The expedition was supposed to start on Monday 28th of February, but still we are in Resolute. Because of very difficult landing conditions on Ward Hunt Island the pilots need the weather to be nice. But there are always things to do up here, so there is no reason to sit down and get bored!

Everyday we are in contact with the pilots from Kenn Borek Air the company who will take us from Resolute Bay to Ward Hunt Island in their Twin Otter airplane. But so far the conditions have not been on our side. The flight is about 5 hours North from Resolute, so we have to be pretty sure about the light and weather conditions in the area before leaving.

Wayne (in red jacked) is monitoring the weather and ice conditions in this region. He has a full control from his satellite images! So daily he gives us an update status, besides this he is a very helpful person for us up here, with a lot of good advices and practical help for the expedition.

A view of Resolute Bay, the building in the center to the left is a Church.

Some of the time has been used to go through the equipment once more. There are always small details that can be improved, and the weight that can be cut.

Håvard in the garage where he is lining, counting, and checking his equipment before packing it in the sledge.

An example on how much garbage we can remove just from the covering paper on our food. This saves us a lot of weight especially since we don't leave anything behind.

The food is stuffed in bags: one bag contains food for 7 days and has the weight of approx 6 kg. Here is food for 4 weeks. The silver cans up to the right are filled with special fuel for our stoves.

Lukas, the hotel manager, on a visit in the garage to inspect our preparations.

The sledge ready to go, the weight is about 100 kg and contains everything such as food, fuel, ski sails, and clothes required for one month plus reserves.

I have prepared some cereals and powder milk for breakfast, so I don't need to eat pemmican for both breakfast and dinner. Besides, cereals are very healthy and give a good start for a long day of hard work, like benzene for an engine.

Håvard is mixing powder milk and sugar with the cereals from his own prescript. But he doesn't give guaranties for the taste!

Most modifications are done, but still we are spending some time by the sawing machine. So everything will be perfect before leaving!

Håvard is staring to get pretty good with the sawing machine and doing "woman's work", but no offense taken here, you have to do everything by yourself; otherwise it won't be done.

We have already started our weekly conversation with the pilot schools, in almost -40 degrees Celsius the phone batteries are not lasting for a long time, so that is some of the reasons why the time limit is set to 10 minutes per call. We are always looking forward to these phone calls, and we will for sure do it when we get started.

Håvard is speaking to American School In Japan, luckily the conversation is in English, not in Japanese.

Hopefully we will get started some time during this week or before the end of the weekend. We really need the time we got left before the spring and summer sets in and the snow melts. Everyday of waiting is a day closer to the summer without moving, but soon we will get started and hopefully we can get good progression south!

While waiting we will enjoy the delicious food of Martha here at Qausuittuq Inns North Hotel, and try to gain some more weight. We will lose it soon enough!

Qausuittuq Inns North Hotel and the sun low on the horizon, it is always beautiful.

Håvard Svidal-Haugan