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Update June 3: Harrowing conditions cut short first summer crossing of Arctic Ocean
Early in the morning of May 10, Eric Larsen and Lonnie Dupre took one last look behind them, and set off slowly to the north, toward the North Pole and beyond, across the treacherous Arctic Ocean. They left the Arctic coast of Russia, and resigned themselves to the fact that they will not see land again for at least three months.
Ahead of them lie more than 1,200 miles of unsupported travel, in which they will paddle, ski, gaff hook, man haul and slog their way across one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. If they succeed, they will be the first people ever to complete a summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean, but their expedition means more to them than doing something that nobody has ever achieved before.
Lonnie and Eric chose to partner with Greenpeace for this trek, with the hope of bringing attention to the changes the Arctic region is undergoing as a result of global warming. We leapt at the chance to team up with these two extraordinary men, and Project Thin Ice 2005 was born.
Two and a half years of planning had led to this point, culminating in a challenging final few days of travel from Moscow to their departure point at Cape Arctichesky on the Siberian coast. Finally, after emotional phone calls back to their loved ones in the US, Eric and Lonnie loaded up their gear and set off into a dangerous and uncertain summer.
Meet Lonnie and Eric
Neither Lonnie, 44, nor Eric 33, is any stranger to risky expeditions. A dog musher, whitewater canoe guide, back country ranger, competitive cyclist and educator, Eric has adventured throughout the American West, Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, and in 2002 he completed a 700-mile dog sled expedition in the Canadian subarctic. Lonnie has traversed more than 13,500 miles throughout the high Arctic regions of northeastern Russia, Lapland, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. He has led five major Arctic expeditions and participated in six.
In 1992, Lonnie led a 3,059-mile, 185-day trek across the Canadian Arctic, the first west-to-east crossing of the Northwest Passage via dog sled and ski. In 2001, Lonnie and Australian teammate, John Hoelscher, completed the first circumnavigation of Greenland using dog sleds in winter and kayaks in summer. It was during this expedition that Lonnie got the idea for the One World Expedition, a journey through the Arctic to expose the impacts of global warming.
“We came to a place where the map (dated 1982) showed that two glaciers should be jutting out a mile to sea,” says Lonnie. “Not only were the glaciers no longer there, they had receded about a mile inland.”
The team has taken with them all of their food and gear - 325 pounds worth each - for the entire expedition. Each man will consume 6,000 calories per day, so rations have been carefully planned and calculated for weight, calorie content and volume. And even 6,000 calories per day won't meet their energy needs: each man expects to lose 20 pounds or more on the expedition.
Arctic Hardships
There’s a good reason why no one has attempted a summer crossing of the
Arctic Ocean without outside support before. The polar ice cap will be
melting, rendering the ice unstable, dangerous and riddled with large
expanses of frigid open water. Areas of solid ice could be covered with
a thigh-deep layer of slush, and areas of open water could be littered
with huge blocks of ice that hinder passage. The Arctic is blanketed by
thick fog for much of the time in summer, limiting sight to as little
as 100 yards, making travel and navigation difficult. Temperatures of
10 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit combined with high humidity and damp
conditions lend themselves to hypothermia, a debilitating and
potentially deadly condition.
Much of Lonnie and Eric's time has been spent pioneering new technologies and techniques for handling such perilous conditions. They have modified whitewater canoes so that the canoes can be towed on solid ice or paddled through open water. When faced with a mix of open water and broken ice, they will use a technique Lonnie pioneered in Greenland that involves a gaff hook and brute strength to haul themselves and their canoes through the open water from ice floe to ice floe.
It is a perilous undertaking, to be sure, but the importance of the message has inspired Eric and Lonnie throughout their preparations, and will be motivating them in the long weeks and months ahead.
Stand by for updates from the ice from these Arctic explorers! Find out more at the Thin Ice website.
Early in the morning of May 10, Eric Larsen and Lonnie Dupre took one last look behind them, and set off slowly to the north, toward the North Pole and beyond, across the treacherous Arctic Ocean. They left the Arctic coast of Russia, and resigned themselves to the fact that they will not see land again for at least three months.
Ahead of them lie more than 1,200 miles of unsupported travel, in which they will paddle, ski, gaff hook, man haul and slog their way across one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. If they succeed, they will be the first people ever to complete a summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean, but their expedition means more to them than doing something that nobody has ever achieved before.
Lonnie and Eric chose to partner with Greenpeace for this trek, with the hope of bringing attention to the changes the Arctic region is undergoing as a result of global warming. We leapt at the chance to team up with these two extraordinary men, and Project Thin Ice 2005 was born.
Two and a half years of planning had led to this point, culminating in a challenging final few days of travel from Moscow to their departure point at Cape Arctichesky on the Siberian coast. Finally, after emotional phone calls back to their loved ones in the US, Eric and Lonnie loaded up their gear and set off into a dangerous and uncertain summer.
Meet Lonnie and Eric
Neither Lonnie, 44, nor Eric 33, is any stranger to risky expeditions. A dog musher, whitewater canoe guide, back country ranger, competitive cyclist and educator, Eric has adventured throughout the American West, Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, and in 2002 he completed a 700-mile dog sled expedition in the Canadian subarctic. Lonnie has traversed more than 13,500 miles throughout the high Arctic regions of northeastern Russia, Lapland, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. He has led five major Arctic expeditions and participated in six.
In 1992, Lonnie led a 3,059-mile, 185-day trek across the Canadian Arctic, the first west-to-east crossing of the Northwest Passage via dog sled and ski. In 2001, Lonnie and Australian teammate, John Hoelscher, completed the first circumnavigation of Greenland using dog sleds in winter and kayaks in summer. It was during this expedition that Lonnie got the idea for the One World Expedition, a journey through the Arctic to expose the impacts of global warming.
“We came to a place where the map (dated 1982) showed that two glaciers should be jutting out a mile to sea,” says Lonnie. “Not only were the glaciers no longer there, they had receded about a mile inland.”
The team has taken with them all of their food and gear - 325 pounds worth each - for the entire expedition. Each man will consume 6,000 calories per day, so rations have been carefully planned and calculated for weight, calorie content and volume. And even 6,000 calories per day won't meet their energy needs: each man expects to lose 20 pounds or more on the expedition.
Arctic Hardships
The specks on ice are explorers Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen, setting off on the first ever unsupported summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean in order to draw attention to global warming.
Much of Lonnie and Eric's time has been spent pioneering new technologies and techniques for handling such perilous conditions. They have modified whitewater canoes so that the canoes can be towed on solid ice or paddled through open water. When faced with a mix of open water and broken ice, they will use a technique Lonnie pioneered in Greenland that involves a gaff hook and brute strength to haul themselves and their canoes through the open water from ice floe to ice floe.
It is a perilous undertaking, to be sure, but the importance of the message has inspired Eric and Lonnie throughout their preparations, and will be motivating them in the long weeks and months ahead.
Stand by for updates from the ice from these Arctic explorers! Find out more at the Thin Ice website.
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Meet Eric
"I, like so many others, am just an average person. But, I have come to realise that average people can do great things. Our world is a fragile place, and it needs to be protected for all the average people, polar explorers, activists and everyone else still to come."