New On Flickr: Airboats
March 9th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Gear, Photographers, Sports
Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
A Glimpse of the Arctic Through a Californian’s Eyes
February 1st, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Current Events, Dive Training, Diving, Expedition Training, Sports
This Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle featured a great article by Margo Pfeiff about her trip to Baffin Island for training in polar survival. I couldn’t help but giggle at her description of her first foray into Arctic waters:
Dangling my legs off a 6-foot-thick ice floe, I slide into slushy water. My “swimsuit” ain’t no polka-dotted bikini, but a screaming red one-piece waterproof number I’ve wrestled over a half-dozen layers, including an expedition down jacket and ski boots. Air rushes out around my neck as heavy-gauge nylon hugs me. Suddenly, I’m bobbing buoyantly up to my chin in the Arctic Ocean like a cherry in somebody’s piña colada.
As I hoist myself back onto the ice sheet, the saltwater on my suit flash-freezes and drifts to my feet as snow. I had come north to immerse myself in the Arctic, but hadn’t expected the experience to be quite so literal.
This rare patch of open water in the sea ice blanketing Frobisher Bay is a polynya kept open throughout winter by strong currents. The 29-degree seawater steams into the clear, minus-18 degree March air. I dog-paddle through clinking ice chunks as if I’m doing laps in a tumbler of scotch.
The sometime absurdity of negotiating Artcic waters aside, Pfeiff manages to capture how fun the Arctic can be, how unique and enjoyable trekking across sea ice and camping on a creaking ice-locked bay.
Pfeiff’s whole article is well worth a read. You can read it in its entirety on the San Francisco Chronicle’s webpage.
Got the itch to try it yourself? Check out our trips page for more information on our expeditions to Baffin Island and beyond.
Have You Checked Out Our Flickr Page Lately?
January 27th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Sports
We’ve got a huge photo archive, and we’re adding content weekly from trips going back for more than a decade! This week we’re looking at one of my favorite subjects:
Featured Trip: Dog Sledding North Baffin Island Adventure
August 13th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in ACTIVITIES, AK PRODUCTS & SERVICES, Featured Trip, Sports, TRIPS, Upcoming Trip
We recently updated our trips page, streamlining the layout and adding a few new expeditions to our existing list of offerings. Of all these new adventures, there’s one I find particularly exciting: the Dogsledding in North Baffin Island Adventure.
Sled dogs on a 2006 expedition to Qaanaaq, Greenland
According to the International Federation for Sleddog Sports, the dog sledding tradition may stretch back “almost as long as the relationship between dogs and humans” in areas with predictable yearly snowfalls. As a dog person, I love that idea: Traveling along traditional Inuit hunting routes, we’ll be experiencing the old Arctic, following paths that have bound man and dog together for thousands of years.
The trip is also a photographer’s dream: Baffin Island is located along one of the richest marine areas in the Arctic Ocean. Though our routes and the wildlife we encounter will depend variables such as snow and ice conditions, we’re likely to travel along steep-walled fjords, along inland lakes and possibly even out to the floe edge, the border between ice and sea where marine animals congregate.
A pair of sled dogs near Lancaster Sound
Are you as excited as I am? Check out the expedition’s trip page for more information, including rates and a sample itinerary.
Featured Video: Swimming with Whales & Camping on Sea Ice in the Arctic
May 27th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Diving, Films, Sports
Harsh though it seems, the High Arctic teems with life. One of the things I love about this video is how much of that life is in evidence, from large mammals, including narwhal and beluga, to the clouds of plankton that swirl around the camera and divers. And check out the crazy undersea plant life that shows up at around 1:42!
This video also showcases the diving, photographic opportunities, and natural beauty that make Lancaster Sound one of our most popular destinations. Visit the trip page to find out how you can join the fun!
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