Against climate change
Driven by British explorer David Hempleman-Adams and the company Mars Gaming, the Mars Gaming Northabout Expedition is a cultural and travel initiative that aims to raise awareness in society about the need to fight against the threat of the 21st century and declare the Arctic a Global Sanctuary.
Our Mission
To do this, a team of specialists in various disciplines will travel on the Northabout sailboat, trying to reach latitudes never before reached by a ship of this type, also exploring places never found and documenting the impact of warming on ecosystems and the life of the Inuit.
In the last 30 years, we have lost three-quarters of the floating ice cover, and 2017 is on track to be the hottest year on record. Climate change threatens not only Arctic species and cultures, but the entire planet.
Goals
In addition to the main objective of raising awareness about climate change, the expedition has set the following goals:
OBJECTIVE 1
Thousands of people have reached the summit of Everest, and several hundred have been to both poles; but only a handful have reached – without getting trapped in the ice – a latitude of 81º with a sailing ship.
The Mars Gaming Nothabout Expedition aims to surpass this record as a way of denouncing, de facto, the rapid retreat of the ice floes.
To achieve this, they will face a treacherous sea, full of icebergs and the perilous possibility of becoming trapped in the ice. The chosen route is the Nares Strait. The starting point will be the town of Qanaaq (Greenland).
OBJECTIVE 2
The expedition will have a land extension; a team of explorers will try to reach the Geomagnetic North Pole , which is the point that centers the Earth’s magnetic field and which this year will be on Ellesmere Island (Canada), in an area full of glaciers and virgin peaks that the team will try to climb.
If successful, it will be the first time in history that a Spanish team has reached the Geomagnetic North Pole.
The Geomagnetic Pole in the Agassiz ice cap.
OBJECTIVE 3
A veritable “gateway to the white hell,” the Nares Strait was the passage chosen by numerous expeditions throughout history to reach the North Pole by sea, as it was mistakenly believed that a temperate sea lay beyond the ice barrier.
This led to great tragedies and epic tales worthy of remembrance. The team includes specialists in the history of expeditions; the Northabout will travel to places visited by historic expeditions such as those of Greely, Peary, Ross, Nares, and others.
Some of these places have not been visited by anyone for a century.
The expedition will produce a travel book that will compile the history of these expeditions, as well as the main events of the Mars Gaming Northabout Challenge.
OBJECTIVE 4
The team will map areas previously covered by ice, sending the results to scientific institutions; they will also conduct journalistic work on the impact of climate change on Inuit culture in communities such as Grise Fiord and Qanaaq, as well as on the flora and fauna around the Nares Strait.
