information:extraction, stylistic:style_transfer, linguistic:translation
Expedition

The sealer Jason picked up Nansen's party on 3 June 1888 from the Icelandic port of Ísafjörður. They sighted the Greenland coast a week later, but thick pack ice hindered progress. With the coast still 20 kilometres (12 mi) away, Nansen decided to launch the small boats. They were within sight of Sermilik Fjord on 17 July; Nansen believed it would offer a route up the icecap.

The expedition left Jason "in good spirits and with the highest hopes of a fortunate result." Days of extreme frustration followed as they drifted south. Weather and sea conditions prevented them from reaching the shore. They spent most time camping on the ice itself—it was too dangerous to launch the boats.

By 29 July, they found themselves 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of the point where they left the ship. That day they finally reached land but were too far south to begin the crossing. Nansen ordered the team back into the boats after a brief rest and to begin rowing north. The party battled northward along the coast through the ice floes for the next 12 days. They encountered a large Inuit encampment on the first day, near Cape Steen Bille. Occasional contacts with the nomadic native population continued as the journey progressed.

The party reached Umivik Bay on 11 August, after covering 200 kilometres (120 mi). Nansen decided they needed to begin the crossing. Although they were still far south of his intended starting place, the season was becoming too advanced. After they landed at Umivik, they spent the next four days preparing for their journey. They set out on the evening of 15 August, heading north-west towards Christianhaab on the western shore of Disko Bay— 600 kilometres (370 mi) away.

Over the next few days, the party struggled to ascend. The inland ice had a treacherous surface with many hidden crevasses and the weather was bad. Progress stopped for three days because of violent storms and continuous rain one time. The last ship was due to leave Christianhaab by mid-September. They would not be able to reach it in time, Nansen concluded on 26 August. He ordered a change of course due west, towards Godthaab, a shorter journey by at least 150 kilometres (93 mi). The rest of the party, according to Nansen, "hailed the change of plan with acclamation."

They continued climbing until 11 September and reached a height of 2,719 metres (8,921 ft) above sea level. Temperatures on the summit of the icecap dropped to −45 °C (−49 °F) at night. From then on, the downward slope made travelling easier. Yet, the terrain was rugged and the weather remained hostile. Progress was slow: fresh snowfalls made dragging the sledges like pulling them through sand.

On 26 September, they battled their way down the edge of a fjord westward towards Godthaab. Sverdrup constructed a makeshift boat out of parts of the sledges, willows, and their tent. Three days later, Nansen and Sverdrup began the last stage of the journey, rowing down the fjord.

On 3 October, they reached Godthaab, where the Danish town representative greeted them. He first informed Nansen that he had secured his doctorate, a matter that "could not have been more remote from thoughts at that moment." The team accomplished their crossing in 49 days. Throughout the journey, they maintained meteorological and geographical and other records relating to the previously unexplored interior.

The rest of the team arrived in Godthaab on 12 October. Nansen soon learned no ship was likely to call at Godthaab until the following spring. Still, they were able to send letters back to Norway via a boat leaving Ivigtut at the end of October. He and his party spent the next seven months in Greenland. On 15 April 1889, the Danish ship Hvidbjørnen finally entered the harbour. Nansen recorded: "It was not without sorrow that we left this place and these people, among whom we had enjoyed ourselves so well."