Distance traveled:
May 26th: 38.1 km
May 27th: 11.1 km
May 28th: 153.7 km

Position: Igloolik - 69.3666N,081.7833W

After seven hard days of skiing, we were desperate for winds; without them, we would soon have to resort to our spare rations. On the morning of the 26th, a light and erratic breeze picked up from the south, and we were able to slowly make progress on our 14 meter Yakuza kites, flown on 60 meter lines.

Our weather forcast the next morning was titled: "the times they are a changing". West winds were perdicted to pick up at 6 pm and blow till 6 pm the following day. We skied only 4 hours, set up camp ate dinner and took a 4 hour nap. Sure enough, the winds picked up as predicted and we were quick to pack up our tent.

With our kites in the air, we started our descent off the plateau, fenced in in a narrow valley following a river. The rocky hills which rose up to 800 feet on either side confined us to the valley floor. For the first section of the night, we weren't able to kite more than 30 minutes at a time. The hills made the winds turbulent, at times blocking them completely, and the river often turned upwind. So we kited when possible, and walked or skied when the winds or terrain would not permit.

As the morning sun rose, we descended off the river onto flat terrain. However the winds were not favorable, gusting up and down forcing us to change our kite size frequently. Exhausted, we kept trying to make as many miles as possible. The town of Igloolik was still far, and we knew these west winds would only last till this evening. We had only 24 hours of wind, none could be wasted.

This wasn't our first 24 hour push; on our first Pittarak expedition in Greenland, we did a 24 hour day for "fun", covering over 400 km. This last year, Eric was back in Greenland and put in a new world record, traveling 595 km in 24 hours. However, Greenland is home to an immense icecap that has both steady winds and flat terrain. Today, between the terrain and the winds, the only record to be made is the number of times we un-rolled and re-rolled our kites.

Finally, as the sky clouded over, the winds increased, and we zipped across the white landscape. After twenty five hours of kite skiing, skiing and walking, Igloolik Island appeared on the horizon. We kite skied around the point of the island, and the town of Igloolik came into sight. It was late, and we were exhausted, so we pitched our tent. The delights of town could wait till tomorrow.

Sarah

[Via Pittarak: Northwest Passage Expedition]