Since the return from Kigali late August, I have hauled tires for 107 hours up to this day. It was in Kigali my buddy Jeff Willner offered to sponsor a Greenland passage bringing his wonderful son, Max. Due to an internship at Wall Street, it didn´t happen in March as hoped. But it seems to be happening early August this year. A different route. A much more demanding and interesting route. The so called Nansen route, which goes from sea to sea and involves 35-40 days of hauling a pulk across the icecap. The best known crossing is from Kangerlussuaq in the west to Isortoq in the East. It is not a proper crossing of Greenland, but from the beginning of the icecap to the end. This time, we will enter from sea and depart from sea, walking the last 3-5 days once of a very complicated orientation down the icecap to proper land. We are Meg, Anders and me.
More about that when I know we are leaving…..anything involving Greenland can end up not being as you thought. As life itself.
But why haul tires people ask me?
Best fo course would be to haul a proper pulk on snow all the year round, but few can do that. Hauling rubber tires gives the same motion and workout for body, legs and hips. I have begun to love it, because it is tough, but it is way kinder to the body that doing ultra running or carrying a heavy rucksack.
It is really easy to put together the set up. A harness, a rope, 1-3 tyres. And a couple of poles. Walking sticks. I use two tires most of the time, and depending on the surface I sometimes have one.
The toughest surface is long grass. Followed by paved road. And sand. The easiest is gravel. I like hauling the tires on forest trails the best, because the get stuck in stones, roots and during winter and autumn, you make roads for everyone else by cleaning the trail and filling up your tires which become really heavy.
Lately, I have had Hannahs company, and compared to running or hard skiing, you can talk whilst hauling tires. Another advantage, which makes everything more enjoyable.
I still have two months of hauling tires, before the crossing starts. But I mix the hauling with cycling, running and the gym. It is well known today, that mixed training is the best, healthiest and injury free way to train for whatever challnege in life for us doing Expeditions.
My buddy Börge Ousland have written this excellent guide if you want a bigger perspective on hauling. See https://www.ousland.no/tirepulling
