Teenage Ice Trekker My Life

You ready?

Hi, I'm Jamie, I'm 14. I'm off to Greenland.

'My dad has asked me to join him for a once-in-a-lifetime

'Arctic adventure.'

HE GROANS

I'm just being hit by these little particles of ice and snow.

I mean, my face has gone numb, so...

We want to climb Greenland's Mount Tiniteqilaaq,

but just reaching it will take four days

and the rest of the team are full-strength adults.

There's no way I'm going to get up that.

Biggest risk is probably frostbite.

I've lost feeling in my fingers already.

Polar bears could attack.

I'm not really looking forward to polar bear watch.

And when we're crossing the glaciers, you may get cracks in it

and they're unseen because of snow cover. You just fall in.

Got it.

But Dad has an eye condition which means that he's

gradually losing his sight.

The stuff off to the sides doesn't exist,

so I have to scan the horizon.

The main reason behind the trip is just to do more stuff together

and enjoy it because there will be a point where it will be harder.

When Dad asked me to join him, I thought, "Brilliant!"

You're doing really well.

But what am I letting myself in for?

It will be one of the toughest things I've ever done.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get past this kind of mental block.

And I just want to get home safely, I guess.

Greenland is one of the toughest environments on Earth.

60 mile an hour winds and minus 20 temperatures

are normal at this time of year.

The British Army do their Arctic training here.

Without the right preparation,

you're dead.

So, Dad and I have spent eight months

getting the right kit together.

These are stupid hats, aren't they?

It's not a fashion parade out there, mate.

These are useless.

'We need superinsulated clothing.'

This is the big down jacket.

I'm struggling to get the zip done.

Goodness' sake.

Well, I'd be very, very cold!

'Our food has to be high-energy and easy to cook.'

This tastes really nice.

This...

doesn't taste very good at all.

'And going to the toilet won't be simple.'

This is the bottle we'll pee in when we're in the tent

because it will be too cold at night outside, so...

Close the lid and then in the morning we'll dispose of it.

You don't want to drink from the wrong bottle!

'Dad and I have been training together twice a week

'for six months.

'With a week to go, I'm excited about the trip,

'but a bit sick of pulling tyres.'

You'll need these.

Yeah, I'm not going anywhere yet.

With Dad's work and my school,

we don't normally hang out this much.

These are stupid, aren't they?

It's all in the wrist, mate.

No, you turn... No, you were turning it a totally different way to me.

Oh, it's done now, it's done.

Goodness' sake.

'We get on well,

'except when we both think we're right.'

Well, it's all completely wrong.

Everything has been adjusted.

-Everything's wrong?

-Yeah, every...

-Everything's wrong today.

-Everything's wrong.

-Bye then!

If it's like this in Greenland, we're dead.

'I'm really into athletics and I'm a county sprinting champion,

'but this, this is going to be more of a marathon.'

I'm beginning to feel it already and I think I've gone

a couple of hundred metres, at most.

Whenever you need a break, you just say and we'll stop.

Speak for yourself.

I'm not trying to push him. I just think that young people have

a lot more capabilities than sometimes grown-ups

give them credit for.

It's just dawning on me how hard it's going to be.

But, I mean, no, I'm going to do it.

But...

..there might be a bit more to it than I have so far thought.

Well, he's got to prove himself right. He's got to do it

or else he won't make it to the plane to get home, will he?

'No pressure then.'

'As well as my dad, I live with my mum and sister

'and this might be our last decent meal in ages.'

Jamie, when there's no food,

he gets really, really grumpy.

Really grumpy.

Sometimes Jamie can be very grown up and very tactful.

At other times, it's just teenage brain

and he can only think about himself.

Let's hope that he's diplomatic when he needs to be.

'I'll try my best, Mum.

'Departure day for the biggest adventure of my life.'

Greenland is the world's largest island.

But there's nothing green about it.

So, why the name?

Well, a Viking - Erik the Red -

called it Greenland to encourage other Vikings to settle there.

He feared if he told them the truth, no-one would come

and looking down on it, I can see why.

There's a lot of white. But, I mean, I tell you what,

just coming in looking out the window, it's beautiful.

Seeing the sea ice and everything is pretty amazing.

'There are no taxis here to take us to the village.

'Whoopsie!

'Our gear goes ahead of us, but we have to walk.

'Better get used to it, I suppose.

'Making up the expedition, there's Dad, me

'and two of his friends, Ben and Lewi.'

In this type of environment,

I would guess that Jamie and I

are on a par, in as much as

we've got no experience.

What started off as a bit of a pipe dream, yeah,

is very real today.

