CHLOË COURTAULD




Chloë Courtauld 36yrs, is the great-niece of the arctic explorer and sailor August Courtauld and aims to follow in the arctic footsteps of her famous great uncle, who made history as “The Man on the Ice Cap”.

Chloë has spent the last six years working in motorsport (Formula One; A1GP) and has always had a passion for travel and adventure. She has travelled extensively in Asia, the Far East, Australia and Europe as well as trekked in Sri Lanka, Jordan and completed a 21 day trek climbing up to 5,500m in the Himalayas in Nepal. 

In 2007, she worked for Voyage Concepts, project managing a Trans Antarctic Expedition, which aimed to pilot the first ever bio-fuelled vehicle across Antarctica, as well as raising awareness of climate change.  She also project managed a world record breaking attempt for the “Fastest Unsupported Team Trek to the South Pole”.  Most recently, she has been working with Ben Saunders the admired British polar adventurer.

Captivated and inspired by her great uncle’s courage and bravery, Chloë aims to keep his spirit alive by embarking on a journey in celebration of him.  The journey will be a tough one, testing Chloë to the limit, as she aims to ski 410kms across the ice-cap in hazardous and unpredictable conditions, supported by two dog teams pulling sledges packed with essential supplies.

After travelling for approximately 12 days, Chloë aims to reach the exact spot where her great uncle was marooned, witnessing first-hand the desolate, featureless and bitterly cold ice-cap he had to endure for so many months. She will place a Union Jack flag, pipe and tin of suet under the snow, in his memory and in honour of his admirable spirit and selfless courage, knowing his memories are preserved in a frozen, timeless ice-chamber beneath the snow.   

“Deeply moved by my great uncle's remarkable survival story on the Greenland ice-cap during the winter of 1930, where his powers of courage, inner faith and spirit of determination kept him alive in one of the most hostile environments on earth, I have felt compelled to want to re-trace his footsteps across the ice-cap and go to the place where he spent 149 days alone in a bitterly cold, dark and featureless white frozen desert, eventually becoming trapped and buried under the ice.

This expedition is giving me the chance to understand and share in my great uncle's thirst for challenge and adventure, as well as the exhilaration of going into the unknown.  It is the chance appreciate the hardships, risks and dangers explorers like my great-uncle had to endure during the 20’s and 30’s. Most of all, it is giving me the chance to bring his spirit alive and keep a little flame ignited in his memory.”

DREAM BIG

If there were ever a time to dare,
to make a difference,
to embark on something worth doing,
it is now.
Not for any grand cause, necessarily
but for something that tugs at your heart,
something that’s your aspiration,
something that’s your dream.

You owe it to yourself to make your days here count.

Have fun.
Dig deep.
Stretch.

Dream big.

Know, though, that things worth doing seldom come easy.
There will be good days.
And there will be bad days.
There will be times when you want to turn around,
pack it up, and call it quits.
Those times tell you that you are pushing yourself,
that you are not afraid to learn by trying.

Persist.

Because with an idea,
determination, and the right tools,
you can do great things.
Let your instincts,
your intellect,
and your heart guide you.

Trust.

Believe in the incredible power of the human mind.
Of doing something that makes a difference.
Of working hard.
Of laughing and hoping.
Of lazy afternoons.
Of lasting friends.
Of all the things that will cross your path this year.

The start of something new brings the hope of something great.
Anything is possible.
There is only one you.
And you will pass this way only once.

Do it right.

CONSTANT TEDDER




Constant Tedder, 38yrs is co-founder of the computer games company Jagex Ltd , which is the developer and publisher of the popular MMORPG RuneScape and the deep-casual games site FunOrb.com .  
 
In 2007 Constant travelled over 3,200 miles unsupported across the Mediterranean from Barcelona to Beirut on jetski’s with university friend Pablo Guadalmina. It was during that journey that Constant saw first-hand an example of the damage that humans are doing to the planet as floating plastic was passed every minute or so in large stretches of the Mediterranean.

Since that time Constant has become a committed environmentalist and is one of the co-founders of the charity Greenspaces , which aims to encourage the creation of new green public spaces and sustainable design for urban communities in rapidly developing cities.

Constant is an investor in Wayn.com the social network for adventurists. Constant recently founded Dawn Energy Ltd - a renewable energy start up.

“It is a real honour to be joining Chloe on her quest to follow in the footsteps of her great explorer relative, August. My personal reason for joining the expedition is to visit the Greenland Ice Shelf and see first-hand its changing state. The latest scientific advice delivered to the international scientific community by Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado, Boulder, seems to confirm that the Greenland Ice Shelf is melting much more rapidly than previously thought and that the increasing water flow through its crevasses is creating a positive feedback loop. This may result in the complete break up of the ice shelf this century, which would result in a sea rise of as much as 7m as there is so much fresh water contained in the ice shelf.  By undertaking this journey I hope that I can help to draw additional attention to this critical issue in advance of the critical negotiations taking place UN Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen later this year.”

JAMES DOBREE

James Dobree is delighted to be on this trip. James spends a lot of time in the mountains, mainly in Europe, trekking, ski touring and skiing. He competes in triathlons, olympic distance and is currently training for the French Ironman.

DINES MIKAELSEN

The Mikaelsen family come from the Isortoq settlement on the east coast of Greenland, where there are some of the most skilled hunters in the world.  The family moved to Tasiilaq several years ago.  From an early age, Dines Mikaelsen, 32 yrs was trained by his father Vittus Mikaelsen (Mayor of Ammassalik and member of Parliament), to hunt and drive a dog-sledge.

He spent one year in New Zealand to improve his English language skills and he now combines his hunting skills with outfitting and guiding work. As well as being a highly skilled seal hunter, Dines has over 20yrs experience of crossing the Greenland Ice Cap with a dog sledge, has caught polar bears and participated in Narwhale hunts.