On Wednesday 11th May, Antony Jinman, (Founder of Education Through Expeditions), Duncan Eadie, (IT and Business Services Director at Foot Anstey) and Vijay Shah returned to Plymouth following an eventful expedition on Baffin Island. They have become the first British team to ski unassisted across the remote Penny Ice Cap and have explored a new access route.

This interactive project covered over 250km, starting and ending at sea level but rising to 1940 metres at its highest point. Throughout the expedition, the team endured air temperatures of below -25°, blizzards and 70kmph winds. At times, this challenging Arctic Environment also meant the team had to ski over extremely thin ice, the dangers of which are highlighted when Duncan fell straight through into the ocean on the way to Pangnirtung (Inuit Community), their final destination.

However, this extreme environment also offers spectacular rewards; the mountain passes made for extraordinary scenery as the team traversed this landscape documenting the changes taking place due to climate change, in photography and film. The team were also lucky enough to see some of the Arctic’s most documented wildlife in their natural habitat, including Polar Bears and cubs, Arctic Hare, Ptarmigans and Seals.

This successful crossing of the Penny Ice Cap is a fantastic achievement and the team have been inspiring schools far and wide. Schools have been tracking their progress via the Education Through Expeditions website, where teachers and students have been posting questions on the online discussion boards to learn about the Arctic, the Inuit people and the effects of climate change.

Class Four from Malborough Primary School in Falmouth have totally immersed themselves in the Polar Regions. From turning their classroom into “basecamp” and building a snow wall to developing idea boards and Baffin Island mind maps, the children have put a lot of thought into their questions – “Will climate change affect the food that the animals eat?” – “How do you feel about glaciers melting because of climate change?” – “Does global warming have any effect on the life of the Inuit people? How?” – which have been answered by Antony and the team from the Arctic, as well as our panel of experts and even the Inuit people themselves, of which one child asked “What? People in Canada are writing to us? Amazing!”

Antony Jinman said “The British Penny Ice Cap Expedition 2011 has excelled my expectations as a test project for our educational delivery platform eteteachers.org. We received close to 100 questions from children in Plymouth and the Southwest, which were answered both by myself and our panel of arctic experts, including scientists from the UK and Inuit from Baffin. This enabled children to journey with us and experience the arctic through our online platform. I am very proud that we have achieved a British first, working well as a team to overcome many challenges including polar bear encounters, crevasses and the self doubt of venturing into the unknown. We even managed to celebrate the Royal Wedding by reaching the highest point of the Ice Cap on the day of the national celebration.”

This Baffin Island expedition has been the first truly interactive expedition for Education Through Expeditions.