The Preparations ...

Already in May 2001 the team had traveled to a two-week pre-expedition to Greenland, in order to prepare their enterprise optimally. In Scoresby Sund, the starting point of the expedition, they met some mushers (dog owners), in order to select and buy suitable dogs. Expedition member Ralf Hewelcke is the dog and sleigh specialist in the team. No other German put as many dog sled kilometers back in Greenland as he. He sees the point with the selection of the dogs: The animals must be teamable and possess an iron will - characteristics, which distinguish particularly greenlandic sleigh dogs. Additionally the team assigned a Inuit sleigh manufacturer to construct an original greenlandic sleigh. The sleighs are manufactured from wood after centuries-old drawings and bound only with cords. Only the special dogsled construction of the Inuit guarantees that the material withstands the extreme request on the way to the Gunnbjoerns Fjell. Beyond that two dogsled prototypes were tested during test tripss around cape Tobin and cape Hope and ultramodern equipment such as tents, clothing, sleeping bags etc. was tested. Further trips to Norway in January 2002 are planned. The connection between tradition and Hightech combined with a function of highest logistic and physical requirement makes the expedition 70° north an event.