Pole2Pole Expedition Update: In Sight Of Land At Last!

It has been awhile since I posted anything about Johan Ernst Nilson's Pole2Pole Expedition. That's the ambitious adventure undertaken by the Swedish explorer during which he hopes to go from the North Pole to the South Pole, in a completely carbon neutral fashion, in just one year's time.

When last we checked in, Nilson has been dropped off at the North Pole, and had begun his journey south on skis. It was very tough going however, as the conditions in the Arctic were less than ideal this season, with large open leads of water, incredibly tumultuous weather, and thin pack-ice all around. Still, Nilson has been sticking to his course and working hard, and his efforts are about to get a lot easier.

In a blog post from earlier today, Nilson announced that he is in sight of land at long last. That means that he is approaching northern Greenland, where he expects to enter the next stage of his journey, which will be conducted on a dogsled. He still remains a few days away from actually touching solid ground, but when he does, he'll transition to this new mode of transportation, which will carry him to Thule Airbase, where he'll board a ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

After that, Nilson will climb aboard a bike and begin a very long cycling journey from Ottawa, Canada to Tierra Del Fuego, where he'll once again sail across the Drake Passage, and head to the South Pole via skies. That's a long way off at this point, but he is about to hit a major milestone in what has already been a difficult journey.

Pole2Pole Update: Heading South And Fighting Frostbite

Last week I posted a story about the launch of the Pole2Pole expedition which will see Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson travel from the North to the South Pole in 12 months time. When I wrote that introductory article I was only able to link out to PR sites from expedition sponsor Audi, but now I have the full website where we can follow Nilson's progress online.

The year-long journey officially got underway last Tuesday, with Nilson setting off from the North Pole. During this first leg of the journey, he's attempting to kite-ski to Greenland, but according to updates to his blog, things have not been easy thus far. The ice walls that are common in the arctic do not make it easy to use the kites, and dragging the 110 kilo (242 pound) sleds has made for slow going thus far. The Swede has already broken (and repaired!) one of his skis, but is also suffering from frostbite on all ten fingers, although that seems to be a holdover from previous polar expeditions.

Still, Nilson seems determined to forge ahead with his expedition, and upon reaching Greenland he'll transition to dogsleds for a brief run to the northwest coast. From there, he'll sail across the Atlantic to Canada where he'll begin a long bike ride south to Patagonia, eventually reaching Tierra del Fuego. After that, it's back in the sailboat for a jaunt across the Southern Ocean, and then one final leg by kite-ski to the South Pole. When he's done, he'll have traveled more than 28,000km (17,000 miles) in a completely carbon neutral fashion without using any fossil fuels.

Be sure to follow along with Johan's progress on his website and check out the video below for more i

nformation on what he's up to and the polar history that he is paying homage to.

Pole2Pole Expedition: 12 Month Journey From North to South Pole Begins Today!

Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson is about to embark on an epic and ambitious expedition that will see him travel from the North to the South Pole in under 12 months. If that wasn't challenging enough, he'll also be doing it in a carbon neutral manner, making the entire journey without the use of fossil fuels.

The projected is called the Pole2Pole Expedition and it is being sponsored by Audi. The journey officially gets underway today, with Nilson being dropped off at the North Pole, where he'll make the first stage of the journey on skis, heading south to Greenland. Once there, he'll begin the second stage of his journey, which will take him to Thule Airbase, located on the northwest side of the country. He'll make that trip by dogsled. The third stage of the expedition will be an aquatic one, as Nilson will then board a sailboat and cross the Northern Atlantic to Ottawa, Canada. Once there, he'll embark on the longest leg of the trip, during which he'll make his way from Canada to Patagonia on a bicycle. After that, it's back in the sailboat for a quick crossing of the Drake Passage, arriving in Antarctica late in the year, where he'll start the final leg of the journey, kite-sledding to the South Pole.

If all goes as planned, it'll take Nilson less than 12-months to complete the expedition, but it certainly won't be easy. He may be cutting it close on the far end, as we all know that the Antarctic season is quite treacherous after mid-January or so. But that is probably getting well ahead of ourselves, for the moment, he should be concerned with just getting out of the Arctic in one piece.

For their part, Audi is taking an active role in their sponsorship of the expedition. They've helped Nilson design a lightweight, yet durable, sled that he'll be puling behind him in both of the polar regions, and their vehicles are being used by a support team and documentary film crew that are following the explorer on his journey. Nilson will also be stopping at various Audi dealerships along the way to help cover that all important sponsorship.

