You're trying to cross what? When? What is it like up there? Are you crazy?
These are just a few examples of the many questions that the One World Team fields while presenting about their upcoming adventure.
If you're wondering what ice conditions will look like this summer, then this picture is for you. Open leads, melt water pools and rotten ice and not much else. Oh yea, there will be the occasional polar bear!
But realistically, this is what makes the One World Expedition so extremely difficult. Lonnie and Eric will need to travel equally efficiently over ice and water. Not such an easy task when faced with ice conditions like these.
Seven pairs of boots and nearly $4,000 later. The team's footwear is is still under evaluation.
OK, if we were undertaking a winter expedition, no problem. We'd take the boots shown above, the Norwegian Moedre Alfa Extremes. But, its not and therefore, we need boots that we be durable, light weight, not too warm, can function while wet and dry easily. Its a tall order and one that the team has not taken lightly.
To date, boots tested by Lonnie and Eric include the following manufacturers: Mendell, Fischer, Alico, Alfa and Garmont. The One World team's upcoming trip to Churchill, Mantiba will be a crucial boot evaluation time.
What would you pack for a three and a half month adventure on the Arctic Ocean? Sarah Allen, expedition graphic designer, added her elbow grease last week and divided nearly 20 gallons of powdered energy drink. Also divvied out were four gallons of olive oil, 20 pounds of dried salami, 25 pounds of dried caribou, a mountain of powdered goat's milk, 300 dried rye bread rounds, more oatmeal than you can shake a stick at and much more.
Special thanks go to Clara Weitz of Pack Lite Foods.
Training in Grand Marais - take 207. If the expedition were a movie, the director would be getting a bit tired of all the different 'takes'. The team's relentless training schedule finds them in all sorts of odd situations day after day after day. Lake Superior has proven to be an ideal location for testing equipment and travel strategies.
Inching their way along the ice, Lonnie decides it's time to hit the road - so to speak.
Thanks to Joel Sheagren for the photo.
Ten years ago, Eric spent over a month north of Great Slave Lake dog sledding across the tundra. Seems like just yesterday. Of course the large collar, royal blue fleeces aren't quite as fashionable as they once were. And the hair? Its pre-pony tail length with a four-week grease factor. Hey, you can't blame the guy - it was the '90s. The Internet barely even existed. From those humble beginnings, Eric has gone on to dogsled over 10,000 miles in locales ranging from Michigan to Montana to Hudson Bay.
And what was Lonnie doing in the '90s? Pretty much the same thing he's doing today: exploring. It was in the middle of the last decade that Lonnie conceived, planned and embarked his Greenland Expediton, the first circumnavigation of Greenland by dog sled and kayak. It was during this adventure that Lonnie first imagined a trip across the Arctic Ocean might be possible.
While Lonnie and Eric are both experienced dog mushers, the One World Expedition will find their roles a bit juxtaposed. This time, they are the dogs - pulling and paddling their fully laden slacs for 1,240 miles.
With temperatures hovering at a balmy -10 degrees F, the One World Team spent a few hours playing in Lake Superior. The cool dip was a welcome break (if you can believe that) from the strenuous business of fundraising. Appearing in Salt Lake City at the Outdoor Retailer and at several talks in Minneapolis, Minn. Lonnie and Eric have been more like road warriors than polar explorers. Mad Max look out!The numbers don't lie.
With only 93 days until Lonnie and Eric's official departure in May, life at OWE headquarters has taken a decidedly different tone. While fundraising is still a priority, there is a palpable trend towards arranging logistics and finalizing gear selections. The trip to Salt Lake City and the Outdoor Retailer was crucial toward filling the minor gaps. Time now is spent tinkering: a heat exchanger here, a new boot gator design there. The list is check and rechecked.
The team is pleased to have ASNES Skis a sponsor. Special thanks go to Gary Neptune of Neptune Mountaineering who made it all happen. Also thanks to Bill Rogers who stopped in Grand Marais to snap a few pictures (like the one above).
The One World Team would like to introduce Joel Sheagren. He has been shooting commercially for advertising for 25 years. His photography draws on the pulse of the human spirit. He uses the sense of place, environment and natural lighting to give an epic feeling to an assignment, whether it's commercial or personal work. Achieving photography awards since 1991, his photography is currently being honored in the American Photography 2004, published in America 24/7's book called Minnesota 24/7 and republished in the second printing of Selina Oppenhiem's Portfolios That Sell.
Joel shoots traditional film and digitally for stills and has recently moved into professional digital video as well. His Minneapolis studio offers production services with national and international experience. He has spent many years in the outdoors, traveling in the Arctic Circle, leading trips for four years through the Quetico and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. He is a certified scuba diver and experienced dog musher. Sheagren lives in Minneapolis with his wife and business partner Kim, two children and three sled dogs. The One World Team is proud to have Joel on board.
