[♪♪] So... the time has come. I'm here on Ellesmere Island and
behind me are the snowmobile,... three snowmobiles, the sled... people are getting ready and... this is when it all starts.
The Expedition Ellesmere 2019. Everything is packed for six weeks up north South of Axel Heiberg Island. I'm standing here in Grise Fiord on the south part of Ellesmere Island. And this is like the only settlement on Ellesmere. It's from here everything starts. It's from here the the adventure begins and... I don't know what to say.
It's just unreal for me. Spending six weeks up there,
the first five days with Terry,... his dad and Olaph. It's going to be amazing and
when they leave us for a little more than.... We will have a little more than
five weeks on our own. I barely doubt to.... dare to say it, but I hope my dream will come true.
The dream about seeing the white wolf. But there's so much more on this expedition
than just the white wolf. There's the landscape, all the animals,... having a great time with Anders,... just being in nature disconnected for six weeks.
It's awesome. Argh, I'm without words now. I need to just...
I just can't wait to go. Hey... Hello, my name is Anders Bilgram and I'm going on this expedition together with Morten
and we're going up to Axel Heiberg Island. Some years ago I actually dreamed of coming here to Grise Fiord. I was a leader of an expedition where we travelled around all the way around
the Arctic actually in an open boat. A 6-meter open boat and we... Actually, we wanted to go in here to Jones Sound
into Grise Fiord to get our gasoline. But it was completely packed up with ice so
I never got here. Until now. Now I'm here, because one of my old friends,
he's dead now. His name was Kristian Vibe. He told me many years ago, 21 years ago,
that he had been in the area in 1940. He travelled with dog sled and a team and
at that time they left some cairns with messages. These messages have never been found.
He told me: "You have to go there and find them." So actually I've been dreaming of coming here and
find these cairns for years. I thought it would be possible to go here by boat. Travel to the west through a place called Hell Gate. It tells everything Hell Gate. It's not a comfortable place. But I thought I could go there and
get into the Norwegian Bay. Travel around in the boat and possibly find these cairns. But it wasn't really possible. Too much ice there.
You risk to get stuck and can't get out again. So I... When Morten found out that
he wanted to go here for his passion I saw this could be amazing just to
couple the two things. My dream of finding these cairns with the messages from Kristian Vibe and
then the wolves. The wildlife which Morten is going to picture. So I think this was gonna be... a fantastic... cooperation.
Two different expeditions in one expedition. I think we will have just an amazing trip to
this very, very isolated area. And hopefully we will find both our things. And if not, we will anyway have
a fantastic adventure. Think it's just time to pack. Yeah and get going from Grise Fiord. It's always an... extremely exciting feeling right now,
because we have so much unknown ahead. The adventure is waiting just on the north side of
these mountains and it's starting today. So we will say goodbye from here and
then see you on the expedition. [♪♪] Holy Smoke! That's something. Now we've started.
Expedition Ellesmere is running! [♪♪] We are on our way up
through this valley to the glacier And in... probably less than an hour from now we have to cross that glacier to get on the other side of this beautiful mountain range.
Have a look here. Right now it's a challenge,
because we have to go down the glacier with a heavy sled. About 400 kilos sled. So therefore we try to break the sled with the ropes
and the snowmobile in front. [♪♪] Now here we are.
Nice cabin. That's perfect. Amazing. Here we are at the small cabin. After a long ride.
We left home about 2 o'clock. And now I think it's around 11 or something. But it has been a cold ride, but the weather is beautiful. It's clear. Everything is so awesome.
Look at this nice little cabin This is our first stop. Now it's all about getting some equipment inside,
get some food, get some sleep. And then tomorrow we need to fix a sled that has been damaged. And we have to spend some time here. Looking for hopefully some wildlife. We haven't seen
anything yet only tracks from the fox. So, let's see what is going to happen tomorrow. At least today has been absolutely awesome. If our dream comes true tomorrow
we might see the fossil forest. But maybe it's too much to ask for.
So let's take a day at a time and let's get in. [♪♪] A little cabin. [♪♪] It's quite crazy, because we have just seen
wolf tracks here. They are old, but they are here. Now people have walked here so it's difficult. But let me see if I can find them again.
