Sunday 16 February 2014

Breaking news! Nanook Polar Expedition going for the longest unassisted unsupported polar journey

    To experience more intensely what early explorers must have endure, I decided to attempt to complet my journey without any resupplies. My itinerary is therefore slightly changed, avoiding the commuauties of Taloyoak, Resolute and Grise Fjord. I'm in my base camp in Yellowknife for a couple of week now, training to pull an heavy sled, as I'll leave with 80 days of food. It's going well, convincing me that I can do it.
     The current record for the longest unassisted (no sled-dogs, no wind-kite, non motorized) unsupported (no resupplies) polar journey has been established in 2011 on a return trip to the South Pole, at 2275 km. I'm going to try to beat it by about a 100 km.
     The project of filming the Inuits life still holds. I'll film in Kugaaruk, my starting point, and in Qaanaaq, the arrival. And of course, the whole journey. I'm very impatient to explore that part of the Arctic and following the foot steps of explorers like Sverdrup, Franklin, Greely or Ross.

   Training on the Great Slave Lake: because of the weight of the sled, I had to switch from skis to snow-shoes, offering me better grip.