Eric and Lonnie set course to change the world.
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.
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