Our expedition starts in Kulusuk,

home to about 250 Inuit Eskimo.

It's weird, isn't it? It's really weird.

I mean, it's very quiet.

'Many Inuits still hunt and fish for a living.'

We saw a guy walk past with a massive spear and a rifle.

'But one thing we spot is more familiar.

'And we're invited for a kickabout.'

MUSIC: Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes ft Black Eyed Peas

Clearly, being a kid and a teenager out here is totally different.

I mean, the facilities - nothing.

I mean, we're playing on a frozen bit of sea at the moment.

I mean, they still enjoy it all the same.

The weather's taking a turn for the worse, but play still goes on.

Tomorrow we head off into the wilderness,

but as we bed down we get woken by a mysterious glow.

Look how lucky we are. This is the first time I've seen it,

these are the northern lights.

And they're really good.

'Apparently, it's gasses from solar activity being magnetically

'pulled down to the North Pole.'

It's like butterflies and unicorns, that kind of thing.

It's slightly magical.

I'm freezing, but it's pretty cool.

Really, really cool.

'Is this a good or a bad omen?

'I don't know which.'

40km of sea ice and glaciers lie

between us and our mountain.

It's beautiful weather, it's really nice,

but I tell you what, it's still pretty chilly.

I've just left that hut for the last time

and it's not looking that great!

'Paul, our guide, shows us how best to use these nordic skis.'

This is the bit that makes you grip the snow.

This bit here slides and that is what's going to allow us

to tow our sledges.

'My pulk weighs over half my body weight,

'but it will keep me alive.

'It contains all my food, 'clothes and equipment

'for eight days of extreme weather.'

I mean, starting off with this kind of weather, I don't really want

to convince myself that it will all be like this because it won't.

I guess we're on a frozen lake or the top of a sea inlet,

top of a loch.

And there isn't a breath of wind.

It's just a beautiful day.

'It's so cold that we're actually walking on water.

'The sea has frozen over and the mountains around us

'are really islands surrounded by sea ice.

'Tonight's camp is 10km away, at the base of a glacier.'

Catherine Zeta-Jones.

She's Welsh.

We're playing a few games between us to keep us awake

because it's quite tedious. Left, right, left, right.

We're currently stuck trying to guess a British actress

under the age of 50.

I'm not sure how much he likes the tedium of just

plodding away for hour after hour after hour.

I rather get the impression he's more of a sprinter than

a long-distance man.

So, that's going to be a bit of a challenge for him.

Scarlett Johansson.

He was playing word games with the guys within

quarter of an hour of us leaving the village.

Jennifer Lopez. Can you ask Ben to pass it back?

'The routine is 50 minutes skiing then ten minutes rest.

'On the second break, we get to have lunch.

'Finally!'

How you doing, fella?

Yeah, I'm good.

My pulk's fine.

There are very few signs of life out here.

'This is the only other person we've seen all day.

'Six days of this is going to be tough...

'..but I wonder how Dad's doing with his eyesight?'

Everything I see is pretty much what you see...

..because it's in the distance.

The stuff off to the sides doesn't exist,

so I have to scan the horizon quite a lot just to keep

a sense of where I am. But I honestly haven't thought

about eyesight as an issue, really.

'After six long hours of trekking, we reach the base of the glacier...'

-Is that us?

-Think so.

'..but it's not over yet -

'setting up camp will take another two hours.'

Right, let's get these tents sorted out.

Always a miserable get!

I'm too tired.

Everyone gets stuck in putting up the tents...

except me.

I'm pretty tired and hungry -

bit reluctant to do things at the moment.

I've found myself kind of hanging around a bit, not with much to do.

You get quite cold quite quickly, but I think I probably should

be doing something, maybe chipping in, helping out,

because I am the only person that's not doing anything.

Look at that now, eh? Roaring.

Snow in there to top it up.

You can tell it's had an effect on him.

Because he's tired, he's just gone quiet. Jamie's never quiet.

He's clearly thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?"

'But I also have something on my mind.'

A few years ago, a British schoolboy was tragically killed in the Arctic.

It was reported on Newsround at the time.

Now, we've got some bad news to bring to you -

a 17-year-old British tourist, who was on a camping trip

in the Arctic, has been killed by a polar bear.

The attack happened on the remote Svalbard island

off the north coast of Norway.

Officials warned tourists to be careful after several

bears like this one were spotted in the area.

As a result, every expedition now takes extra precautions.

There's a polar bear watch.

An hour or so each night,

we have to take it in turns to come and sit outside the tent,

in whatever negative temperature it is,

and just look for polar bears.

