Arctic adventurers
NorthWinds offers great tours

Brent Crooks
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 08/99) - The owners and managers of NorthWinds Arctic Adventures, Paul Landry and Matty McNair, are, without a doubt, a pair of highly-motivated expedition enthusiasts who conquer their goals year round.

Compared to other countries, Canada can proudly and truthfully boast about having one of the most unspoiled, undiscovered terrains on Earth. It was this feature that first attracted Landry and McNair to the North.

"My first trip to Iqaluit was in 1987. I travelled by dog team from Pangnirtung to Broughton Island," said McNair. "I returned a year later with Paul Landry to train and breed sled dogs for a trip in 1990 around the entire Baffin Island from community to community on traditional trails. The trip was over 4,000 kilometres in distance," McNair added.

The pair then decided to make Iqaluit their new home and their lives have since been very productive.

McNair led the very first, all-women's expedition team to the true North Pole just a few years ago.

"The expedition (team) skied, pulling pulks for 82 days over 416 nautical miles of drifting polar ice," said McNair.

Landry, on the other hand, led a successful unsupported dog sledding expedition from Resolute Bay to the Magnetic North Pole in 1998.

"Some tend to think that our jobs are glamourous and (it's) easy forgetting that our business is run by our family, which makes for lots of work," said McNair.

Son and daughter, Eric and Sarah, also get a chance to experience life at its best and help to maintain the family's approximate 40 sled dogs.

"By doing everything ourselves we are able to control the quality of our service," said McNair.

NorthWinds supplies clients with everything from meals to clothing, accommodations and even transportation by boat and plane, and all clients are treated well because "a warm and dry customer is a happy one," said McNair. So for those who think they need to spend some quality time out on the land, give NorthWinds Arctic Adventures a call -- otherwise you could be missing out on the best part of the Arctic.