The 16-inch steel-belted truck tire scuffs the gravel road and throws up a cloud of dust. Below, barely visible through a penumbra of agitated earth, the chilly waters of Lake Superior lap against the rugged shores of Minnesota.
Two hours earlier, Lonnie Dupre stepped from the warmth and comfort of his home and donned a waist belt and shoulder strap connecting the truck tire and harness to his 43-year-old body, and clambered his way up the steep hill he has come to know as well as the colors and curves of his own face.
Lonnie Dupre, explorer, sea kayaker and author of Greenland Expedition: Where Ice Is Born (Creative Publishing International, 2000), is in training for the first summer crossing of the Arctic and what could become one of the greatest polar adventures of modern times.
The Minnesota-born explorer, who started kayaking just 10 years ago, has already trekked the Northwest Passage, led a dogsled-and-ski expedition across 1,200 miles of Russia’s wild and untamed northeast, and together with Australian John Hoelscher, became the first to circumnavigate Greenland, traversing more than 6,500 miles of coastline using sleds and sea kayaks. The circumnavigation stretched over three separate visits, from 1997 to 2001, with Dupre and Hoelscher covering 3,442 miles by dogsled and 3,075 miles by kayak.
“That trip was amazing,” recalls Dupre. “It took a long time, but it was worth it.”
For explorers like Dupre, time is often the greatest adversary. And when it comes to polar adventures, days, even hours, can be the difference between success and failure, life and death. Which explains the rigorous training.
“I have to be fit and strong, physically and mentally, to make such a challenge,” says Dupre. “The hard work now will pay off when we begin the crossing, of which 30 percent is open-water paddling.”
Dupre survived nearly 8,000 miles of travel in unforgiving environments without serious injury, only to get knocked off his feet by a home-improvement project.
“The May after I got back from Greenland, I was working on a construction project at home,” Dupre recalls. “I fell 22 feet from my roof and landed directly on my feet among some landscaping rocks. I broke both ankles in two places and fractured my right tibia. I spent two months in a wheelchair and another few months on crutches.”
Dupre says that the injury won’t affect his upcoming expedition.
“I’ve been giving it a good workout,” he says. “Both ankles are fine, and I’m clear and good for the trip.”
The constant training also helps prepare Dupre’s wife Kelly for the long periods of loneliness that await her during each of Lonnie’s adventures. “I figure I have the easier job of the two,” says Kelly Dupre. “At least I have the comforts of home; Lonnie has to contend with the Arctic wilderness. This approaching expedition is a little more dangerous. But I’ve hiked with him enough to know he is really good at what he does.”
The Arctic Ocean spans some 8.5 million square miles at the top of the globe, plunging to depths of 14,000 feet. Despite the sub-zero climate, the ice plates are influenced by tides, currents and wind and are in constant motion. As the summer temperatures rise, the ice pans break apart and collide, creating wide corridors of open water that are littered with ice plateaus of various shapes and sizes. In addition to the dangers posed by shifting and melting ice, the region is frequented by polar bears searching for seals and anything else to satisfy their enormous appetites. Nothing screams “paddle faster” like an oversized, hungry polar bear running toward you across an icy wilderness where there’s nowhere to hide.
The logistics of such an expedition are almost unfathomable. One hundred and six days to cross a moving body of water and ice that is one and a half times the size of the continental United States.
Dubbed the One World Expedition, the trip will rely on a precise logistical plan and sophisticated satellite-based equipment to navigate safely through the treacherous maze of ice and water. “We each have about 300 pounds of weight to carry,” Dupre says. “Food, equipment and about five and a half ounces of fuel per day.”
Dupre and Eric Larsen, his partner for this epic voyage, will use kayaks for crossing leads and “slaks” (customized kayak sledges) for hauling cargo, both modified to be dragged across the ice. When they come upon open water, they’ll tow the slaks behind their kayaks using harnesses and ski poles. The prototype for their slaks was developed by Australian Eric Phillips.
Dupre and Larsen modified their kayaks by cutting off sections of the decks and attaching homemade spray skirts. “The skirt adds extra storage capacity while still shedding water as it’s being paddled,” Dupre says.
Dupre has been busy testing two types of rotomolded kayaks for the voyage. Because of the ever-changing surface (water and ice), Dupre has fitted his prototypes with durable plastic runners welded to the bottom of the kayaks, making them easier to tow across the ice while still enabling open-water paddling.
Dupre’s pull-and-paddle journey will serve as more than just the first summer crossing of the Arctic. “I’m just as interested about global warming issues as I am about becoming the first team to complete a summer crossing,” says Dupre, who has previously addressed the Fellows of the Royal Geographic Society in London about the environmental impact of global warming and shifting ice plates. “The Arctic is an important ecological sphere that needs to be monitored and protected, and the issue of global warming has dire consequences for us all. Our aim is to create awareness of the problem and collect relevant scientific data.”
Dupre and Larsen will also produce a documentary and book that will focus on global climate change, teamwork and the spirit of adventure.
The Arctic Ocean spans some 8.5 million square miles at the top of the globe, plunging to depths of 14,000 feet. Despite the sub-zero climate, the ice plates are influenced by tides, currents and wind and are in constant motion. As the summer temperatures rise, the ice pans break apart and collide, creating wide corridors of open water that are littered with ice plateaus of various shapes and sizes. In addition to the dangers posed by shifting and melting ice, the region is frequented by polar bears searching for seals and anything else to satisfy their enormous appetites. Nothing screams “paddle faster” like an oversized, hungry polar bear running toward you across an icy wilderness where there’s nowhere to hide.
The logistics of such an expedition are almost unfathomable. One hundred and six days to cross a moving body of water and ice that is one and a half times the size of the continental United States.
Dubbed the One World Expedition, the trip will rely on a precise logistical plan and sophisticated satellite-based equipment to navigate safely through the treacherous maze of ice and water. “We each have about 300 pounds of weight to carry,” Dupre says. “Food, equipment and about five and a half ounces of fuel per day.”
Dupre and Eric Larsen, his partner for this epic voyage, will use kayaks for crossing leads and “slaks” (customized kayak sledges) for hauling cargo, both modified to be dragged across the ice. When they come upon open water, they’ll tow the slaks behind their kayaks using harnesses and ski poles. The prototype for their slaks was developed by Australian Eric Phillips.
Dupre and Larsen modified their kayaks by cutting off sections of the decks and attaching homemade spray skirts. “The skirt adds extra storage capacity while still shedding water as it’s being paddled,” Dupre says.
Dupre has been busy testing two types of rotomolded kayaks for the voyage. Because of the ever-changing surface (water and ice), Dupre has fitted his prototypes with durable plastic runners welded to the bottom of the kayaks, making them easier to tow across the ice while still enabling open-water paddling.
Dupre’s pull-and-paddle journey will serve as more than just the first summer crossing of the Arctic. “I’m just as interested about global warming issues as I am about becoming the first team to complete a summer crossing,” says Dupre, who has previously addressed the Fellows of the Royal Geographic Society in London about the environmental impact of global warming and shifting ice plates. “The Arctic is an important ecological sphere that needs to be monitored and protected, and the issue of global warming has dire consequences for us all. Our aim is to create awareness of the problem and collect relevant scientific data.”
Dupre and Larsen will also produce a documentary and book that will focus on global climate change, teamwork and the spirit of adventure.