NEXT ISSUE
May/june 2018, Canadian Geographic dives into the year’s Rcgs-sponsored expeditions
This simple haiku published on the Enduring Ice project’s expedition log marked the sixth excruciating day that an extreme windstorm had trapped members of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s 2017 Expedition of the Year at the north end of the Kennedy Channel on eastern Ellesmere Island. In desperation, Stephen Smith, Diana Kushner, Christopher Horvat, Michael Dillon and Bryce Dillon, who were just days from finishing their 33-day scientific research and documentary film project, made an attempt at escaping “Arctic jail” that evening. They paddled their kayaks into fierce headwinds for an hour and had made it just two kilometres when powerful gusts whipped swells of black water into frothy whitecaps. Faced with a losing battle against the wind, the team surrendered and set up camp in a nearby river valley. That hardship paled in comparison to the environmental threats revealed by the unstable ice pack that expedition members encountered every step of the way. Read their compelling story about dramatic changes in Arctic sea ice and the epic tales of the five other expeditions funded by the Society in 2017 in the upcoming May/june issue: RCGS Explorer-in-residence Jill Heinerth’s sub-zero dives along the coasts of Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland; Adam Shoalts’ solo trek along the Arctic Circle; John Dunn’s 70-day skiing and hiking marathon across the Boothia Peninsula and Somerset Island; Dianne Whelan’s cross-canada traverse of the entire 24,410kilometre Great Trail; and Dave Pearson’s source-to-saltwater voyage from British Columbia’s Monarch Icefield to the Pacific Ocean, 100 kilometres downriver. It’s an adventure-filled issue sure to spark your own explorations this summer.