North Pole veteran and recent South Pole ski record setter Richard Weber, works with our skis.
By John Huston
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Audio Blog Contents: Visit with Richard Weber, polar expedition equipment, expedition knowledge, car loaded with expedition food, looking forward to hot tub, flight to Iqaluit on Thursday morning
Listen to the audio dispatch: John Huston
Audio Dispatch Transcript:
We found this posted at Richard Weber's front door. Richard has skied to the North Pole 6 times. We identify strongly with this quotation!
"Hi, this is John calling in from Ottawa. It is 8:30 EST time and Tyler and I have just returned to our hotel room near the airport after a day of driving all over Ottawa and parts of Quebec.
The highlight of the day was meeting with Richard Weber, his wife Josee and his sons Tessum and Nansen at their home about 45 minutes north of the city of Ottawa. They live in a wooded area. It's a beautiful place with cross country ski trails, a nice house and a garage/barn full of polar expedition and cross country ski equipment.
Richard has been one of our mentors. He supplies us with a lot of his knowledge about expeditions and the Arctic ocean and he also supplies us with most of our diet as far our main sustenance of pemican truffles for lunch and also bacon which we also eat for lunch. Instead of reinventing the wheel we had tried out Richard's diet and known that it's been successful on several previous trips so we decided to go with that rather than waste our time trying to pack 7000-8000 calories into about 2 1/2 pounds.
So it was fantastic to sit with Richard and talk about the expedition once again and then drive away with the car completely full of meat products and butter based foods. Tyler picked out a book today and we are both a bit run down as at least maybe a little bit road weary so we are going to hit the hot tub. And we moved our flights to Iqaluit Thursday morning so we can make sure that our sleds clear customs nice and smoothly.
Well it's going well and we feel good about everything.
We miss everybody back home and things are on track. Talk to you soon."
Tyler's dad, Steve, working on expedition electronics.
Tyler saying goodbye to his German Shepard, Bud.
Expedition equipment ready to go in Minneapolis, MN.
Goodbye USA. Week in Review, 2/1-2/8 By John Huston
Sarah, Tyler's wife, attaches a necklace holding a small silver polar bear. She wore the same piece on her 2004 Arctic Quest expedition.
Today, we said goodbye to our loved ones. The next time we will see them will be in late April in Svalbard, Norway. Svalbard is a mountainous archipelago several hundred miles north of Norway and where a Russian aircraft will deposit us after picking us up at the North Pole.
The parting was emotional, heartfelt and enjoyable. Tyler and I have a big feeling of success. Success in getting the expedition project to this point. And success that we positively envision having on our quest to ski unsupported to the North Pole.
Our last memories of loved ones are extraordinarily important to us. We cherish them and savor them as mental anchors while on the expedition. Tyler departed from Minneapolis. On Saturday, he, his wife Sarah and their 4 month-old son, Ethan, drove south from Ely to Tyler's parents' house in Center City, outside of Minneapolis. There they rendezvoused with his sister's young family for a relaxing home-cooked dinner. Tyler's morning was one of hectic packing of the car, emotional goodbyes to Sarah and Ethan and a sad embrace of his old, loyal German shepherd.
Tyler, Ethan and Sarah say goodbye.
I departed from Chicago. My last evening at home was spent my parents and my girlfriend Jennifer We dined in the warm, cozy confines of my family's favorite restaurant, Marinella's Italian Ristorante, in my childhood home of Glen Ellyn. Today, Jennifer and I had a perfect relaxing morning, walked her dog in the warm spring-like Chicago sun and then headed to the airport to meet my parents and Tyler, who was connecting from Minneapolis.
In Terminal 1 at O'Hare International airport Tyler, Jennifer and I enjoyed a large Mexican meal, brought in by my parents. We savored the forever universal combination of food (dreams of guacamole abound on the ice!) and family for as long as possible before heading through the security gate.
For both of us, the past week has been a stressful one of expectations unmet. We both know that expectations can be a very dangerous thing when thinking ahead to the future, because most often reality and expectations don't match and that can cause of a bit of frustration and mental stress.
