Arrived in Mongolia

Position: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capitol city

Back in Montreal, Curtis and I did the final expedition pack up and caught our flight to Germany, where we met up with Eric. We shipped our buggies and caught our next flight to Beijing, from there connecting onto Ulaanbaatar only to be turned around, about 50 m away from the airport, due to bad weather. After a couple hour wait back in Beijing, we boarded our flight for a second time, and hours later landed in the capital of Mongolia. Bernard from Happy Camel tours was there to help us through customs and drive us to our apartment. Completely exhausted from being on planes for the last 24hrs, and the 12 hour time difference, we crashed.

The next morning we woke up to snow falling over the city. Ulaanbaatar translates to red hero, in honour of the communist triumph. It's not only the capital, but also the largest city in Mongolia. Big Russian style apartment building are scattered around the city, with the occasional new building standing out of place.

We will spend the next couple days in the city while we wait for our buggies to arrive. In the meantime we will buy and pack our food, and get ready to head out into the desert.

Sarah

Waiting for the team

Position: Germany, Frankfurt airport

I am sitting on a stack of tires in the Frankfurt airport. I have been in Germany for the last two days, the plan being to travel before Curtis and Sarah so that I could catch up with an old friend and arranging a pick up of the tires on other equipment that surrounds me. Our buggy equipment was made in Germany by Libre, who kindly modified the buggies with extra carrying capacity to accommodate our gear. They also provided us with the extra material we would need to repair the buggies and when the shipping company was unable to deliver the equipment they took it upon themselves to personally drive the buggies to us. From there, my friend Anne and I barely managed to fit all the equipment into a van and after much struggling with the elevators and the occasional odd look we transported our equipment to the cargo company that would, for a cost, ship the goods to Mongolia. Now amongst the boxes of buggy gear I am waiting for Curtis and Sarah to arrive from Montreal. Their flight is delayed.

Eric

May 6, 2009 - Montreal

Eric left for Frankfurt, Germany on Monday night to go pick up our Libre buggies and repack them for the long flight to Mongolia. Curtis and I stayed in Montreal to finish with our final preparations. Everything is all packed in the Paul's VW van and ready to go to the airport. Exhausted, Curtis and I are enjoying a last glass of beer at Dieu du Ciel. We can't wait to get on the flight so we can catch up on some sleep.

Sarah

Back to Antarctica, January 2009

Just as I was wondering what I would do for the winter, I was offered the opportunity to head back to Antarctica. This time however, I would be working as a guide. After spending two weeks in Chilli doing final expedition prep work, I met my four clients with whom I would be spending the next months.

In November we departed from the coast, headed for the South Pole. We traveled on back country ski's, pulling sleds with our gear. After 54 days of uphill and headwinds, we finally arrived at the pole just after the New Year. Once reaching the pole, as almost all expedition do, three of my clients jumped on a plane and headed back home.

For my fourth client, Tom Davenport this was where the fun began! We were to kite back to our base camp, located near the coast. With us we each brought a range of Ozone kites, from a 5meter kite for storms to a 12meter kite for light winds.

The first challenge was to get off the plateau, which is known for light winds and deep snow. With our 12meter Manta kites on 50meter lines, we slowly made our way heading North. With much relief we left the plateau behind and started descending, encountering better winds and hard packed snow. The biggest challenge was the sastrugie, big wave like snow drifts that covered the surface, some shoulder height. Just as our knees had enough of the washboard surface, we hit steady winds and flat conditions. So we made a last push, doing just over 100nm. We pulled into base camp, having covered the 1100km in only 12 days.

Sarah

Training and prep in Baffin Island, spring 2009

With spring just around the corner, the temperatures have become more bearable in Baffin Island. The winds have been steadily blowing, and Eric, Curtis and I have been taken advantage of this spring! The kite-skiing season has been exceptional; we've been discovering new spots hidden in the hills behind town. With cooperation of the winds, we've been training and get fit for our upcoming adventure to the Gobi desert, which is just around the corner.

Our departure date for Mongolia is the first week of May. We've been busy getting gear together, flights and visas. It's exciting to see this expedition become less of a dream and more of a reality! Only a few weeks left till our departure date!

Sarah

Training for Mongolia, September, 2008

Of the East coast of Canada, a clump of islands joined by long beaches sits at the mouth of the St, Laurence River. It's home to kilometres of hard packed beaches, which provide ideal conditions for land kiting.

We headed to the sand dunes, were a couple years ago Eric and I lived and thought kite bugging. This time we were there with Curtis, to train, and test equipment for our upcoming trip to Mongolia.

The big question mark was what type of buggy to use. We tested many, loading them up with extra weight. And also broke many! But we racked up the kilometers on the buggies, and took advantage of the beaches on the windless days. We left with a van full of sand, and a general feeling of a very accomplished training!

Sarah

What the team has been up to the last year

After Greenland Curtis headed to the West coast of Canada, where he spent months following his passion; rock climbing. Now back in Northern Canada working as a pharmacist, he is itching to get back on an expedition. This past year he has focused most of his free time on art and photography, check out his personal website: curtisjonesphoto.com

Eric and I spent most of the year working for polar explorer Will Steger. Based out of Baffin Island, we spent the winter training our 30 dogs, preparing equipment and organizing logistics. Once March came around we embarked on a two-month dog sledding expedition near Ellesmere Island with 4 other members. Check out the website at: www.globalwarming101.com

Only weeks after, Eric and I headed back to Greenland, this time doing a short east to west crossing, our aim to teach Will Steger the tricks and trades of kite-skiing expeditions.

Sarah