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The world's premier polar adventure family strikes again
May 17, 2005 21: 26 EST
Few families can boast an adventure resume as impressive as the Landry-McNairs. Earlier this year, Matty McNair and her kids Sarah and Eric completed a 70-day, 1,380-mile (2,220 km) expedition that started on the Antarctic coast at Hercules Inlet on November 2, reached the South Geographic Pole on December 23 and finished back at the coast at Hercules Inlet on January 11th.
Next, a flight took Matty to the other side of the Earth, and on March 21st (only about 2 months after the unsupported South Pole expedition) Matty headed back out on the ice - this time guiding Tom Avery's Ultimate North challenge to break Peary's speed record to the North Pole. The team ended up breaking Peary's record by around 5 hours, and setting a new world record (36 days) to the North Pole on April 27th, 2005.
Eric and Sarah's father, Paul Landry, completed a super-fast (44 day) dogsled expedition to the North Pole on April 13, 2000. But his wife beat even that time in her slam dunk performance this year - cutting Paul's legendary trip by an astonishing 8 days!
Matty's and the family's expeditions are beyond all firsts. These guys are simply in a league of their own. And on Antarctica this year, the family even met up at the South Pole for a short while - dad was leading a British expedition traverse.
Dad’s turn
This spring, it’s dad’s turn again. Paul Landry, Eric, Sarah, and their buddy David, are cooking up some new Arctic action. They’re attempting a crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap, kiting and skiing a distance of 1,100 kilometers. It’s not just a crossing, though; it’s a double crossing. They’ll start from the eastern edge of Greenland. Once the team reaches the Westerly edge of the Icecap, the journey is not over yet. They will turn around and head back to their departure place. The expedition is planning to return on June 15th.
Why not break a record or two?
Simply crossing Greenland (even if it is a double crossing) isn’t enough for the adventurous family: They’re shooting to set some speed records, too. They want to make the fastest crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap, and break the record for the longest kite-ski distance in a 24 hour period.
According to the team, the fastest Greenland crossing is presently 8 days; completed in 1995 by Sjur Mordre (Norway). Alain Hubert (Belgium) holds the longest kite ski record at 271 kilometers; completed in 1995 on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Feasting on whale
The family arrived in Greenland yesterday. Here’s their latest dispatch: “Upon landing in Greenland, we found everyone feasting on wine and whale in celebration of "Big Red," which we presume has something to do with Easter or some other religious holiday. Even the local police were indulging and could not do the required inspection as per our permit for travel on the ice cap. We are camped in the Nansen Hotel for the night. The scenery that surrounds us is beyond words. Snow covered mountains rising out of the sea, icebergs, pack ice and the midnight sun - Wow!”
Sarah is fresh out of high school. She has a passion for adventure and is keen to try any sport that she can. She grew up in Iqaluit, being able to dog sled alone by the age of 8. In 2003 she was part of the Kites on Ice expedition, a crossing of the Greenland Icecap with dogs, skis and kites. Her adventures did not stop there. In 2004/05 she took part on another expedition to the South Pole and back! On the return journey, the team used kites, covering amazing distances. Sarah works as both a guide, a kiting instructor and a kiting bum.
Eric has completed two years of Engineering at the University of Acadia, but spends most of his time learning computer graphics. He was raised in Iqaluit, where he found his love for the outdoors. He is a competent skier and dogsledder, however his biggest passion is power kiting. He crossed the Greenland Icecap with kites, dogs and skis. In 2004/05 he was part of the Kites on Ice expedition to the South Pole and back. However for Eric the South Pole only meant that now the team could kite back, making incredible distances and breaking the world record for fastest return journey. Eric works as both a guide and a kiting instructor and is presently writing a book on his South Pole journey.
Paul was born and raised in Ontario. He worked for Outward Bound for numerous years where he found his passion for the outdoors. Paul moved to Baffin Island, where he set up his own business as a polar guide. As the demand grew, he started guiding trips to the North and South Pole. He has been to the South Pole three times, and this will become his fourth time to the North Pole, including an expedition with dogs. Paul is highly experienced in polar travel and in driving dogs.
In April 2005, Matty McNair was part of the Ultimate North team that broke the speed record to the North Pole. In 1997, Matty led the first women's expedition to the Geographic North Pole and wrote a book describing her journey, "On Thin Ice; A Woman's Journey to the North Pole." Then, Matty guided an all-male group to the South Pole. She is the most experienced female Polar guide in the world.
Image courtesy of NorthWinds.
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| OneWorld expedition: It's over Jun 3, 2005 | | Vancouver to Moscow - 1 year anniversary! Jun 2, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: The Single ski Weight Watchers Greenland program Jun 1, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Rain and world record May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | 12 year old doing well on Greenland ice cap crossing May 27, 2005 | | Vagabond update - Polar bears, 200 candles and ice melting in Inglefieldbukta May 26, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Polar hygiene, and Napoleon on ice May 26, 2005 | | Contact GEO hits Greenland May 25, 2005 | | Iridium: "Invalid battery - matches found, 0" May 24, 2005 |
| | Arctic wrap-up: Adventure family kites 162 km, reaches halfway point May 23, 2005 |
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