Planning an expedition takes over a year – maybe even two years.
At the moment I am in full swing with planning for the Patagonia trip. I am also planning for the North Pole expedition which I hope to do next year.
We have to make lists of lots of things that we need – food, clothing, tents, sleds, fuel, ski systems etc. We then have to work our exactly which ones we want, by testing them or by talking to other experienced people. We try things out, change them or modify them. Because we sometimes have different opinions about what would be good we have to discuss it and find out why we have different ideas and then make a decision about which way to to go.
We have to plan our route. Included in this is planning how to get to the start. To get to Pataonian icecap we have to fly to Santiago and then in a smaller place to Coyhaique. From there we go on a 14 hour drive followed by a 5 hour boat trip. If we are lucky we will have some horses to assist with the final bit which is the climb up to an access point on the glacier. To do that we had to contact some Chilean people who can help us with making the arrangments (I don't speak Spanish). The Patagonia Mountaineering School is helping with this, plus with getting the permits we need. At the moment we have an application in with one Chilean dept. We will need others from other departments as well as permits from Argentina. A tricky aspect of our route is that we will cross the border between these two countries without going through a recognised border post. We found out about these things from other people who have trips in this area – helpful fellow adventurers are very important for the information they have about places.
We try to buy our gear in Australia – to support Australian businesses. Some things we need to buy from overseas though. Countries where there is cold, snowy weather have some clothing more suited to our needs.
We have to make lists of lots of things that we need – food, clothing, tents, sleds, fuel, ski systems etc. We then have to work our exactly which ones we want, by testing them or by talking to other experienced people. We try things out, change them or modify them. Because we sometimes have different opinions about what would be good we have to discuss it and find out why we have different ideas and then make a decision about which way to to go.
We have to plan our route. Included in this is planning how to get to the start. To get to Pataonian icecap we have to fly to Santiago and then in a smaller place to Coyhaique. From there we go on a 14 hour drive followed by a 5 hour boat trip. If we are lucky we will have some horses to assist with the final bit which is the climb up to an access point on the glacier. To do that we had to contact some Chilean people who can help us with making the arrangments (I don't speak Spanish). The Patagonia Mountaineering School is helping with this, plus with getting the permits we need. At the moment we have an application in with one Chilean dept. We will need others from other departments as well as permits from Argentina. A tricky aspect of our route is that we will cross the border between these two countries without going through a recognised border post. We found out about these things from other people who have trips in this area – helpful fellow adventurers are very important for the information they have about places.
We try to buy our gear in Australia – to support Australian businesses. Some things we need to buy from overseas though. Countries where there is cold, snowy weather have some clothing more suited to our needs.
The biggest part of the organization for a long and remote trip is raising the funds. This is the bit I enjoy the least and am least good at. I have to gather all my courage to contact people to ask for money. I do plan to work out how much money we need and work out a number of different ways to fundraise. The plan has helped, for example, to let us know that selling merchandise is not going to make us money (it just covers the costs) and that we need to hold quite a lot of fundraising events. I have asked people to help with the fundraising and to my surprise some people have agreed to help. Their willingness to do this is such a boost to my morale and makes the difficult task a much easier one. Once again I am reminded that the support of friends is one of the most valuable things you can have. I am also reminded that the job of organizing an expedition is pretty large – and much harder to do without the support of others.
Finally we all have to get ourselves fit, healthy and strong enough for the expedition.
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