, with Amundsen leaving a message inside for Scott, along with a letter for King Haakon. Thirty-nine days later the party returned to Framheim, as planned, with all five men and 11 dogs "hale and hearty". The month-long voyage back to Tasmania was a frustrating time for Amundsen, who was now quite anxious to be the first to announce the news of their achievement. On March 7, 1912, Amundsen finally cabled his brother Leon with the historic news.

I was just reading www.thepoles.com and read an article about a polar sledge for solo travellers. Adventurer Mr. Julio Faidi will, maybe be using this sledge on his expedition to Antartica. It will be very interesting to hear how it worked. By sight it seems too heavy, but I will follow Mr. Faidi to read how it is going and keep you all posted here.   

Damien climbing

Damien Gildea off again for Antartica

Back in year 2000, Kristian Joos and me, met the other South Pole expeditions in Punta Arenas. Among them was a America/Australian/English expedition. The expedition was guided by American Doug Stoup and Australian Damien Gildea. The clients where two british guys, a blind guy Miles Hilton Barber and John Cook. We became very good friends with all four, and travelled with them to Antartica.

They have all been very busy since, and I will write some posts here at my blog, about there activities. Here first Damien:        

Over the last seven Antarctic summers Damien has climbed many of Antarctica’s highest peaks, several by new routes and made a number of first ascents. Most of these have been resurveyed with GPS by Damien and his team and in 2007 they produced the definitive new topographical map of the area around Vinson Massif.

In 2000-01 Damien worked as a guide for ANI on a 1130 km ski journey to the South Pole. He is the youngest Australian to ski to the South Pole and the only Australian to have guided a client to the South Pole. Damien has also climbed on the Antarctic Peninsula, both as a guide and doing GPS work.

In 1998 he wrote the Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology, the first and only reference book on climbing in Antarctica and South Georgia. Since then Damien has written numerous journal and magazine articles on climbing ‘down south’. He is the Antarctic correspondent for the American Alpine Journal, Alpinist magazine (USA) and Climb magazine (UK).

Since 1995 Damien has done several trips to the Himalaya and Karakoram, mainly to lesser-known areas. He has summited solo on popular peaks like Aconcagua, Sajama and Denali and climbed technical ice routes in New Zealand, Canada and the Alps.

You can follow his latest expedition on his webpage: www.antarcticmountains.com