Arctic Quest
In 2014, alone and unsupported, Geoff Wilson kite-skied across Antarctica, his adventure documented in the award-winning film, 47 Below. Now Geoff plans to tackle another polar record. This time he wants to set the record for the fastest kite-ski crossing of Greenland’s ice sheet. From South to North it’s a distance of 2,200 kilometers and to break the record he must cover this frozen desert in les than 23 days. But this time, he’ll have a partner – his son-in-law, Simon, who’s never done anything like this before. Greenland is the world’s largest island, covered with a sheet of ice that’s three kilometers thick. On top of the towering ice sheet, sub-zero blizzards are frequent and the winds are notoriously unpredictable. To break the record, their kites will need consistent wind to pull them hundreds of kilometers each day. If the wind dies, or changes direction, they will have to drag their heavy supply sleds themselves, which will make fatigue their most insiduous enemy. As Geoff learned in Antarctica, an exhausted mind can make life-threatening mistakes. The impact of global warming will be an inescapable element of the story. The ice sheet is melting at an accelerating rate, creating new rivers of meltwater and new crevasses: random cracks in the ice that could be kilometers-deep. Weather patterns are disturbed and snowfall has increased. And the resident polar bear population is beginning to starve as the sea ice disappears – unable to hunt their main diet of seals, they are showing up in Greenland’s few villages in increasing numbers. Geoff and Simon will need to be prepared for an encounter with planet earth’s greatest predator. Can a seasoned polar adventurer adequately train and prepare a total novice to the point where he can rely on him when their lives are at risk? Can their relationship survive the pressure of weeks together in close quarters, tense and fatigued? Can Geoff keep his daughter’s husband safe in one of the most threatening environments on earth? Arctic Quest follows their preparations, documents their adventure as these two Aussies attempt to set the record for the fastest kite-ski crossing of Greenland’s ice sheet.