In order to arrive at the South Pole by April 6, 2012, Nilson is going to have to average roughly 62 miles per day. Obviously that's not out of the question on a bike or kite-skiing, and certainly not in a sailboat. Skiing from the North Pole to Greenland will be the biggest challenge, which he may be finding out at this very moment.

It should be fun to follow along on this expedition. Stay tuned for updates.

2011 Iditarod: John Baker Wins In Record Time

The 2011 Iditarod has its winner! Experienced musher John Baker became the first person to finish the 1131 mile route, arriving in Nome this morning. Baker claims his first ever Iditarod championship, and he did so in epic fashion, completing the course in record time. It took Baker just 8 days, 18 hours to finish the race, besting the old record, held by Martin Buser, by two hours.

The only other musher who has crossed through the checkpoint at Safety is Ramey Smyth. He is now on the stretch run to Nome, where he'll easily claim second place. Behind him, currently running in third is Hans Gatt, followed by Dallas Seavey and Hugh Neff, all of whom are through White Mountain, which means they have less than 77 miles to go until they reach the finish line.

Other mushers of note include Deedee Jonrowe, who is in tenth place coming down the stretch and Lance Mackey who is running in 16th place. Baker's win snaps Mackey's run of four straight Iditarod titles, which as been an impressive run over the past few years.

While a winner has been crowned, the race will continue over the next few days as more teams arrive on Front Street in Nome. The front runners will all stagger in over the next few hours and into this evening, but the back-of-the-pack racers are still hundreds of miles away from Nome. The Last Great Race, as it is known, is an outstanding test of endurance and skill, and just finishing is an accomplishment. Lets hope the rest of the teams get the chance to do just that, and come home safe and sound.

Congrats to John Baker on the very impressive win!

2011 Iditarod: John Baker Only Musher In And Out Of Elim

2011 Iditarod continued throughout the weekend, with mushers battling for position out on the course. The leaderboard has been shaken up some, with a number of familiar names, as well as fresh ones, appearing in the top ten.

As of this writing, the man out in front is John Baker, who is the only person to enter, and depart, the Elim checkpoint. Elim falls at the 1008 mile mark, which means for Baker, there is less than 123 miles to Nome. His next closest competitor is Ramey Smyth, who is through Koyuk, and steaming his way to Elim now. He is followed by Hans Gatt, Sebastian Schnuelle, Hugh Neff, and Dallas Seavey. That group ranks 3rd through 6th place respectively, and are the only mushers that are also through the Koyuk checkpoint.

Other names of note include DeeDee Jonrowe, who is running in 8th place and is into Koyuk and four-time defending champ Lance Mackey, who finds himself in the unusual position of 17th place, and far off the pace.

A quick look at the leaderboard shows that Baker is running a bit over 8 mph with his dogs at the moment, and none of the other competitors are close to that, save for Dallas Seavey. With Nome in sight, I think it is safe to say that this is Baker's race to win or lose at this point. It isn't over by any stretch of the imagination, but he's been running well all weekend long, and seems to have a strong team that is poised to arrive in Nome in just a day or two. If the weather holds, and the dogs keep up their pace, it will be very tough to catch him.

Look for the race to be officially over by Wednesday.

2011 Iditarod: Sebastian Schnuelle Out In Front Through Anvik

It has been a few days since I posted an update on the Iditarod, and a lot has happened in that time. The top mushers are now into the Anvik checkpoint, which falls at the 624 mile mark, leaving just 507 miles to go until the finish line in Nome. As of this writing, Sebastian Schnuelle is the leader of the race, and the only musher out of Anvik, but a host of sled drivers are chasing him, including some rather big names. Meanwhile, a former champ was forced to withdraw following an injury.

As noted above, Schnuelle is currently running in first place, with Hugh Neff in second. John Baker holds down the third spot, with Lance Mackey still lurking in fourth, and Ray Redington, Jr. rounding out the top five. Other names of note include four-time champ Martin Buser, who was in the lead for much of the early going, falling back to sixth place through Anvik, and crowd favorite DeeDee Jonrowe is racing well in 10th place having left the Shageluk checkpoint.

Hugh Neff was actually the first person to reach the Yukon, arriving in Anvik ahead of the pack. Fans of the race will know that that honor awards him a gourmet meal cooked by the head chef from the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage. That meal is cooked over a campstove and is a seven course affair where they receive a 7 course meal prepared over a campstove. It is quite a prize for the person who earns it, and the "8th course" isn't bad either. That consists of $3500 in cash!

Many of the teams will now take a mandatory eight hour rest break in Anvik before heading out on the trail once again to start the final push for Nome. It appears that Schnuelle has made the calculated risk of skipping that break for now, in an effort to put some distance and time between himself and his competitors. We'll see if that pays off down the line.

