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WHO ? WHAT ?

 

From March to May 2000, Arnaud Tortel and Rodolphe André, two young "extreme" adventurers, will be launching themselves into a venture that has never been completed successfully before, despite many attempts: a total crossing of the frozen Arctic Ocean via the geographic North Pole, from Siberia (Cape Arktichevsky) to Canada (Ellesmere Island) totally unaided and without being re-supplied. 100 days of challenges on foot and skis over a distance of 1800 km. It is an expedition filled with risk, across the constantly moving and mysteriously drifting ice fields.

FOR PEACE...

 

Kitted out with state-of-the-art equipment, each of the men will pull a sledge weighing 160 kg across the chaotic expanses of the frozen ocean. If they have to cross a stretch of sea that is not ice-bound, they will have to lash their sledges together and use them as boats. How many times have adventurers taken to the icy wastes alone? More times than anyone can count. Arnaud Tortel is devoting his experience and extraordinary strength of spirit to a great, wonderful and very simple cause: world peace. He has found a partner in Christiane Gugger, the world-famous pianist and founder of the association "Creation of Works for Peace". "Creation of Works for Peace" brings together Abbot Pierre, Dr Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris mosque, rabbi François Garaï, pastor Shafique Keshavjee, the Hindu Svâmi Amarananda, the Tibetan Buddhist Trijang Chogtrul Rinpoché, and they have all agreed to sponsor the Trans-Arctic 2000 expedition and to appear together on a flag symbolising peace that will be raised at the North Pole.

ROUTE & TIMING

 

WHERE ARE THEY LEAVING FROM ?

Arnaud TORTEL and Rodolphe ANDRE will leave Paris by scheduled flight for Moscow, then Khatanga, from where a freight helicopter will take them to Sredny. It is this tiny village, populated by just 30 servicemen, the last inhabited place in the Far Siberian North, that has been the base camp for expeditions planning to explore the polar wastes or travel to the geographic North Pole from the Russian coast. The village is located a hundred kilometres from the expedition's departure: Cape Arktichevsky, the extreme tip of the northern lands, at 80° latitude.

WHEN ARE THEY LEAVING ?

 

Like the majority of polar explorers leaving on foot, Arnaud and Rodolphe have opted to depart at the beginning of March 2000, as soon as the first rays of spring allow them to make their way across the ice fields. This is the time of year when the endless polar night begins to give way gently to the longer days. This particular time slot is more important than you might think: "Because any later and the warmth of the spring begins to break up the ice fields," explains Arnaud. In fact, you have to start off as early in the season as you can, despite the low temperatures that can occur at that time at this sort of latitude. As they are expecting to take 100 days to reach the American continent, they will probably arrive at some time in June!

WHAT ROUTE WILL THEY TAKE ?

 

They do not intend taking the traditional route leaving from northern Canada that has been used by previous explorers of the 20th century. After examining the currents of the Arctic Ocean at length, Arnaud decided to leave from the Russian side, because the direction in which the pack ice is drifting is more favourable. The current will push them towards the pole, whereas taking the American route, it flows in the other direction, meaning that overnight, travellers lose some of the kilometres they cover during the day.

HOW WILL THEY TRAVEL ?

 

They will have to travel mainly on foot or with cross-country skis, depending on the conditions on the ground. In fact, they will have to travel across some very hilly and much obstructed terrain, with piles of ice blocks jumbled up in front of them, with not a flat surface in sight. They will be completely unaided - something that has never been achieved to date. (See previous expeditions). All of the equipment they need (food, tent, safety equipment, navigation instruments, satellite telephone, etc.) to live for 100 days out on the ice, alone and unaided, will be loaded on to two sledges specially designed for the expedition. Each man will have to pull 160 kg. The load will gradually reduce as they go along (2 kg/day).

HOW WILL THEY FIND THEIR WAY?

 

Anyone who uses a compass knows that as you approach the Poles, the compass goes crazy and will not be able to give them any certainty as to the route they are taking. So they need other methods for finding their way.
The first of these is a solar watch, or time compass. This is the oldest method of finding your way, because it uses the position of the sun. This watch has a dial, with a hand, divided into 24 hours. By setting the watch in advance to the exact local time, all they have to do is direct the hand of the watch at the sun and head towards "24 o'clock".
Their second method of finding out where they are in these endless expanses of ice is GPS (Global Positioning System). This is a small device that receives signals transmitted by satellites and determines your exact position to within a few metres. Using this system, you no longer have to take a traditional sextant that would enable you to measure the height of the sun from an artificial horizon. Until very recently, the sextant was the only instrument capable of determining the position of an expedition on the ice with any accuracy.