Here they are look at this. Here they are. See? Ohohohoho! That is wolf tracks. Look at this landscape. [indistinct chatter] So it's bedtime in the little cabin here. And everyone is probably really tired after a long trip today. [laughs] Oh dammit. Two people just announced now that
they are snoring, so let's see. Yeah, good night. One of the sinners is right here. - Anders: Yeah that is true. [♪♪] It's so nice finally to sit here in this small cabin with Anders, Imushi, Terry and Olaph. Before the expedition
there was so much to take care of. Equipment, training, planning and
all that kind of stuff. Now we finally here. And in front of us we have an awesome adventure
here on Ellesmere Island. And I cannot describe how much I'm looking forward
to explore this amazing part of the world. After spending a great night in this beautiful cabin,
we're now ready to head up north Venom Fiord, hopefully,
and the goal for today is probably just heading through these beautiful landscapes and
to be able to hopefully maybe see our first wildlife. Especially because I saw
these wolf tracks yesterday. I'm extremely excited to see if I might be lucky. But enough talking. I think it is just time to get ready and go that way. We've just stopped here in the middle of the ice and
we have seen wolf tracks. Look at this. This is fantastic. Fantastic. It's the first time in my life
I've seen fresh wolf tracks from the arctic wolf. And it might be coming from the mountains up there. It has been walking to the other side. There's no point in just following the tracks,
because there might be from earlier today. But it just proves that there are wolves in this area. [indistinct chatter] [♪♪] Sitting here in the little wooden box behind
the snowmobile listening to the sound of the engine my thoughts were far away. I think they were following the wolf tracks
into the mountains. These snow covered, beautiful,... never-ending mountains. It's so hard to describe my feelings. Because for me the arctic wolf
is something very special. Just getting a glimpse of this mysterious animal here on
Ellesmere Island would be a dream coming true for me. Getting a photo of it seems almost unreal. And it will take a big portion of luck. And at the same time I would need all my equipment
to work with me in these extreme temperatures. I'll just have to believe in it and
that is exactly what I'm going to do. I wish I could describe my feelings
for this animal a little better, but I just can't. I'm so glad we saw the fresh wolf tracks. And that I got a photo of them. And I will never forget the feeling
of putting my hand down in the snow next to a fresh footprint from a wolf. That gave me goosebumps. [♪♪] So... we are on the way up north
through this mountain range here. The goal for today is to see if we can spot any wildlife. We're going to explore the area up there. We have an idea about where it could be. So yeah now it's just to... We are looking at the map now trying to decide
which way to pass these mountains. Two of them seem to end in like a dead end,
but we have one last chance. So I hope we can get up there.
So yeah... Another great day here on Ellesmere. We took a right too early. We continued heading north
towards our next goal in the expedition: a cairn that should be placed in Eureka Sound. From there we'll continue west
towards Axel Heiberg Island. It would be a really long ride and
we heavily depended on fuel. Because we couldn't carry enough fuel
for the whole expedition on our sleds we needed to find an old fuel depot. That should be placed a little further north. What we found there was not good. The drums were almost empty and
the bit of fuel that was left was in a very bad condition. So bad that we did not
dare to use it for the snowmobiles. The expedition now really took a turn
and we had to change our plans. We were supposed to get dropped off
at Axel Heiberg Island and from there ski all the way home
to the first cabin. But now this was not possible
since we couldn't reach that island. We had to go back to a second cabin and the guides would then go back to
Grise Fiord to refuel so that hopefully we could get a second chance,
probably also our last chance, to reach this mysterious Axel Heiberg Island. [♪♪] Now we just found the letter and we're so excited!
- Anders: it's fantastic. - Anders: Yeah, it's a complete highlight of my life. - Morten: But we just thought we didn't get it? - Anders: We've been looking, looking, looking and
looking and I asked Olaph if we could drive up there and we looked and found some stones,
but got nothing and then Olaph, you tell... Then I saw a rock that seems to be knocked down,
that looked like it was knocked down. And so I want to go check and there was... I pulled the rock and it was right there. The can. I pulled the can first
and the letter came out. I mean this came out. - Anders: We have found this fantastic thing.
