Day 1  Fly Copenhagen - Iceland  Having collected your baggage and made your way through customs, the airport shuttle bus is waiting to take you into Reykjavik, where you will be dropped off at your accommodation for the night.  Here you will meet the rest of the team and your Guide(s) for the expedition.  The Guide will go through the team's equipment.  Time for one last visit to the bar!  We will be staying in simple bunkhouse/sleeping bag accommodation whilst in Reykjavik.

Day 2  Fly Reykjavik to Kulusuk, East Greenland  A short transfer from our accommodation to the airport.  Flights are with Air Iceland.  A spectacular flight over the icebergs of the Denmark Strait, with fantastic views as we get closer of Greenland’s coast and the pack ice; the Icecap can even be seen on the horizon.  Landing on the gravel strip having passed close to the steep sides of a neighbouring mountain is quite an experience!

Day 3-4  Travel by boat in the Polar Current  Transferring our baggage to the edge of the fjord, we will be met by our boat.  Leaving Kulusuk behind, the motor boat will pass Tasiilaq, the area's largest settlement, before entering the Polar Current and travelling down the completely uninhabited SE coast of Greenland.  Making our way through the 'bergs and pack ice, the journey takes in some of the wildest coastline on Earth; mountains, glaciers and fjords, all of which would be familiar to Nansen and his team.  In August and September 1888, they drifted helplessly with the ice, only reaching Umivik, their starting point on the Ice, after rowing, sometimes sailing, back up the coast.   We'll most likely sleep onboard, travelling through the light Arctic 'night'.  Your guide will also take the opportunity to go over plans in detail, going over such issues as safety, navigation and equipment.

Day 5 Start out for the West Coast  Having arrived in Nansen's Bay, Umivik, all the equipment will be off-loaded, most likely near the large cairn built at the start of Nansen's route.  Once we have gained smooth ice, we'll prepare the loads to be dragged.  With the pulks at their heaviest, the ice surface rough and the ground sloping relatively steeply up the initial 20km, the first days will be taken slowly and steadily, as we become accustomed to the systems we will be using every day of the expedition.  At the end of the day, camp will be established.  As well as getting much needed rest, time in the tents is occupied with melting snow to rehydrate after the day's exertions, and in eating plenty.  The views back to the coast are simply breath-taking; a 220 degree panorama of mountains, vast glaciers, iceberg-studded fjords, all bathed in the purple and pink hues of sunset.

Day 6  Ascent onto the Icecap Polar expeditions are all about breaking down seemingly huge distances into 'bite-size' pieces, establishing routines or rhythms that increase efficiency and 'eat into' the mileage.  Each skiing day is broken down into short segments, between which 5-10 minute breaks are taken to re-hydrate and eat.  In these early days, particular care will be taken to avoid any potential crevasse danger.  At the end of the day, camp is established.  We will generally sleep 2 to a tent, each pair preparing their own meals and water.

Day 7  The ground becomes less steep  As we leave the coast behind, the potential for crevasses lessens and the going gets less steep.  Our daily distance covered and final position, plotted each night, will increase as the expedition progresses.  The white horizon of the Icecap is a special sight.

Day 8-20 Skiing  As the team becomes used to daily expedition life, we will gradually increase our hours of travel, starting with as little as 6 or 7 hours and building up to 10 or 12.  Daily distances are likely to be small in comparison to the second half of the expedition: we'll be pulling pulks uphill until the summit is reached.  The conditions in which we may travel can vary wildly: on still, sunny days, stripping down to thermals is possible; in windy, cold conditions, full face protection and outer wear is the order of the day as any exposed skin can be frost-bitten.

Although we will be skiing over the middle of an Icecap that stretches hundreds and even thousands of kilometres in every direction, the continually changing light as sunsets roll into sun rises, and differing levels of cloud cover changes snow contrast, make for a hauntingly beautiful icescape. 

Day 21  Summit of the Icecap  After days of pulling gradually uphill, at around 2500m we will reach the Icecap's summit.  At this elevation, temperatures can drop to the expedition's lowest.

Day 22-29  Skiing  Having passed the summit, the ice starts, imperceptably at first, to drop towards the west coast.  With increasingly light pulks and easier pulling, our daily distances are likely to greatly increase.

Day 30-32  The first signs of land and rough ice  The first distant sighting of the hills of the West Coast act as a signal that we will be entering the bare, 'bumpy' and sometimes rough ice of the last section of the icecap.  Methodically working through the humps and melt water channels of the area, we'll steadily approach land.

Day 33-34  Dry Land and the walk-out to the coast  Stones, soil and plants after weeks of snow and ice...  We leave the Ice behind and prepare our equipment for the 35km walk-out to the West Coast.  Unlike finishing in Kangerlussuaq, there's no jeep to pick up our equipment.  Instead, each pulk load will likely need to be broken down into 2 rucksack loads.  Ferrying these down Austmannadalen (the site of one of the main Norse settlements), we'll have to tackle some rough ground and willow thickets.  Leaving the valley behind, the route to the fjord leads accross the alluvial plains to a place called Nansen's Teldplads (campsite). 

Day 35  By boat to Nuuk  Having reached the fjord, Nansen built a boat out of willow, canvas and other bits of equipment he scavenged from the pulks.  We've got it easy though - having completed this legendary route, we'll be picked up by boat!  Travelling to Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, showers, warm beds and fresh food await.

Day 36  Nuuk - Contingency Day  An extra day that, if not used on the crossing, can be spent exploring Nuuk.

Day 37  Fly Nuuk - Copenhagen  In less than 2 hours, we fly back across the Icecap that we've spent the last weeks crossing- a strange experience!  The plane continues towards Europe and a rather big culture shock after the peace of the Icecap.  End of expedition...