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OneWorld expedition: It's over
Jun 3, 2005 12: 50 EST
Pressrelase from HQ:
GRAND MARAIS, MINN., June 3 ---Explorers Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen were forced today to cut short the first attempt to cross the Arctic Ocean in summer, but have vowed to continue campaigning for action on human-caused global climate change, including work with expedition partner Greenpeace. Unexpected weather conditions, including unusually deep snow and a steady southerly ice drift, led the explorers to call for an airlift.
Unable to maintain the pace
Since leaving Cape Arctichesky on Siberia’s coast May 10, the team traveled 150 miles but made just 45 miles northward toward the North Pole, unable to maintain the pace required to complete the trip before winter storms arrive. They had only a few days of conditions where they could use their skis, and even then could not make the daily distance required by the expedition plan.
Conditions this year out of the ordinary
Dangerous broken ice - fields of small pans and brash ice joined by thin layers of sea ice which would not support the team’s weight, forcing them to swim and break their way forward – constantly moved in a gyroscopic action, erasing their hard-won progress each night as they slept. Snow fell most days, building up a deep layer through which travel was extremely difficult and slow. Daily temperatures spiked above freezing, causing the snow to turn to slush. The explorers plan to meet with Arctic climate experts to share their firsthand experience and observations, and to see if conditions this year were out of the ordinary.
Global warming
Dupre and Larsen are saddened and frustrated that they were not able to complete their journey, which would have been a first in polar exploration. However, they expressed gratitude to everyone who has supported the expedition, especially Greenpeace, the expedition’s environmental partner; Rolex, which recognized Dupre last year with a Rolex Award for Enterprise; and ACR Electronics, Inc., the expedition’s lead sponsor. The expedition was also funded by dozens of generous gear sponsors and hundreds of individuals. The explorers also reaffirmed their commitment to bringing attention to the growing problem of global warming.
Greenpeace will be in Greenland with the Arctic Sunrise
“Stopping this expedition will not stop our efforts to expose one of the world’s biggest crises—global warming—and to explore solutions,” said Lonnie Dupre, expedition leader. “We will be supporting our environmental partner Greenpeace as they continue with their Project Thin Ice campaign.”
The first time summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean was part of Greenpeace’s international campaign entitled Project Thin Ice 2005— Going the distance to stop global warming. In addition to being a partner of the Arctic Ocean crossing, Greenpeace will be in Greenland with the Arctic Sunrise hosting renowned climate scientists, visiting Arctic research stations, and interviewing Inuit people about changes in their environment.
“We can try to bend Mother Nature into our own schedule and force our way forward, but I think to do so would end in disaster,” Dupre said. “I think we need to respect that and just go back to the drawing board and see what we can do.” Dupre is currently considering an expedition from the North Pole to Greenland in summer 2006. (End release)
Lonnie Dupre, USA (42) has earlier travelled the Arctic regions of northeastern Russia, Lapland, Alaska, Canada and Greenland by dog team, ski and kayak. In 2001, Dupre and Australian teammate John Hoelscher completed a circumnavigation of Greenland using dog sleds in winter and kayaks in summer. Lonnie was awarded the Soviet Sportsman Medal for Arctic exploration in 1989, was elected Fellow National of the Explorers Club in 1996 and was keynote lecturer to the Fellows of the Royal Geographic Society in London upon completion of the Greenland Expedition.
Eric Larsen, USA (32): Eric has spent his entire life in pursuit of wilderness. In 2002, Eric completed a 700-mile dog sled expedition in the Canadian Subarctic that focused on the culture and land of the Oji-Cree people of northern Ontario. Eric also participated in a 23-day bicycle crossing of the United States, mushed sled dogs in the tundra north of Great Slave Lake, led month-long treks in Hawaii and guided whitewater canoe trips in Colorado.
Image of Lonnie and Eric courtesy of the team.
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