The Transglobal Car Expedition has arrived in Resolute Bay after completing a 2,200 km overland journey from Yellowknife.
Sixteen people from Ukraine, Canada, Iceland and Russia took part in the trek using three 2021 Ford F-150 trucks and four Yemelya amphibious vehicles. Support also came from British, Icelandic and German experts and scientists along with Brandon Langan, a guide from Cambridge Bay to help with ice and polar bears.
The Swiss non-profit organization GoodGear sponsored the expedition.
“This is a major achievement on a very difficult route,” said Vasily Elagin, an mountaineer, explorer and team member from Russia.
Residents in Northern communities have been welcoming, said Andrew Comrie-Picard, a Canadian professional driver who took part in the expedition.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with interest and support from so many people along the route, from the Indigenous communities to the residents of Yellowknife, Cambridge Bay and Resolute,” he said. “The people of the North are exceptionally passionate and imaginative, and they seem to intuitively understand the thing that drives our passion in this expedition.”
While the expedition itself went well, one vehicle was lost in the process of returning the vehicles to Cambridge Bay due to rapidly shifting ice. This, according to the adventurers, will help inform safety measures for future travel in the context of climate change.
This is just the first part in planned 2023-24 complete circumnavigation of the planet through both poles, serving as the Canadian test. The plan is to cross both poles primarily relying on vehicles and no flights. Ships will be used to cross the North Atlantic from Greenland to Denmark, Turkey to Egypt, South Africa to Antarctica, Antarctica to Argentina and Colombia to Panama.