Undiscovered Arctic with Tamsin Gay
Last Thursday IFMA Guide, Tamsin Gay, talked about guiding a trip to Jameson Land in Artic Greenland as part of a BBC documentary.
Tamsin shared stories of working with a team of varying professions and balancing the objectives of each, alongside expedition life and choosing an unclimbed peak to attempt.
“Always wear your best knickers.”
I'm going to die floundering around in my underpants in the middle of nowhere. But at least I was gonna do it with a half clad model from Men's Health.
We heard about the logistics of arriving into Artic Greenland and how the team accessed the glacier from which they would begin their mountain climb. Tamsin showed us the incredible scenery from a helicopter recce and described how she and Libby (the other Guide) picked a peak through some kind of telepathy in a hurry in front of the film crew and TV celebs.
The team journeyed across challenging glacial terrain which included a freezing river crossing in their underpants and pulling pulks on skis - both new to Tamsin!
The team she was working with included Steve Backshall and Aldo Kane, who both were relative newbies to big mountaineering objectives and so Tamsin and Libby needed to ensure their safety but also ensure that both presenters had opportunity for filming.
The production crew and in fact the entire series had strong females in key roles and Tamsin was super impressed by the calm and unruffled leadership shown whilst filming.
“Twice now I can think of situations where I've been surrounded by this kind of very supportive female strong team.
One of them is the TV production team, True to Nature, and one of them is the Women's Alpine Adventure Club.”
This compromise between filming and achieving the mountaineering objective was a new one for Tamsin, and so she reflects on how her Guiding style had to alter for this job.
Tamsin also shared with us her family history with exploring in this area of Greenland. Both her parents have taken part in expeditions here, and actually journeyed to the mountains just north of this expedition.
The photos of the old base camp set ups and helicopters were fascinating to see, but also highlighted the huge effect that Global Warming has had on this part of the world.
A trip to Greenland would not be complete with local wildlife encounters! We were shown amazing footage of a Musk Ox from a helicopter as well as some scary Polar Bear meetings.
The team had their closest encounter whilst at the airfield at the end of the trip and show us the scene from the top of a shipping container.
Tamsin then shares her highly effective Polar Bear Defence Strategy that probably would have worked if only the door opened the other way…!
Watch the video…
Tamsin is an excellent entertaining speaker.
Enjoy the video and join us for more Alpine Stories over the next 6 weeks.
If you’d like to know more about Tamsin along with her top tips for both mountain enthusiasts and professionals alike, as well as essential facts such as errr… her favourite colour then follow the link below: