British polar explorer, Tom Avery, and his team travelled 350 miles coast-to-coast in a time of 9 days, 19 hours and 40 minutes, beating the previous record for fastest crossing of Greenland’s ice cap by more than eight days.
Tom Avery, George Wells, Andrew Gerber and Patrick Woodhead at the start of their expedition. Photo: Oliver Hugh-Jones
Originally intending to complete the expedition in 12 days, the team snow-kited for 17 hours, covering a distance of 174 miles using strong tailwinds to reach speeds up to 30mph. Expedition leader, Tom Avery stated, “We set an ambitious target, but never in our wild dreams thought we’d do it that fast.”
Photo: Oliver Hugh-Jones
The team took on challenges including rock crevasses, fear of polar bears and lack of sleep. Bearing the frigid cold, -25C temperatures, Avery said, “The conditions were right, but it’s tough going on hard ground. Our sleds and our knees took a real pounding. We are black and blue, dehydrated, weather-beaten, frost-nipped… and it was all worth it.”
Photo: Oliver Hugh-Jones
“We are delighted, but we are shattered and exhausted more than we have ever been in our lives” explained Avery. However, he stated that “it probably would not be long” before he and his team begin to plan their next challenge.
To read BBC’s full coverage click here or watch the footage here.