Unintentional twins and John's girlfriend, Jennifer, at O'Hare International Airport.
It is this humble detachment from expectations that Tyler and I are so good at when on the ice and when working with nature, but that sometimes we struggle with at home. We really wanted to have a relatively low stress week, which at times was just impossible due to the demands of media, administrative duties and dealing with a few unforeseen equipment shipping complications.
Now we will spend 3 days in Ottawa, Ontario procuring our food and ensuring cargo shipments are in place. We love Ottawa, which has a nice European feel and is easy to navigate. On Wednesday morning, we fly to Iqaluit where we will train a bit and relax for two weeks.
We left the U.S. well of ahead of the March 1 expedition starting date, precisely because we did not want the stresses of leaving to
happen too close to the start of the expedition. Now it is just the 2-man Victorinox North Pole 09 expedition team, no cell phones, reduced distractions, increased expeditionary focus and 21 days until we ski north.
Audio blog: Tyler Fish driving to Minneapolis airport, hectic week, last minute details, warm wishes, 3 year planning coming to an end, hurry up and wait
Tyler and John relaxing in the Bergans of Norway Booth at the Outdoor Retailer convention in Salt Lake City.
February 1, 2009
Tyler and John enjoying their time with the wonderful folks at Victorinox Swiss Army - Salt Lake City.
One Week to Canada
by John Huston
The last two weeks have been a blur of travel and preparations. Two weeks ago Tyler and I were in Ely, MN traveling and training, it was -30°F or colder for 4 nights in a row. Last weekend found us attending the Outdoor Retailer convention in Salt Lake City, where it rained for 48 hours straight. This past week we have been back at our homes in Chicago, IL and Ely, MN.
We depart for the first leg our journey, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, next Sunday, February 8. We will spend a few days there buying food and a few other supplies. On February 11, we fly to the Iqaluit, Baffin Island, where we will spend the next two weeks training, acclimatizing to the extreme cold and relaxing before we hit the ice on March 1.
John training on the Chicago lakefront.
The last few weeks and days before departing for an expedition can stir a whole mix of emotions, I've compiled a short list here in an effort to give you a small window into our brains at this time.
• Stress. We can feel like a bit overwhelmed at times with multi-tasking and last-minute details. Sometimes we wish there was a few more hours each day. It is a strange feeling to take all the necessary steps to put our lives at home on hold for three months. Bills have to be paid in advance, all of my belonging have to be placed in storage, taxes have to be taken care of and I have to finish packing for the expedition (that's the easy part in some ways).
I love the cold!
• Exhilaration and excitement. Our three year project is finally entering the execution stage and we cannot wait to start the simple life of a long distance ski-expeditioning.
• Longing for loved-ones. We have not left home yet, but the thought of leaving our families and loved-ones for three months can be difficult. It is difficult in the empathy we feel for their experience. Because Tyler and I are engaged in the expedition, time for us will pass relatively quickly. However, how time passes for our loved-ones at home, who are often worrying about us, can be a challenge. On the ice our warm memories of home are extraordinarily important. This week we are doing our very best to add positive memories to our memory banks.
John takes a warm bath.
• Longing for food. We will experience this emotion quite keenly on the ice. So now, we are filling our gullets with our favorite goodies. On an expedition I often day dream about long drawn out meals at my favorite Chicago ethnic restaurants. This week I am anticipating those fantasies and trying to live out those day dreams. This quest also adds a few ounces to my expedition-ready frame.
• Nerves. We'd be lying if we told you we were not a bit nervous about the expedition. We are very confident in our preparation and our choices, however a few butterflies always flutter in the stomach at this time before an expedition. Why? It's different for each person, but for me it is likely the anticipation of the unknowns of an expedition like ice and weather conditions or logistical problems. The butterflies vanish as soon as I hit the ice, which is when these unknowns turn into tangible realities.
In four weeks, Tyler Fish, 34, of Ely, and John Huston, 32, of Chicago, will embark on a journey that will take them to the top of the world. Their goal is to ski and swim, unsupported (without outside aid or air drops of equipment and food), from the tip of Ellesmere Island, Canada to the North Pole.