If we do see one, our guide will fire a warning shot

-over the bear's head to scare it off. GUIDE:

-..and you lock it.

For this first night,

the guys at the end are going to go on the first shift,

so that's going to go from half-eight through till one o'clock.

I'm not really looking forward to polar bear watch, to be honest.

My shift is 1am to 2.30,

but Dad has the perfect excuse to get out of it.

YOU don't even have to do it,

-if you don't want to.

-No, I don't have to do it

because I can't see in the dark, so I'd be useless.

-You are useless anyway.

-And, erm...

I think I'm just here to give some support to Jamie,

-who's got to do polar bear watch.

-Do some cheerleading.

And I think, as I'm a responsible parent, I've got to look after Jamie

in the dark. He's got to look after me in the dark,

but I've got to make sure that he doesn't wander off and get bored.

'1am and it's my shift already.'

It's freezing out here.

(There's no wind at all. It's -15 out here.)

HE EXHALES

'I couldn't sense the width of vision that everybody else could

'so, you know, I would scan the horizon fairly swiftly.'

But it's funny, actually, if you go into a dark room

from a light room, your eyes would adjust in five minutes -

it might take mine 30-40 minutes,

'but it'd probably just about get there.'

So, actually, as long as the bear doesn't attack

'in the first 30 minutes, it's fine.'

If one had turned up and we'd all gone, "Oh, no,

"nothing will happen," there could have been terrible consequences -

I mean, really horrific consequences.

There were no bears, we got away with it...until next time.

The mountain we want to climb is still three days away...

..but today we need to climb this glacier.

It's a 12km mountain of ice and snow.

'My sledge weighs as much as my sister,

'and it's like trying to pull it uphill on roller skates.'

-I can't see this really working.

-No.

JAMIE SIGHS

Now I'm struggling quite a lot. I've got a blocked nose

so I'm really struggling to breathe on my way up.

'With an hour gone, camp's still only just behind me.'

This is really hard. Really hard.

It's the hardest we've had by quite a long way.

The first climb's done,

but there's another 10km ahead of us.

All good? You on the flat up there?

Looks like we're off.

'Downhill now, I'm just going to let the sled do the work.

'I'm just going to put it in front of me.'

HE PANTS

It's not quite as easy as it looks.

No, don't roll, please.

I'm so hungry.

Lunch should be a relief,

but in this wind it's colder than our freezer.

Welcome to our day two picnic spot.

HE SHUDDERS

Oh, I got the bad end.

I think coming up that really steep bit was the first time you actually

thought, "Yeah, I'm enjoying this," in a weird kind of way.

No, I just thought, "I want to get home."

You want to get home?!

And the quickest way is to run up the hill and go forwards?

-Yeah...

-You're right.

-..shorter distance.

You did well.

If I had a choice now whether to fly home,

or just trundle through the next six days...

..I think I'd have to go with the plane.

'But I just don't have that choice -

'there's still the rest of the glacier to climb.'

HE GRUNTS

There's no way I'm going to get up that.

No, we get there

and then we'll go right again.

OK?

After seven hours of climbing, we finally top a glacier.

I should be ecstatic.

Last climb of the day, that was, guys, well done.

Awesome work up that hill.

'I want to prove I can do this,

'but I'm not sure I can.'

Pain was the main thing.

Just that twinging muscle down there?

Yeah, but it's really quite painful - a sharp pain every time.

Like, every step.

'Last year, I injured my hip

'and it stopped me running for nine months.

'But it's not just the physical pain...'

For me, I found it more mentally difficult,

like, just getting used to the whole new routine...

..and getting used to the fact that I'm not going

to be actually inside for another week.

THEY PULL TENT ZIP

So today's plan is to carry on down this valley...

'We're halfway to the mountain, and it's flat sea ice from here,

'but it's still 20km away.'

To be honest, I'm not enjoying it that much.

I'm not sure if I'll...

be able to get past this kind of mental block that I keep having.

Progress is fast on the flat terrain...

..but before lunch, I get a sharp pain in my hip.

An injury has just occurred in my right hip,

which is not good at all,

so what I want to do is carry on,

but without my pulk,

so the other guys would take it in turns to carry it.

Dad has offered to pull my pulk as well as his.

-At least I don't have to sit on the back of it yet.

-Huh?

At least I don't have to sit on the back of it yet.

'Thanks, Dad. I won't forget this.'

-No, no...

-Oh, well.

-..you're doing really well.

'Seeing Ben and Lewi and my dad all being quite cheerful,

'when I'm clearly having a pretty rubbish day...'

-DAD:

-Give us a smile! Yee!

..and they've probably gone through it all.