It's a history part. It's a history thing and
it's not a very long letter no no, no... no, but it's a message from people
who were here by dogsledding. Almost 80 years ago. It's cold here and sometimes you freeze but at that time the hairs on body were rising up not because you're freezing,
but because of the emotional excitement. And I think Olaph you had to... - Olaph: With you I had some kind of feeling when I found that. When I got there. I was so excited. - Anders: You were digging just like a bear. - Olaph: I found it!! We rebuilt the cairn together and
we put in a new message telling about how Ausuittuq Adventures and
Expedition Ellesmere came here and now this little story is in the field notes here
and two cigarettes from Olaph. And if someone comes here and finds this cairn,
they will also find our message, a couple of cigarettes and
the spirit of the North. So now it's been a huge, huge thing for me personally to be here and having found one message from Kristian Vibe. And now we have rebuilt it and it's back with a new message. As we were all sitting in the tent that evening,
suddenly there was something scratching outside. "It's a polar bear" one of the guides said. And without thinking I grabbed my bear banger, jumped out from the tent without shoes and shot it towards the polar bear and
luckily it ran away. It was less than 20 meters from me
trying to drag a musk ox skin away. After that, I was a little sad I didn't get my camera. But there really wasn't time for that. The nex day I went for a toilet visit
behind the big iceberg next to our camp. And as I was just about to sit down suddenly the snow moved in front of me and
less than a hundred meters away a big polar bear rose. I ran back to get my camera, but too late. One of the guides shot two warning shots
to scare the bear away. Luckily, I had my camera with me
when I later that day saw the polar bear. This one majestic animal walking over the ice
surrounded by white. And this time I managed to capture
this beautiful moment. [♪♪] I've had massive problems with the Z7 and the Z6 Nikon cameras. The buttons are freezing. Things are falling off,
because it has been down to minus 37 I think. So yeah, I have to do a lot of
repair work when I come in. And both cameras kind of stopped working when it gets below 30, 32. So, yeah... But now it's spring
it'll get warmer. The Sun... Look at the Sun,
it is about to set. It's... absolutely... fantastic out there. As you have probably noticed,
I haven't been vlogging a whole lot because it has been so challenging just to keep the batteries alive to make the photographs of the wildlife I have met so far. And the landscapes and the situations. So actually vlogging has not been possible. It has been too cold. Cameras have died. Frozen. And I've just been able to make
a few pictures every so often. Batteries have collapsed. It has been a challenge with the equipment. But I think now it will get a little warmer. We're further south again and hopefully because of the time of the year... it's now... What is it? It is probably the eighth and ninth of April. So now it should start to get a little warmer. Hopefully, I can get my equipment up and running. Start getting more vlogging
to share some of these experiences. But yeah, let's get in. [♪♪] We have been in the cabin for some days now. And besides sorting out and repairing some
of the equipment we've been out a lot. Skiing across this cold white desolate landscape
in our search for wildlife. Often Anders went in one direction
and me in another. Just to cover as big an area as possible. But there's been no sign of anything living. No animals.
Just a few tracks of an arctic fox. It is extremely beautiful, but at the same time
frustrating not to be able to find any wildlife. It's a paradox though,
because this is what I like the most. The solitude, simplicity and the challenge of photographing
the sparse wildlife in the High Arctic. When I scout the area with my binoculars,
I see nothing but the snow-covered landscape blending into the bright sky in the horizon. Then suddenly an animal reveals itself to me. Not the white wolf, the polar bear
or the arctic fox,... but a small inconspicuous lemming. It disappears just as fast as it arrived and I only get a short moment
with the little fellow. A few seconds only. But just enough time
to get one single photo. [♪♪] We have been in the cabin
for some days now and... it has been really nice to get
everything dried up and... actually don't have to worry about
polar bears in the night. And this is really, really, really comfortable. I'm trying to repair my gloves. I have two pairs now where the... Because when I scroll the wheel on the camera... I get this. But it's not so warm. So, now with a needle in the string. Look at this one, it's almost there. Just needs the last a little bit. So it's a quite useful with a little repair kit. Another thing I've had to repair was both my Nikon Z6 which is filming now and the Z7 here. I had the problem with the battery door. It has fallen off One time I thought I had lost it,
but it was down in the pulk. And now I've put duct tape on it so that they cannot...
Even though they fall off they will stay here. So these two modifications I have made. And... I had to remove the rubber eye... thing from the camera,... because it was... snow would gather and make the little eye sensor
blocked and I couldn't really clean the eyepiece. So I've done this. Put tape on instead
so that I don't freeze my eye when I put it in. My nose has had a quite heavy frostbite here. Because of the wool thing sitting like icy scraping. But now the scab has come off
and it's fine again. Ready for another frostbite.
But yeah... There's Anders standing over there. Probably doesn't want to disturb the filming. What's up Anders? Yeah, well just been out for myself with the toilet roll. It's one of the highlights of the day
to go to get a little dump. Can you tell us what is happening today? Well, well today we're waiting for Terry and Olaph
to come here and pick us up. We are going to this Southwest Cape of Axel Heiberg Island to look for another four cairns from Kristian Vibe and his team. Hopefully with messages. It might be difficult to find the cairns,
but we hope it'll be possible. So we will travel, I guess, tomorrow up there. Because they're here in the evening and we will have
some eating and then sleeping and then we go. I'm looking very much forward to it, because... Actually, well we did find one cairn with a message. We did find another cairn without message. But I think the most interesting messages
would be in the upcoming cairns so this south-west cape of Axel Heiberg and the following and cairns. I think they are very, very interesting,
the messages I would really, really, really love to get a hold of these
and bring them back home. Yeah, we are... both looking forward to leaving the cabin. I think even though when you arrive
at a cabin after some days and in the tent and some days out there
you think to yourself I never want to leave the cabin again, but after being here for... surround by basically just ice desert I think we're both looking forward to
hopefully see something else see some new mountains and
see some,... hopefully, some wildlife. We still have about a month here,
a little more than a month, so there will be good time. But I think especially in the beginning
it's always like will I see... the wolf? Will I see the polar bear?
