Our first day in Switzerland was a big success, we all came to the Expedition Center in one piece, full of positive energy and ready for the adventure of our lives.

At seven o'clock the next morning we saw tired, but smiling faces. We did a jog for about an hour, where we ran endless hills. Some of us struggled from the high altitude and different oxygen levels, but finally everyone reached the top and we had some stretching exercises. When we came back, the breakfast was ready and we all had a nice, hot cup of coffee.

The Team gave us time to get ready for the exciting activities to come. We were divided into groups, we both had photography and filming workshops. We got an assignment where we should create a video about a sustainable lifestyle. We first decided on our aspects and than we had to make a storyboard with different scenes and descriptions. The 'super-YEPs' team was the first to shoot their scenes and make fools out of themselves in front of the whole village.

After the workshops we had lunch (the food is fantastic here!), another opportunity to get to know each other better, exchange languages (example 'awe bru' = hello in Afrikaans or 'cześć' in Polish) and learn from one another of the various project we are planning and implementing.

The Mayo Clinic had prepared a few presentations on eco-fitness, globesity and getting our height, body fat percentage, lenght. This was all an introduction to the fitness tests we will be doing and we can't wait (that's what Juriaan thinks) to start them.

Today marked the start of yet another Selection Camp in Chateau-d'Oex, Switzerland. Sixteen youths from all around the world united for the 10 day camp and will compete to win their place on the expedition to Nunavut, Canada in August 2011.

Join us as we share with you their activities and experiences over the next 10 days through their blogs and photos.

by Florence Beffa (Pangaea India Expedition Young Explorer)

On Wednesday the 25th of May, during school assembly, I had the opportunity to do a presentation about YEP in front of my whole school. It was great being able to talk in front of 1’000 students about my experience of being a Young Explorer and having participated in the Indian Expedition.

After the assembly plenty of students and teachers told me it was very inspiring and interesting. I’m pretty sure I’ve achieved my goal which was to motivate as many students as possible to apply for the next expedition. A big number of students came to me to let me know they were going to try to take part in this amazing program. It is truly amazing to share this experience I had with my whole school even if it’s a little bit intimidating at the beginning.

Young Explorers are making headlnes in a big way!  Check out the link below and look at the articles that have been published recently.

To view articles click here..

We walked 18kms today in heavy pack ice. It was a good day with warm temperatures and quite a bit of snow. We turned eastwards to avoid the open water so luckily haven't seen it yet – nor have we seen the polar bears. Young Explorer Felix has some blisters which need to be attended to. We dressed them up nicely last night and there was a slight improvement today. We'll need to keep a good eye on them to see that they don't get worse. Have sent only two photos today. Satellite connection seems to cut all the time. Will try and send more tomorrow.

MIke

Another good day for Mike and the Young Explorers on the Magnetic North Pole trek.

"We advanced 15 kms today which is pretty good considering the first two hours was in thick pack ice. The Young Explorers sleds are laden with about 45kgs of material which is not too heavy but still quite enough when you are not used to it. Throughout the day the ice eventually flattened so we were able to gain more ground later on."

"The weather remains good with virtually no wind, light snow and white out conditions, which keeps the temperatures nice and warm at -10°c to -12°C." Not only does the weather remain good but so does the morale of the team.

"We celebrated Christopher's birthday in style this evening. The Young Explorers had prepared some balloons in the mess tent and gave him a practical gift – handwarmers!!! We ate together and discussed the day. Everybody is tired this evening and have gone to bed early. It's pretty normal to feel like this after the fourth day of hard exercise. They'll bounce back tomorrow."

"We saw a lot of seal holes today and also our first polar bear with a small cub! They were far away in the distance and ran the opposite way when we saw them. There's a chance we'll see more tomorrow as we are getting closer to open water."

Best regards from MIke and the team!

MIke calls to give us news!.. and its all good!!!

It was two days ago that the team was placed in the starting position for their trek to the Magnetic North Pole. Bad weather hampered their drop off in Isachen with Twin Otters on the 1st of May but their luck changed on the 2nd. Because of the constantly strong winds It was decided the team would be taken to an older airstrip with a DC3. They arrived at midday to their point of departure. Mike reports that conditions were not at all good. It was cold, with blowing drifting snow. This was a difficult initiation for the whole crew but they did not let it dampen their spirits. With not a minute to loose, the expedition started and the team walked a good four hours before putting their tents up and settling in for the evening, happy with the way the day had turned out.

As the expedition develops the routine will become easier and easier. MIke was proud to report that the young explorers got their tents up in around 7-8 minutes. Pretty impressive for a first day with strong blowing wind!

After a warm and comfortable sleep the team woke up with a wonderful surprise – blue skies and absolutely no wind. Travelling north they followed the coastline of an island on perfectly flat ice. They covered a total of 20kms on their first full day of trekking and after dinner in the evening took snow measurements for the University of Munich.

When Mike called today it was around 11am local time. Its a late start for the group but there is a lot to prepare for a days walk on the Arctic Ice. The weather today is good although cloudy and temperatures are moderate with around -10 to -12 °C. Today the group will venture onto the sea ice so conditions will become a little more challenging. The team will coss over pack Ice today and Mike has seen the tell tale signs of open water in the distance. Open water is of course the attraction for polar bears so the team must remain alert.

