Motorcycle adventurer guides documentary shoot into the Arctic
Paul Mondor carries the confidence of a motorcycle rider who has sought the most unforgiving winter landscapes in Canada, and has lived to tell the tale.
An adventurer on two-wheels, the 50-year-old B次元官网网址淚cemanB次元官网网址� has survived the bleak Labrador ice road twice, and his claim to fame is being the first person to ride coast to coast in the dead of the Canadian winter.
Now against the backdrop of the vast but frozen northern tundra, Mondor and a documentary film crew have their sights set on riding to Tuktoyaktuk, a town north of the Arctic Circle, and everywhere else in-between. With two motorcycles and a support vehicle, they leave from Vancouver Feb. 13 for a 10,000-kilometre round trip.
B次元官网网址淚 hope we hit some hellish weather to make the whole thing interesting,B次元官网网址� laughs Mondor, a bus driver with the Sooke School District and a Saanich resident. B次元官网网址淚f itB次元官网网址檚 too easy we wonB次元官网网址檛 get peopleB次元官网网址檚 attention. WeB次元官网网址檙e hoping for really bad stuff to happen.B次元官网网址�
Joe Lloyd, owner of Curbsyde Productions, and his crew plan to shoot The North, the next project in his Reconnecting with Canada documentary series.
Mondor, Lloyd and his wife Flora Lloyd will share on-screen commentary and narration. The video project is planned as a mix of motorcycle touring and vignettes of geography and communities through B.C., Alberta, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
B次元官网网址淐anada is a winter country and we want to show as much of that as we can on camera,B次元官网网址� Lloyd says. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e doing it on a motorcycle, but the focus is on Canada and its people.B次元官网网址�
Mondor expects the venture to be cold and at times dangerous, although not as deadly as driving a motorcycle across Labrador in the winter.
B次元官网网址淭uk(toyaktuk) will be tough, -30, -40 C. The roads are well surfaced and maintained, but itB次元官网网址檚 ice, like Labrador,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淏ut the temperature and challenge wonB次元官网网址檛 be like Labrador.B次元官网网址�
Mondor tried to convince Lloyd to shoot a Labrador adventure, but that proved to be a logistical nightmare and a touch isolated.
B次元官网网址淪hooting up to Tuk is more doable, there is just more to shoot, with activities like dog sledding,B次元官网网址� Lloyd says. B次元官网网址淟abrador is very hard to film.B次元官网网址�
The shooting schedule includes riding the ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Smith, trying to swim in an ice hole in isolated Tuktoyaktuk, viewing the Northern Lights and swapping dog sleds with Inuit people for his 2011 BMW F800 bike. The frozen road from Inuvik to Tuk exists only in the winter, offering an overland route rarely documented.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 looking forward to exchanges, to seeing the daily lives (of Inuit people). These guys live in -30 C for half the year. ItB次元官网网址檚 incredible,B次元官网网址� Mondor says. B次元官网网址淲e want to document northern peoples and cultures. This kind of adventure tourism hasnB次元官网网址檛 been done from a motorcycle point of view.B次元官网网址�
The venture is sponsored by BMW and tourism agencies in B.C., Alberta, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. This is MondorB次元官网网址檚 first documentary, but heB次元官网网址檚 had enough media interviews to feel comfortable on camera.
B次元官网网址淭his is about the people and the land,B次元官网网址� Mondor says. B次元官网网址淲e expect to see polar bears, wolves. The geography around Inuvik and Tuk needs to be seen to be believed.B次元官网网址�
Lloyd said he is in final negotiations with a television network to air the Reconnecting with Canada series, although he couldnB次元官网网址檛 divulge which network. The northern Canada episodes will be on the Curbsyde website.
Lloyd will also be riding a BMW bike during the shoot in northern Canada, but Mondor is the final authority on safety.
B次元官网网址淛oeB次元官网网址檚 never ridden the winter stuff B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 a trial by fire,B次元官网网址� Mondor says. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l push him, IB次元官网网址檓 not putting Joe in a place were he will kill himself.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淧aul is the kind of guy you want around if something goes wrong,B次元官网网址� Lloyd says. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 looking forward to the ride and not having to worry.B次元官网网址�
Mondor and the Curbsyde crew are leaving Vancouver Feb. 13 and will be uploading video footage to the Internet during their journey. Check out www.rwcnorth.tv for more information on the project.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
