'Just going out to pee is quite the unpleasant mission.'

Sarah McNair-Landry, 20, hauls everything she needs to survive on the Greenland Ice Cap in a small expedition sled, but on some days, she wishes she could have also packed a personal spa.

But luxuries such as facials and pedicures will have to wait until after her 2,300-kilometre kite-skiing journey across the ice cap.

"With winds gusting past 80 kilometres an hour, we cannot see further than a few meters. Just going out to pee is quite the unpleasant mission," she wrote June 17, on the Pittarak expedition's ongoing travel blog, after skiing through the night, until

6 a.m., when a blizzard descended.

McNair-Landry is joined by her brother Eric, 22, and their friend Curtis Jones, 30, who together have travelled as far as 200 kilometres in one day, using only their own bodies and the wind as a means of propulsion, while dragging more than 100 kilos of gear behind them in their expedition sleds, called pulks.

They left the southern tip of the ice cap June 1, and by last week, were on schedule to reach their destination, the village of Qaanaaq, which is close to the Thule air base on Greenland's northwest coast, by around July 10.

The winds have been stronger at night, so the expedition often skis beneath the midnight sun and sleeps during the day.

"We kite-skied through the night, watching the sun set and the moon rise," Sarah McNair-Landry wrote June 7, shortly before they reached the Arctic Circle.

"We stopped every hour and a half to two hours for a quick break. We stop just long enough to pee, get a drink and eat a variety of snacks including: camino chocolate, salami, cheese, nuts, trail mix and dried fruit. Once our break is done, we launch our kites again. We travel until the winds die or we are too tired to continue."

"Today, the winds eventually died, and we crawled into our tent for a hot soup before bed."

But the wind can be ­fickle.

"Head wind, no wind, light wind and now 12 plus hours of freezing rain," wrote Jones, 30, on June 8. "After sleeping most of the day we awoke at about 5 p.m., banking on the trend of night winds to travel by."

"As suspected, the wind did increase but something was different. It was milder. It was wet. It was hail. Soon the hail turned to rain. The pulks were quickly stashed inside the vestibules to keep the contents dry. And so we sat, listening to the winds fluctuate and watching the rain freezing on our tent, forming an ice exoskeleton over the tent."

"Time passed but the weather did not and so we retired for the evening back into our sleeping bags and books, hoping the morning will bring better conditions."

In bad weather they pass the time playing cards. So far, Sarah leads the hearts tournament, with Curtis not far behind.

In an e-mail, the team appeared in high spirits, and offered many jokes but few insights into the expedition.

Asked if they regretted not packing anything, Jones wrote, "More books for the windless days at the start, and a golden monkey."

Sarah wrote, "a spa." Eric missed "sanity."

On July 18, the expedition reached the decommissioned DYE-2 radar station, which was part of the Distant Early Warning chain that stretched from Alaska to Greenland.

"From the outside the station appeared to be the 1980s equivalent of a Walt Disney meets Star Trek theme park," Jones wrote.

"Inside we found room after room of material and equipment, left frozen and abandoned for almost 20 years. Old log books, machine parts, canned goods and unopened bottles of long frosted beer gave small glimpses into how the weather station and its residents operated and lived on the ice cap."

"After almost two hours and three floors of exploration, we climbed at least three stories high to the uppermost sphere that housed what looked to be a satellite dish. A little filming and a quick hike down and we were once again outside, ready to set up camp and eat a good meal before calling an end to a very unforgettable day."

They hit their first snag before they even reached the glacier. On May 27, after spending two days on the plane from Boston, the team arrived in Narsarsuaq, where they had just three hours to prepare their gear for transport on a chartered boat to their proposed landing spot, a shallow bay near the glacier.

But their boat driver feared his vessel would run aground in the shallow waters. So, instead, he dropped the team four kilometres from the glacier.

Their next obstacle: a steep rock gully that rose 180 metres up from where they stood. For the next three days, the team would camp in the dust and spend long hours hauling their gear up the steep hill, before they could reach the glacier and put on their skis.

Well, almost. They had to cross mudslides and chilly Arctic rivers first, before they were done camping in the dust.

"A warning for all other expeditions who are planning this trip: do not follow our route," the team wrote on their web site.

The group is recording their journey with video and film cameras. The National Geographic Society has expressed interest in interviewing the team, and they have received a Young Explorers Grant from National Geographic.

To follow the expedition's journey, visit www.pittarak.com.