Friday, February 22, 2008

2XTM Kiteskiing North Dakota Update


The 2XTM Team continues their expedition across North Dakota via wind power, although they've certainly had their hardships along the way. Reading their blog offers some insights into what they've been experiencing since they set out back on February 11th.

The first thing you'll gather from their blog posts is that it's been cold. Damn cold in fact! Some of their first nights out they experienced -25 wind chill temperatures, which of course can make for dangerous conditions when you're exposed. It's a bit ironic that they are on this mission to promote the use of wind energy, and yet the wind is the very thing that is making them the most miserable.

As if that weren't enough, one of the team members, Sam Salwei manage to dislocate his shoulder, prompting the support crew to come find him and take him to the emergency room where a doctor popped the shoulder back into place. Ouch! And if the frigid temperatures and injuries weren't enough to make things miserable, a lack of snow is also not helping the cause. Apparently they've had to hike quite regularly, rather than kiteski, thanks to the fact that there has been more mud, than snow in some of the areas. Because they want to promote the use of wind power however, they are searching for kite buggies to take the place of their snow boards to help them continue along their path.

Judging from their Spotfind map, they appear to be roughly a third of the way through their expedition as of this writing. Reading through the blog posts however, it seems that at times they may feel that they got into more than they bargained for with this trip. Hopefully the weather will improve and they can continue to make progress. Their expedition is proof that you don't have to go to the North or South Pole to have an arctic adventure.

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