Day 11 of the expedition
Distance traveled: 133.9 km / 83 mi
Position: N 66,30.532 W 043,28.892
Elevation: 2,488 m / 8,162 ft

We grew restless of staying still and in the absence of winds we were forced to ski. In six hours of skiing we managed a decent 27 km (17 mi).

This last night we managed to do much better with the aid of the winds, of course. We are now cruising at 2488 m (8,162 ft) of elevation, just high enough to feel the difference in our kites, and in our lungs. This will probably be as high as we will get, from here we cross over the saddle and start our decent on the west side. This is by no means the highest point in the ice cap though; at its summit the ice cap is more than 3 km (1.86 mi) high.

Above us a flurry of planes travel from Europe to the eastern United States and back, their east-west contrails leaving the sky scarred. There is growing evidence that these trails are having an impact on global climate, as part of a larger phenomenon known as global dimming.

Above the planes at an even higher altitude are an elaborate arrangement of satellites. A vast array of over 60 satellites make up the Iridium Satellite Communications network, others support our GPS, and currently two identical satellites are measuring the mass of the Greenland ice cap. These two are GRACE, an advanced system that measures the change in gravity around our planet. Using this information scientists can tell roughly if the ice cap is loosing or gaining mass, and while the system needs a bit more tuning, all the data that has been collected shows that Greenland is indeed losing ice.

Eric McNair-Landry