March 98: What started as a training trip, ended up as a dash to the magnetic North Pole. Graeme Joy (Australia) stopped over on his way to Canada to pick up his Modulus and get some training. He was a natural pilot and had it in the bag over the weekend. The next we heard was a excited "E" mail from his wife, telling us of his solo unsupported crossing. His journey took 19 days with a best day of 109 kilometers which is very good going for such bad surface conditions.

"Scary Bears" - mum & the kids crossed my ski tracks & turned south along them walking into Paul Landry's camp. We were less than a kilometer apart. I could see Paul & Mike standing by the tent but not the bears. If they had turned north, wow, I hate to think! I was sitting on my sled eating dinner when I heard Paul fire the warning shots to scare them away as they were walking right into his camp. The bears left, no injury to them.

"Graeme Joy First Solo Unsupported Magnetic North Pole.. ALMOST!" For safey reasons Graeme travelled the last day and a half with Paul Landry of Canada who was dogsledding to the Magnetic North Pole. Graeme's Sat Nav phone was out of range and solar flare activity had made his HF radio useless for the last two weeks of the expedition.

Don't forget the sponsors! All Graeme's photos were by Paul Landry.

A Spider getting to the North Pole was a great buzz, what was even better was the great feedback Graeme gave us on his return. He set out to try several towing techniques and was open minded enough to give then all a fair crack. His report on "ofline" towing was positive which opens the door to further development.

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