Katie Crafts ('02)
Katie Crafts ’02 and The Sisterhood of Adventure: Part One
Earlier this year, I spoke by phone with Katie Crafts about her plans to cross Greenland by Kite Sled with her friend Celine Jaccard:
“It’s coming together, and we have about a month until we start traveling. We have been training hard, assembling gear and provisions, and raising funds, about $4,500 so far, and we are still looking for sponsors. We are trying to raise $15,000 in total and in addition to cash donations, we have gotten lots of in-kind gear support such as special down jackets and sleeping bags, along with some provisions. The biggest expenses are for Air Greenland and the Tourism Bureau of Greenland, and the helicopter ride onto the ice is $7,000 for just 35 minutes.”
Katie is matter of fact about the complexities of just getting to the starting point safely with all their gear:
“Celine and I will meet in Toronto, then fly to Iceland, then fly to a town in Greenland with an airport, then transfer to the helipad, then to the actual glacier. We are avoiding the initial coastal glacier approach, which is steeper and full of Polar Bears during their season. And bad weather.”
“Once we are on the ice sheet we will ski and kite across (from East to West). It’s just the two of us on the crossing. We use a satellite device to contact an emergency medical company called Sirius Medicine for a daily check in. If we don’t check in, they will initiate search and rescue within 48 hours. The ice sheet in Greenland where we are crossing is 10,000 feet above sea level at the highest. As you cross it, you are initially upwind, then where there is no wind, and finally downwind. We will have no ability to use the kites in the windless areas. Because of that, we don’t know how long it will take to cross. Fastest possible time would be seven days, but we are expecting it take 2-3 weeks. We have to be ready for it to take thirty days.”
She adds with a laugh, “Surviving is our top priority!”
Why make this trip?
“It’s been at the back of my mind for several years. I have been curious about the necessary skills and motivation for such a trip to be successful. ‘When would I be ready?’ Now feels like the time, where my skills and experience are concerned.”
How did you find your partner for the crossing?
“Celine and I met on a NOLS trip in Alaska. We hit it off like sisters. She lives on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. She and her husband have crossed Baffin Island. I really trust her skills and experience.”
Though women have definitely crossed Greenland before, Katie is not sure whether a team of only two has done it without a guide and support.
“Where I am at now is getting out of full-time polar guiding. This is the Swan Song, a celebration of how far I have come since the winter of 2013-14, and a prelude for what is next.”
And what would that be?
“Ask me when I get back!”
I wished Katie good luck, and we rang off. Some weeks later, Celine and Katie began their crossing, and succeeded! Katie promised me in a congratulatory phone call that she would sit for a follow-up interview this fall, and also return to Overlake at some point to share her adventure and what she learned with students.
Stay tuned for more details!