Will I see the arctic hare? Will I see the fox? We have been here for almost two weeks now,
and I'm starting to really, really, really want to soon
make a lot of pictures with the camera. But yeah... An old Danish saying is that
everything comes to the person that waits so... We have been waiting for a while now.
So we hope maybe luck will turn around and... when it comes to cairns and
when it comes to wildlife. So yeah, hopefully.... Don't show this to my wife. [They speak Danish] [♪♪] It is the last day in the cabin and after a nice cup of hot coffee I decide to go out to check for wildlife. As I open the door,
I just stare while holding my breath. An arctic fox is sniffing around
less than 20 meters in front of me. This moment is fantastic. And I feel how my heart starts beating in my chest
as I make my first photo of this little white beauty. Well now we just seen Terry and Olaph. They are coming from... Aujuittuq up here and we are going tomorrow, I guess,
up to Axel Heiberg Island again to find the last cairns
from Vibe and his team. We had a... fantastic... little fox running around here. Sleeping just next to us, coming,
having a little bit to eat. But now we are very happy
that it left. Away in the direction of the sunset. So it won't get shot,
because that could happen, I guess. [indistinct chatting] - Terry: We had a pretty rough ride on the way here. Some big snowdrifts on the sea ice. We hit a couple of bad bumps and the sled on one side broke in half. So I'm just trying to repair it. Looks like a really pretty nasty crash
- Terry: It is. As you can see... it's a challenge to get this sled repaired. Everyone is working hard and when I put this camera away I'll be helping. So hopefully we can get everything
fixed and repaired before tomorrow morning
where we are heading towards Axel Heiberg Island. Hopefully. And I think everyone islooking forward to see
this mysterious west coast of this... Yeah, it's... there's so much written about it.
There's so much in history and... We're all looking forward to that trip. But until then...
Look at this beautiful sunset behind me. [indistinct chatting] We're finally ready to head to Axel Heiberg. We're going to try to look for more cairns. Stop by an iceberg for some drinking water. How long do you think the ride will be? To the last cairn maybe about... eight or nine hours. could be more.
- Morten: Good. Let's go. Okay ready?
- Morten: Yeah! After spending about a week in this little cabin
in the middle of an ice desert. It's really, really nice
once again to get going. Today we are heading towards
Axel Heiberg Island and probably the most important
cairns on this expedition the south-west cape of Axel Heiberg Island. I know Anders is extremely excited and so am I. So yeah, we have about eight hours
right in front of us. So it's about to get going. But yeah,
snowmobiles are getting ready. We are ready.
All the equipment is packed So now it's just about going straight north. [♪♪] So this is... a bad situation,
because... just as we are getting close
to the south-west cape of Axel Heiberg Island Suddenly we look back and we couldn't see Olaph. Like, the rear snowmobile. We're always traveling with two snowmobiles together
in case of breakdowns. So that we can help each other. The boys are trying to repair it. It's the....
I don't know what it's called in English... but the thing that goes up and down. That just got stuck and has
kind of broken some of the engines. This is definitely not an easy fix. I hope... we are lucky with the with the engine,
but we'll see. Yeah, so we're having a short break now. Having some food, some hot water, some coffee. I think just to warm up a little bit. So yeah, now everyone is excited
to see if that beast wants to start again. Yeah, I don't know what...
Terry, what is it called the one...? The one we have replaced? Like the part?
- Morten: Yeah The piston.
- Morten: What happened to the snowmobile? Why did it stop? We were going with the wind and sometimes when that happens
the engines don't cool down quick enough and the piston got too hot and
melted onto the cylinder and tore apart. We had to replace it.
- Morten: So that's pretty shit. Let's hope it will start again. I really, really don't know if it'll be possible for us
to make it the last approximately 60 kilometers to the Cape. Argh, it's so difficult.
It's so close and so far. I can see it, but maybe we can't get there. Well it's not feeling very nice,
but I know that if we have to return I will never come up there again
and find these cairns from Vibe. And respect what Terry and Olaph are doing now. They're trying to repair this snowmobile. With a new piston,
it might not be possible to... drive... with the heavy load that we're carrying so we might have to return from here. So it's... it's... possible that everything will fall down and... so far and... So close and yet so far. [♪♪]
