|
|
Lonnie Dupre
It’s been 20 years since Lonnie Dupre and John Hoelscher became the first — and last — to achieve circumnavigation of Greenland, a 6,500-mile, all non-motorized journey by kayak and dog team.
Now Dupre and his team of five are back in Greenland to film and document the changes that have occurred. Currently they are busy putting together a dogsled team, but no John Hoelscher on this trip. The Australian is back home, married and building a new home and couldn’t come, said Dupre who keeps in contact with John.
“We managed to get 11 furry companions for our upcoming expeditions starting in March. I hope to acquire two more,” blogged Lonnie. “They are a mix of wild and friendly, biters and lickers. Most are skinny right now having spent most of the winter enduring Polar night, cold and little food.”
“They are getting extra food now and fat to keep them warm. I will give them vaccinations and dewormers to make sure they stay healthy. Once we get the komatik (dog sled) built and lashed we will go out on short runs, progressing to longer trips.”
Dupre and his crew have several goals, but the main one is, “To create a film that will pay homage to the Polar Inuit, humble people that carve out special lives in a land of snow and ice. Their innovation through trial and error and their creative ways of improvising have always amazed me.”
It’s been just over a month since Lonnie and teammates Tine Lisby of Denmark, Scott Cocks of Canada, Pascale Marceau of Canada, Josefin (Josi) Kuschela of Germany and Jayme Dittmar of Alaska landed in Greenland. All were picked because of special skills and experience them have working in extreme climates.
Lonnie said by mid-March, his team and Inuit hunters will use two dogsled teams to travel to the edge of the Arctic Ocean. From there, Pascale, Jayme, and Scott will strap on cross country skis and make a 43-kilometer crossing on ocean ice to Prim Island, on the shores of Ellesmere Island, Canada. From Ellesmere Island, they continue southwest to the village of Grise Fjord, resupplying before ending at Pond Inlet on Baffin Island.
Along the way Lonnie will reunite with old friends and make new ones.
“We aim to share with the world the importance of Greenland ice, its people, and its fragility.”
Editor’s note- We will follow Lonnie and team Dupre as they undertake this three-month journey.
Leave a Reply