An advance party of SAC members arrived at the Ben Nevis Hotel in Fort William on Halloween to enjoy a sociable dinner and drinks.
By 2pm on Saturday 1st November, all members had gathered for an entertaining and informative programme of talks. First up were our Scottish Arctic Expedition Fund award winners, ably kicked off by Clare Ballantyne describing her snowshoe trek with friends in Arctic Sweden.
Daniel King kept us in Scandinavia, speaking thoughtfully about his experiences meeting and travelling with young people from all over the polar north as part of the Arctic Council’s Arctic Youth Expedition.
Stirling University climbers Dylan, Megan, Benjamin and Rosie spoke about their climbing trip to East Greenland. They found difficult travelling ground and a mix of sound and frost shattered rock which had many audience members empathising hard and reliving their own trips to the same part of Greenland. Despite the challenges, the team put up lots of new routes and collected samples for a nanoplastics study.
St Andrews geologist Andrew Edginton shared his experiences mapping igneous rocks in South Greenland, where retreating glaciers are exposing new rock and creating opportunities for exploration geologists.
The grant awardees talks were complemented by member Bryan Alexander’s photographic comparison of life in Ittoqqortoormiit (formerly Scoresbysund) in East Greenland in 1974 and his return visit in 2024. Although the main landmarks of the town, such as the church, remain, ubiquitous sled dogs have been largely replaced by snow scooters. Hunting practices have changed too, with Bryan’s photo-journalism in 1974 contributing to the banning of indiscriminate snare gun traps. Outgoing President Noel Williams introduced us to Henry Chichester Hart, a botanist and member of the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876 to the West coast of Greenland. The team successfully set a new furthest north record, albeit still far from the pole that they had aspired to reach. Hart also climbed on Skye, where he identified the only native British population of Alpine Rock-cress Arabis alpina high in the Cuillin, a plant which he had seen on his Arctic travels.
Invited speaker Martin Rickard recalled a kayak journey along East Greenland’s infamous Blosseville Coast. He set off with two friends from Ittoqqortoormiit with 65 days food intending to kayak 800 miles south to Tasiilaq. Thicker than expected sea ice delayed their departure, but they soon overcame the initial challenge of a 25 mile open water crossing. Ice continued to challenge navigation and progress. After 350 miles and 14 days camped waiting and hoping for the ice to clear they were finally forced to make the unwelcome decision to turn and retrace their paddle strokes back north. Martin’s huge experience of kayaking on Greenland’s East coast shone through and teaser anecdotes of his ‘obsession’ with Gino Watkins means pressure will be applied for him to return to tell more stories soon!
Former SAEF award winner Mark Agnew sent a video, which unfortunately was not shown due to technical difficulties.
Past President Stella conducted our usual SAEF fund-raising raffle, with numerous prizes ranging from whisky to a grooming kit and as usual, a fascinating selection of books.
A leisurely and chatty Sunday breakfast culminated in spreading out photos of the club’s Greenland map, sadly misplaced after a previous Gathering. Luckily, former Secretary Iain had the foresight to take photos of all the signatures and dates documenting members’ trips and Supper attendance before the map was lost. Commitment has been made to recreate the map and reinstate the tradition of spreading the map out on the floor at the Gathering. It was always a focal point and sparked off many reminiscences as well as future expedition plans!
The application window for the 2026 Expedition Fund awards is now open and will close on 31st January 2026. Further information and application form can be found here.