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Summer traverse of Arctic Ocean for 2005
May 24, 2004 16: 51 EST
In late May 2005, the One World Expedition will embark on a four month journey across the Arctic Ocean. Polar explorers Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen will travel from Cape Arctichesky, Siberia, to the geographic North Pole, then on to Ellesmere Island, Canada.
Dupre and Larsen will use a travel strategy for crossing broken sea ice that Dupre used in the late 1990s while circumnavigating Greenland. Pulling and paddling specially modified kayaks, the team will face 1,200 miles of shifting sea ice, freezing temperatures and polar bears. Each man will move a 300-pound kayak loaded with provisions for the entire journey.
Equipment testing and training for the One World Expedition are already underway. In the spring of 2004, several weeks of intensive training will take place in the Arctic Territory of Nunavut, Canada. To successfully complete the summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean, the team will use lightweight high-density thermoplast kayaks specially modified to be pulled like sleds as well as paddled.
Team members will wear unique one-piece, breathable dry suits. Dupre and Larsen plan to travel approximately 13 miles per day. They will each need to consume 5,500 calories daily, eating densely packed freeze-dried meals, energy bars, drinks and high-calorie supplements. The expedition will rely on a precise logistical plan and sophisticated satellite-based communication equipment. Dupre and Larsen will receive no outside support. However, air transport will be on standby in Russia and Canada in case of an emergency.
Lonnie Dupre, USA (42): During an Arctic career spanning 17 years, Lonnie has traveled over 13,500 miles throughout the high Arctic regions of northeastern Russia, Lapland, Alaska, Canada and Greenland by dog team, ski and kayak. In 1992, Lonnie led a 3,059-mile, 185-day trek across the Canadian Arctic. In 2001, Dupre and Australian teammate John Hoelscher completed a circumnavigation of Greenland using dog sleds in winter and kayaks in summer.
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.
Dr. Paul Mayewski, Science Advisor. Paul is director of the Climate Change Institute (CCI). In the Arctic, he led a team that recovered the longest ice core, a 250,000- year long record of climate change, in the northern hemisphere. He has published more than 200 scientific articles about acid rain, abrupt climate change, causes and controls of climate change, the Antarctic ozone hole, the global impact of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and many other topics. Paul will travel to the start and finish points of the expedition to oversee the science program and collect ice core samples. En route, the expedition team will collect surface snow samples at 50-mile intervals. These samples will be analyzed and used to measure changes that are occurring in the chemistry of the Arctic atmosphere, as well as climate change.
Image of Lonnie training in Canada courtesy of the team.
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