There has been another scratch from the race as well, this time taking a big name out of the race. Mitch Seavey was forced to withdraw when he cut his hand while opening a bale of straw for his dogs at the Ophir checkpoint. Apparently the cut was quite deep and severe, which prompted him not only to leave the race, but also get airlifted to a hospital for stitches.

The race is really starting to heat up now, and we'll start to see the front runners using different tactics to try to jockey for position. With 500+ miles yet to go, it is still anyone's race, but the race tacticians will likely start to take over in the next few days.

2011 Iditarod: Buser Still Leads, Mackey In Second Into Takotna

The 2011 Iditarod continues today, with a host of mushers into Takotna, where many are taking their mandatory 24-hour layover that is designed to give the drivers and their dogsled teams a much needed rest. The checkpoint falls at the 419 mile mark of the 1131 mile race, and is often a place where the front runners really start to put a distance between themselves and the pack.

The first musher into Takotna was Martin Buser, who has been running at the front for the past few days. Running in second place behind Buser is four-time defending champ Lance Mackey, who is about an hour and 45 minutes back, with Sebastian Schnuelle running in third, another 18 minutes down. Hugh Neff is currently in fourth place and Ray Redington, Jr. is holding down fifth at this time. Other mushers of note include father and son Mitch and Dallas Seavey, who are in 6th and 9th place respectively.

Buser earned himself the 2011 Penair Spirit of Alaska Award for being the first racer into the McGrath Checkpoint. Given out annually by Penair Airlines, the award is a custom made "spirit" mask and a $500 credit for shipping freight. That probably comes in handy when it comes to getting that sled back home, huh?

Since yesterday's update, two more mushers have scratched from the race, including Iditarod veteran Paul Gebhardt, who was down to just 8 dogs when he arrived at Nikolai. With 700-miles of racing ahead of him, Gebhardt elected to step aside for the safety of team. Jessica Hendricks also withdrew from the race in Nikolai.

2011 Iditarod: Buser Leads Into Nikolai

As I mentioned last week, the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race got underway over the weekend, with 62 mushers and their teams setting out from Willow, Alaska on Sunday after the ceremonial start in Anchorage the day before. They're now two days into the event, which is an 1131 mile dash to Nome through some of the most remote backcountry in a state that specializes in remote backcountry.

As of this writing, the top racers have reached Nikolai, which is approximately 347 miles into the race. The first person to reach that point was four time champ Martin Buser, who seems to be racing well at the moment. Just minutes behind him was Robert Bundtzen and Hugh Neff, with Ray Redington Jr and Lance Mackey rounding out the current top five. Sebastian Schnuelle is the only other musher into Nikolai so far.

The trail conditions at the front are said to be good, but as more dogs and sleds chew up the route, it said to be getting kind of gnarly for those further back in the pack. Five time Iditarod champ Rick Swenson, who is currently running in 28th place, injured his shoulder when he took a fall on the Happy River Steps between Rainy Pass and Rohn this morning. He has elected to continue racing, but the extent of the injury is not known.

Two mushers have withdrawn from the race, which actually isn't a bad attrition rate two days in. Both Zoya DeNure and Melissa Owens elected to not continue upon reaching Rainy Pass. DeNure withdrew for the best interest of her dog team while Owens suffered an a pre-race injury to her leg, which she re-injured somewhere out on the trail.

Stay tuned for more updates. With over 700 miles yet to run, the race is obviously up for grabs, but there are some big names already hanging around at the top. If Lance Mackey is anywhere close to the front in the latter stages of the race, will anyone bet against him?

The "Last Great Race" Begins This Weekend!

The Last Great Race, also known as the Iditarod, gets underway this weekend, with the ceremonial start in Anchorage, Alaska taking place tomorrow and the proper start from Willow on Sunday. The annual event is amongst the longest and most challenging sled dog races in the world, with this year's course covering 1131 miles between Anchorage and Nome.

The Idiatrod has two routes that alternate each year, with the 2011 version taking the southern route through Shageluk, Anvik, and Grelying. Depending on the weather, the race should take roughly 10-15 days to complete. The top teams can cover the distance faster however, as long as the conditions are right.

The field is once again deep and talented, with a number of former winners hoping to cross the finish line in first place once again. Chief amongst them is Lance Mackey, who flirted with retirement after winning the race for the fourth straight year in 2010. Mackey is back to try to claim a fifth title, and heading into the event he is definitely the man to beat.

