Using the European Space Agency’s Copernicus satellites to identify areas thought to be home to the oldest remaining sea ice, we’ll navigate from Greenland to Canada across the shifting frozen Arctic Ocean. The journey will take two months to survey an area spanning 300-400 miles, across a region considered a scientific black hole due to the lack of previously collected data.

The team will ski for 8-10 hours each day, each pulling 100+ kg sledges. Each evening we’ll collect ice samples for 3-4 hours before a nightly situation report via satellite phone with the expedition base manager to determine the following day's target based on updated satellite and forecasting data.

The Arctic Ocean is a dynamic and volatile environment – fast moving ice floating atop a very cold ocean. No two hours are the same. With every step, the surface is shifting and conditions changing, and each day brings its own risks and challenges. Temperatures regularly dip below -50 degrees Celsius, rarely reaching zero. The team will encounter open water leads, massive pressure ridges, whiteouts, equipment failures, storms, and polar bears. This is the only place on Earth where you wake up in a different location than you fall asleep, your tent drifting like a ship without anchor. 

Living on frozen ocean requires deep knowledge and experience, and partnership with polar explorers provides the scientific community with access to critical data they would otherwise be unable to obtain. While satellites provide the big picture of what’s happening to a changing Arctic, only ground-truthing can answer the essential questions about the role of sea ice in global climate, how long the ice cap might endure, and how receding sea ice impacts everyone, everywhere.