Adventurous Expedition Surpasses All Expectations
Late last week we welcomed back to the UK our Iceland Expedition Team who had been exploring the remote North-west area of Iceland (Westfjords) as part of the Mount School Borealis Society.
The Society aims to provide opportunities for College girls to experience mountaineering and trekking expeditions across boreal regions. These opportunities also enhance their academic understanding of matters relating to the Arctic and Sub-Arctic remote areas of our planet in a continuing effort to better understand our environment and the world around us. 
The Mount School Borealis Society founders, Nigel Bidgood FRGS and Principal David Griffiths strongly champion overcoming the challenging environments that come with tackling a three-week expedition. The expedition team fully submerged themselves in their surroundings as they adventured the landscape and secluded fjords. Carrying their own equipment, they ascended the snow-capped mountains and studied the arctic flora and bird life of this breath-taking area.
Careful consideration to the route ensured that the group absorbed as much wildlife as possible, sighting humpback whales, white tail eagles, Atlantic puffins, arctic fox and a wide variety of other birds and flora.
The incredible experience of seeing whales in their natural habitat was one of the many highlights of the trip, as Mary in College II confirms, “We watched the whales dive and lift their tails out of the water before they disappeared under the surface. I had never seen a whale before so I will treasure this memory forever. As the boat approached our destination, we then saw some of Iceland’s puffins. We departed the boat via Zodiacs onto land and as it left, we all realised how remote our starting point was.”
At the end of the Expedition and once in Reykjavik, the highlight for the group was meeting Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Iceland, Dr Bryony Mathew. As a former pupil of The Mount School, Bryony and her family joined the Expedition team for supper.
“It was a pleasure to welcome you on Saturday. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and the girls, they are a credit to The Mount and clearly all have bright futures ahead of them.” – Dr Bryony Mathew
The Borealis Society have two lectures in the first term that current pupils, parents, and alumnae are all invited to. These will be hold in the School Hall on the below dates:
- Friday 16 September 2022 7pm – 8pm
Dr Anna Bidgood, post-doctoral researcher in UCD funded by iCRAG.
We are joined by Dr Anna Bidgood, who was recently awarded a prestigious 2022-2023 UK Fulbright scholarship. Her research focuses on sustainably sourced technology metals which are critical to produce low carbon technologies needed to help decarbonise our society.
- Friday 22 November 2022 7pm – 8pm
The Borealis Society Expedition Report
Attendees of the Borealis Expedition to Iceland, including College pupils and Alumnae, will be discussing their experiences and the impact of this opportunity.