Mike carriesd on to say that the YEPs are great! They are motivated and confident. He is thrilled with their perfomance to date. The first, hardest days are now over. Things can only become easier as they become more familiar with the territory, the routine, their loads become lighter and as they become stronger day by day.

The first photos  will be online very soon…

LIVE TRACKER

Today is our big day, we should be setting off to the Magnetic North Pole this morning. The first thing I notice at breakfast is the immense tension. Not surprising, we've been looking forward to this moment, ever since we've been selected to go on this amazing expedition. Mike has taught lots and now we finally should set off. But our plans change. Due to bad weather conditions our plane can't fly. That just shows, how unpredictable the Arctic is.

We try to get the most out of the day and wander around Resolute Bay. Outside of Resolute we come upon a dog sledge where all dogs are chained up. We're astonished to see, that one of the husky dogs is giving birth to puppy dogs. Only then do we realize, that two of them have frozen to death at temperatures of -20C and strong winds. We try to rescue and warm up the remaining four puppies. Once we contact the owner we are surprised and disappointed to hear, that he doesn't care. Nowadays the Inuit aren't reliable on dogs and don't care about them, since they have got four wheelers and snowmobiles. But happy end to the story: we found a family, who wanted the puppies.

Mike is thinking about to opening a Pangaea expedition center in Resolute Bay, so we looked at an old empty building, it seems to be very interesting.

At the place we are staying at we meet a couple of Inuit teenagers and ended up telling each other about the places we come from, about traditions in New Zealand, how life is in China and how their daily life looks like. They brought us some traditional caribou meat, which we ate raw of course. I really enjoyed the conversation with them and had to laugh, when the eight year old inuit boy asked me, how many animals I've killed already. He of course was proud to announce, that he's killed two seals and helped to kill a caribou.

Hopefully better weather is coming to set off tomorrow…

LIVE TRACKER

There's no stopping them now. After three days training and checking of material, Mike and his team are ready to leave on their expedition to the Magnetic North Pole. The twin otters will drop them off today near Isachen, the old North Pole base, and from there, they are on their own.

Good Luck team – we'll be watching your every move.

Blog written by Felix Hsu

“When I was young, my father taught me how to read the weather. The same methods don’t work today. The climate patterns have changed and I can’t teach my son anymore.” The Inuit people know the Arctic best. This hostile environment is their home as the urban is for me. They were raised to live in harmony with nature and to meet the challenges of survival in extreme climate, but this very environment is changing rapidly today, both environmentally and culturally. The Inuit youngsters grow up nowadays completely distinct to how the elders did.

The Inuit lady we met has lived here for 35 years and a lot has changed since her arrival. The environment is getting more and more unstable and the weather has become unpredictable, which makes the hunting more and more difficult. Eating, living and hunting habits have all transformed since the introduction of snow mobiles and junk food which destroyed the delicate balance of their traditional food. In fact a fist sized piece of beluga meat contains as much Vitamin C as five oranges, that’s why the Inuits can get all the physical nutrition their bodies need all year round without vegetables or fruits. It was not long ago that she had her first apple!

As for us during the expedition we have a complex set of supply that fuels our body with the energy needed for long days of skiing. Every gram of food that is taken with us has an essential function and the set of supply is specifically designed to meet the needs of our expedition. Everyday each of us will consume around 6000 calories, of which 2000 calories alone will be burnt during sleeping. The average person in everyday life needs around 1800 calories per day. It’s definitely not easy to survive in the Arctic.
Tomorrow we’ll hopefully head off to Ellesmere Island in Twin Otters to get onto the Arctic Ocean, if the weather up north allows. We have all our equipment packed, ready to go. We are ready for the Arctic Ocean, ready for the Magnetic North Pole.

Temperature: -19°C
Sky: blue without any clouds
Air: dry and fresh
Feeling of being at this place: Indescribable

To put your foot on the arctic ground for the first time is quite impressive. You’ve already seen this white and cold desert from the airplane. You’ve stared down to the ground just thinking if this might be a dream or really is happening right now. You feel so privileged that you’re given this unique opportunity to explore this region on your own and learn from people who can teach you first-hand experiences.

Arriving in Resolute Bay after a day of flights from Ottawa via Iqaluit and Arctic Bay is tiring but you don’t feel it because the excitment is much bigger than the feeling your body is telling you to go to bed. Well, going to bed isn’t that easy at all. Imagine, the sun never disappears, it’s bright all the time. A totally new experience for all of us Young Explorers.

But the really big adventure hasn’t even started yet, although these two days feel like two weeks because I’ve already experienced so much. Always when a lot of different things happen, when there’s no time to get bored, time seems to be running in exactly this moment but when you think back in the evening it feels like 2 weeks have passed. For us two weeks of adventure are still to come – this is just the beginning.

We got all our equipment needed for the expedition including our sleds, skis and food. This makes me realize that I’m part of this expedition and not just dreaming.

Tomorrow we’re going to put our feet to the arctic ground for the second time. But for the first time while wearing skis. I guess this will be another new and indescribable feeling – like the feeling I’ve experienced when I went out of the airplane in the cold but fresh air, ready for an adventure of a life time which will probably be the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life.