Wednesday 25 December 2013

Partners of the Nanook Expedition

Sponsor:

Arctic Farmer http://www.arcticfarmer.com , from Canada. The largest nursery and landscaping company in Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories. I met the owners, Darwin Rudkevitch and Carine Pattin, in 2007. They were my employers before becoming my friends. Without their help, this expedition would not be. I owe them a lot, a BIG thank you!

Gold partners:
 
Steger Designs http://www.mukluks.com/ , from USA, are giving me a pair of Arctic Mukluks, the best winter boots available! Made in mooses hide and canvas.One of the very rare winter boots that breathe and so keeps you dry.


Carinthia www.carinthia-bags.com/‎ , from Austria, are giving me 2 sleepings bags filled of G-Loft: a Lite 1300 and a Lite ES. They will be used in a 2 in 1 system. Having used Carinthia synthetic sleepings bags for all my previous adventures, I considere them to be THE best synthetic sleeping bags on the market. I prefer the use of synthetic over down for their performance even when wet.


Hilltrek http://www.hilltrek.co.uk/ , from Scotland, are giving me an excellent Cotton Analogy Smock jacket: the Liathach Cotton Analogy Extreme Smock. Hilltrek is a very small company and can't afford to sponsor expeditions. I'm very privileged and I thank them a lot! They produce clothes made of Cotton Ventile, a tough, breathable, waterproof and natural product. Hilltrek designed a new concept of waterproof outdoor clothing with the Cotton Analogy. It utilises a robust Ventile® outer and a Directional Nikwax Analogy® Pump Liner. It keeps you totally dry even by heavy rain and breathe very well.
     Having used cotton jacket in winter time before, it was the kind of product I wanted for the Nanook Expedition. Unlike Gore-Tex and other similar fabrics that stop breathing when it gets too cold, cotton keeps breathing, and it's a very good wind-breaker. Cotton Ventile is a special cotton, waterproof and tougher than normal cotton. Among the few companies that are still making cotton ventile garnements, I truly believe that Hilltrek make the best of them.

Taïga Works https://www.taigaworks.ca/ , from Canada, are giving me a prototype of the new ELLESMERE Dry Down Parka. A goose-down filled parka, water-resistant and breathable, and fully baffled for servere cold. A very well engineered "weapon" to help me fight the extreme cold! They are also offering me a Regular Down Pants and the excellent Avalanche pants.

Partners:

Hilleberg www.hilleberg.com/‎ , from Sueden, is offering me a discount on one of their tent: the Nammatj 2. We don't need to present Hilleberg anymore, they are the world leader in expedition tents.
     They make the highest quality tents that have been used in some of the harshest conditions: in polar and mountaineering expeditions. The Hilleberg tents quickly became THE reference in expedition tents. They're receiving a lot of sponsoring request, and can't help everyones, so I'm very lucky!

Falières Nutrition http://www.lyophilise-voyager.com/ , from France, are offering me a discount over their freeze-dried meals. Food is very important in a polar expedition. I calculated my daily food ration to be near 6000 Kcal for a weight of 1 kg. To be able to do that, the (partial) use freeze-dried food was a must.

MX3 http://www.mx3.fr/ , from France, are offering me a discount over their energy bars. When in polar expedition, we can't afford to stop for too long for lunch. Eating energy bars, chocolats and nuts during the day is the solution to get the energy needed without having to stop to cook a meal.

Eric Philips  www.ericphilips.com/‎ , from Australia, is offering me a discount over a pair of his ski bindings: the North Pole Flexi. Eric Philips is an explorer and polar guide from Australia who designed and manufactured products for polar ski expeditions. To find a strong and reliable ski bindings accepting soft boots is difficult. The bindings made by Eric Philips are the solution.

Ethic Etapes Côté Lac Evian http://www.cotelacevian.com/ , situated in the French Alps, on the shore of lake Geneva, is a residential center welcoming groups and individuals on holidays in the area. It has been my residence during the 4 months stay in France, preparing the Nanook Expedition. Willing to help me on the project, they offered me free stay for the last month.

1 comment:

  1. Bonjour,
    Je sus journaliste (L'Express) et je serai de passage, en reportage, à Yellowknife, du 21 au 25 février. J'aurais souhaité vous rencontrer avant votre départ (trop tard?) ? Voici mon mail : mcousin.press@gmail.com
    Cordialement
    Marie

    ReplyDelete