Keep an eye out for Dallas Seavey as well. He's coming off a huge win in the Yukon Quest a few weeks back, and has plenty of experience despite his 23-years of age. Seavey is also the son of former champ, Mitch Seavey who is hoping for another win as well. Other notables to watch include Hans Gatt, Martin Buser, and Sebastian Schnuelle.

Watch for regular updates on the event over the next few weeks. It is always one of my favorite races to watch each year, and the Iditarod never fails to provide plenty of excitement and drama. This year will be no exception I'm sure.

17-Year Old Wins Junior Iditarod

Over the weekend, 17-year old Jeremiah Klejka claimed victory in the Junior Iditarod, completing the 180 mile course in 1 day, 11 hours, and 46 minutes. The race, which is open to teens between the age of 14-17, serves as an annual precursor to the 1100+ mile Iditarod, which will get underway next weekend in Anchorage.

This was Klejka's third running of the Junior and he hopes it will be a springboard to the much bigger event in years to come. The high school junior has been mushing since he was six years old, when both he and his sister took up the sport. Sister Jessica won the event back in 2008.

Anitra Winkler came in second place, about 26 minutes behind Klejka. Third place went to Emily Krol, who finished another 22 minutes back.

In other Iditarod news, the National Geographic Adventure Blog has post today on the "Last Great Race," which not only gives a bit of detail on the event, and what it takes to compete, but also goes into musher Oswald “Newton” Marshall's techniques for staying warm on the trail. You see, Oswald is from Jamaica, which isn't exactly a hotbed of dogsledding champions. But he loves to race none-the-less, even though the cold may have a bigger effect on him than some of the other racers. To keep the blood flowing, Marshall will sometimes stay active by dancing.

The article also talks about four time winner Lance Mackey and his fight with cancer. It's an excellent read all around and a great way to prepare for the Iditarod this weekend. 

Rookie Musher Wins 2011 Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race

A rooke musher, with a very familiar name, has won the 2011 Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race by crossing the finish line in Fairbanks, Alaska last night. The race, which got underway on February 5th from Whitehorse, Canada, stretches for more than 1000 miles along trails used by prospectors when the gold rush hit the region at the turn of the 20th century.

23-year old Dallas Seavey finished the race at approximately 11:05 PM local time last evening, beating out second place finisher Sebastian Schnuelle by 33 minutes. Seavey, who is the son of 2004 Iditarod champ Mitch Seavey, became the youngest musher to ever win the Yukon Quest, taking home $28,395 in prize money.

The Yukon Quest serves as a precursor to the Iditarod each year and often gives us a look at the top sled dog teams before they hit the trail in that 1161-mile monster of a race. But success in the Yukon Quest has not always translated over to the Iditarod, as only Lance Mackey, a legend in the sport, has managed to win both races in the same year. The Iditarod gets underway on March 5th this year, and as usual, I intend to cover the event as best as I can.

As for Dallas Seavey, he has already proven himself in the Iditarod, and this win confirms what many have felt about him. He shown that he has quite a knack for the sport, and there are high hopes for his future in dogsledding. Expect him to be in contention when the Iditarod turns toward Nome in late March.

Adventure Travel Company Accused Of Killing Over 100 Sled Dogs

An adventure travel company has come under scrutiny in British Columbia, Canada after a former worker filed a compensation claim for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The employee says that the condition came about because he was ordered to shoot more than 100 sled dogs over a two day period last year.

According to this story from CTV News, Outdoor Adventure Whistler conducted a "horrific" culling of their sled dogs last April, killing more than 100 of the them and throwing them in a mass grave. The culling took place April 21-23 and in the original claim, the worker says that he helped kill 70 dogs. The article says that the company later corrected that number to 100.

The tales that the person filing the claim has to tell are certainly not easy ones to read, and dog lovers will especially want to take caution when reading the story. A follow-up article, found here, says that Royal Canadian Mounted Police have now joined the investigation into what actually happened, and they will now dig up the mass grave to further investigate the allegations.

The story says that Outdoor Adventure Whistler did not respond to inquiries about the incident, but indications are that with the economy still sluggish and the travel industry still recovering, the dogs were killed off following a particularly slow winter season last year. One Vancouver group has already called for a complete ban of dog sled tours following this report.

Reading this story earlier was a extremely tough for me. As an animal lover, I wouldn't want to see any creature treated this way. This is a glimpse of a darker side to adventure travel, and while I believe that this is probably an isolated incident, it doesn't make it any easier to read about. If the allegations prove to be true, I hope action is taken very swiftly against the people involved.

Thanks to Eric Chan for sharing this sad story.