For you Paris Expedition Sled fans and other boreal fools

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sardog1

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If it ain't snowin' there, we ain't goin' there.
In 2007 Børge Ousland and Thomas Ulrich retraced part of the 1895-96 sledge and kayak journey of Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen in the Arctic. Ousland and Ulrich towed kayaks over the ice and paddled when feasible, as did their predecessors.

Today I saw the Ousland-Ulrich video for the first time, which you can see free with iTunes as a video podcast at Ut i naturen: I Nansens fotspor. The spoken language is all Norwegian with no subtitles. Why would you, the non-Norwegian speaker, want to go to the trouble?

Well, partly because our little orange friend from South Paris, Maine, plays a prominent role in the trip. Ousland and Ulrich dragged Paris Expedition Sleds behind their kayaks. And the videography is fantastic otherwise, especially if you're boreal in your proclivities.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that an English version of Ousland's account of the trip, In the Footsteps of Nansen, will be published in February.
 
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Paris makes a good sled. If you use care to transfer the stresses on the hitch contacts points so those to places aren't overstressed, a sled will last a long time.

And, points for "boreal proclivities"
 
Good to hear the PESs that have gotten good use! I haven't had a chance to use mine yet this winter...

Jay
 
I just bought two of them. I found them at the local Aubuchon Hardware store when I went in to get ice melt for my driveway. I grabbed the last two in the store. I gave one to my brother. I haven't used it yet but hope to with some trips coming up.

Woody
 
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