As a member of the ACC (Alpine Club Canada), you get free access to some good talks. As part of the Edmonton section of the club, last night I went to a talk by British photographer/wilderness explorer John Dunn. It was awesome. John specializes in arctic expeditions and his done over 7500km with a sled on his back. Not bad, John.

This particular lecture series, John was talking about three trips that he’s done round Devon Island in Northern Canada. The trips were particularly interesting in that they were trying to go round the coast using the foot ice that is left when the sea ice breaks up. This make for a fantastically interesting journey skiing so close to the sea, but can make travel interesting because you’re never quite sure if there is going to be foot ice right the way around. They got round this by having a sled that could be converted into a kayak if need be.

Later on in the expedition, most of the snow had gone from land and they were left with a big heavy sled, some skis and a lot of rocks to get over. They were prepared for this too, and had inflatable wheels for the sled so they could tow it like a trailer over the tundra. Don’t worry, they chose special wheels that would not harm the fragile soil. They also made use of the strong winds whenever possible using a sail for their sled on two of the expeditions before switching to a kite on their third.

If you have a chance to see John Dunn talk, then go, he’s awesome and his photographs will inspire you. If not then check out his website www.arcticlight.com.

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