But I think it's that kind of pushing yourself through it,

that's the stuff I'm trying to learn now.

My hip pain is easing,

but rather than risk it getting worse again, we camp early.

It's just what I need.

The tent's nearly up already, and also we've got

a lovely, lovely view to camp by, as well, so it's all...

It's all really good.

This is the first time I've been relatively happy.

It's mentally toughening because you can't stop.

There's nothing you can do - there's nowhere you can go except forwards.

So you're going to be tougher just because...

you get used to situations where you can't...

quit, I suppose.

Or, at least, there's times when you want to quit in life

-about doing everything, aren't there?

-Whoa.

Resurface a bit there - you've gone a bit deep.

That's a bit much.

Morning, all. It's day four,

it's a storm outside.

It is really windy this morning, which is quite different.

We haven't really had to wake up with the wind yet,

so that'll be different.

But I'm not feeling as negative today so...

it should be a laugh and we'll see how it goes.

'In a full-on storm, there's no time for moping around.'

Wait, no, I can hold the end.

I've been chipping in a lot more today, helping out.

I mean, actually, it gives you more stuff to do,

it lets the time pass quicker.

I think that has... That has changed me. It's shown me that,

actually, there's much more to get from actually

getting up and just doing the little things.

I think the wind's dropped a bit, but it's going to be pretty

challenging going because I think we're going straight into the wind.

What seemed impossible on day two now seems like fun.

HE LAUGHS AND GRUNTS

HE PANTS

This is amazing. It's crazy.

Oh, you probably just saw me fall down that slope.

I mean, this is crazy.

This is nothing like the last couple of days,

but it's good fun. It's really good fun.

Also, you can see that I've cheered up a little bit, which is also good.

I'm just being hit by these little particles of ice and snow.

I mean, my face has gone numb.

I don't really know how it feels any more.

My nose is running - I'm a bit of a mess - but it's way more exciting.

We push on through the storm

to the base of Mount Tiniteqilaaq -

the mountain we've set out to climb.

It's nice to know that this might be our furthest distance,

but we're certainly not done yet.

Certainly not done yet.

And to be honest, now, I'm not disappointed we're not done yet.

I could quite happily do another few days.

Day five...and the weather is perfect for climbing.

Leaving the sledges in camp, we attempt the summit.

We've spent a lot of time on the sea ice, at sea level,

so getting up here, being able to look across it all...

is really nice.

It's pretty impressive. You know, you don't

get to see it just anywhere else in the world.

Well, apart from other places like this, but you know what I mean.

From the top of the summit, we should have a massive view

all the way around the area we've travelled.

I think that will be our reward for the last few days.

As I say, can't wait to get to the top.

Awesome!

You can just see the sea over there.

There's a sense of achievement now.

It's the first we've properly seen of the whole area.

It gives you a sense of quite how big this place is, as well.

Pop in.

-Right, shall we, erm...?

-Get off this hill?

On our journey back to Kulusuk, we come across

icebergs trapped in the frozen sea...

That's weird, that's like proper glass. It's like polished glass.

..and dog trains returning from hunting trips...

DRIVER SHOUTS He must get quite cold

sitting on the back of one of those.

But it does look a lot more comfortable, I guess.

..and I now totally get why Dad wanted to come here.

I honestly haven't thought about eyesight

as an issue for days, really.

I mean, sometimes if I put things down near me in the tent

I have to hunt around for them, but out here it's...

It's very liberating because...

..I don't know, it's the least of the issues, really.

There's navigation, there's cold, there's wind,

there's the group, there's food, there's ice conditions.

And if I look ahead, I'm sure I get just as much pleasure from

the new valley coming into the picture...

..and a whole load of icebergs just parked there.

So, yeah, for me, it just puts it all in perspective, literally.

I think it has changed me, and it is still changing me.

I mean, I think just that transition from being a grumpy old

teenager right through day one and two, and then most of day three,

hopefully to someone now that

can be seen as not necessarily just

an egotistical, selfish teenager that was just moaning around camp.

After eight days and over 80km out on the ice,

we finally make it back to Kulusuk,

smelly and in really bad need of a shower.

'As a physical and mental challenge, it's probably

'the toughest thing I've done, ever.

'I didn't think I'd make it the whole way on days one and two,

'but it's a huge relief.'

-High-five! Well done, Jamie.

-Well done, Jamie.

'But, I mean, the fact that we've actually done it

'gives you the kind of confidence to MAYBE do another one.'

Maybe we could do a desert one, or something.

-You want a warm climate trip now?

-Yeah.

OK, how about a summer holiday?

-Sounds good.

-Hm, OK.

-Sounds good.