The Expeditioners

The Expeditioners are a group of adventuring photographers, led by Roberto Gibbons Gomez, that go to the most remote locations on our planet.

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The Story of The Flying Kayaks

A few months ago, Cherine, Wang-Tsu and I took an enormous trip across all of Quebec and Labrador-- until we hit the rugged Atlantic coastline. An adventure that had several unexpected twists found us two weeks later, driving through Cape Breton on our return to Montreal. At this point, we believed our trip to have ended .... ... and were cruising along the highway when Cherine yelped "THE KAYAKS!!" ... Now, knowing my lovely girlfriend, I expected that the kayak seat covers had ripped-off (she can be a little melodramatic at times...) but unfortunately no.... it was the entire Nissan roof rack--- and the three kayaks attached to it--- that had ripped-off the car--at a 100km/hr ...and were now perpendicularly placed in the middle of the highway, and about to be hit straight-on by a little Civic.... He swerved left ... The next car right.... and the last was able to stop..... phew! All this I got in the seconds after Bella's exclamation, from the side-view-mirror.

Sometimes we joke around that we should be called "The Misadventurers"... and with good reason!

Anyways-- we stopped the car, and piled-out to pull the boats of the frozen road, trying to avoid the nip of the freezing weather... and after having gotten them to the shoulder... we all started to laugh hysterically:) We could not believe what had just happened--and that everyone was ok. After the laughing subsided--and we had assessed the damage, (they really took it QUITE well considering,) we just stood there staring at the boats...

The car was packed to the brim, and I no-longer had a roof rack to which we could tie the boats down. Furthermore, we were 1400kms away from home... Quite a conundrum. A few moments later a car passed us and went into the driveway-- so we headed-over to see if a solution could be found. Luck had it that it was the Warden/Mayor of the Municipality of the County of Inverness - Mr.Duart McCauly. He was extremely nice and offered us any help we needed. We asked him if we could keep the boats in his backyard until we could retrieve them at a later date, and he kindly accepted. So we lugged the boats into his backyard-- and continued on our way home --- significantly lighter!

As we drove away, we couldn't believe what had happened--but we were totally relieved that the boats hadn't flown- off and landed on the Civic's windshield. It would have been catastrophic. 5191kms later we pulled up into my driveway... finally knowing our trip had ended.

As per what happened to the boats: They are no longer sea-worthy, but that being said-- they might still be repairable. The Trak Kayas fabrics got scraped-up on the frame pressure-points-- but really not as bad as we would have expected. That Oil-Bladder Material that they are made from is extremely resistant.

Similarly, my Carbon-Kevlar Impex Force 4 didn't snap or totally crack-- certain places look more like it was torn. The Kevlar really saved it. If these three boats can take concrete landings flying at 100km/hour--- and still relatively survive--just shows again how well they're made. Although I can no-longer say the same for Nissan Roof Racks....

Below is a pic of what's left of my roof rack.... then again, in retrospect, that's ok... as the car's gone now too...

[theexpeditioners]

Why Did He Wipe-Out?

On Saturday, Bella and I went downhill skiing to Mont Tremblant with my good buddy Roy. The conditions at the mountain were more than decent as it had snowed a fair bit the eve before. Now, I've been skiing for 23 years and have never had a serious injury.

One of my favourite things to do while on the mountain with my friends-- is to plow them with a wave of unexpected snow:) Towards the end of an awesome ski day, Roy took a massive wipe-out that sent him spinning into a mogul. Being somewhat higher on the run, I noticed he seemed alright and immediately saw a golden opportunity to cover him in the white stuff.. I kicked-up as much speed as I could and barreled down the run towards him... A few meters before reaching him I braked to wreak a mountain of snow on him; in that same instant my skis swept-out from under me and gravity did her thing  as I quickly discovered why Roy had lost control. A thin sheen of snow covered a perfectly smooth skating rink! I coiled into a ball hoping not to do too much damage to my friend--and smashed my forearm on the ice as I skid into him. Luckily, he saw it coming and had moved enough out of the way that I didn't hurt him on impact...

Moral of the story? Question why your buddy wiped-out before attempting to plow him/her with snow! Especially when you know your friend's a good skier! ;)

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Learning the hard way...

Written by Cherine T (aka. Bella) About two months ago while taking my accreditation in lead climbing I sprained my ankle when my foot hit the wall on an awkward fall. This incident, which happened the day before our trip to Newfoundland and Labrador, left me invalid for a period of about three weeks--and extremely frustrated. Why and how did I fall? Well, I can only blame myself for not paying attention. When lead climbing, you have to make sure you can make it safely to the second quick-draw… Taking a moment and analyzing your route before climbing is very recommended to avoid serious injuries--and I can attest to that. Being the first one to climb up a relatively easy route (5.9), I was very intimidated by the others watching me. I started climbing and as I was about to clip the second quickdraw, I lost my stability and fell from that point to the floor hitting my right foot against the wall with all my weight and speed. Result: crutches for 2 weeks!! My fellow expeditioners were kind enough to postpone our trip to Labrador. However, being November, delaying our departure longer would have caused us problems for kayaking due to the ice forming. We left on November 15th, two weeks after my injury. Still using a cane to help me walk properly, I was so happy to finally leave the city! This expedition didn’t spare me from any pain! It was very challenging for me to walk on uneven surfaces, so imagine how hard and painful it was for me to hike-up a mountain, and in winter no-less! Roberto suggested that I stay in a cabin along the coast (Rocky Harbour) while him and Wang Tsu would hike up Gros Morne. I was so upset with him, and gave him such a hard time that he finally changed his mind and we were gone that same night. I am not sure whether I made a wise choice by throwing myself into such a hike. Normally relatively easy, the hike up Gros Morne was not so easy with a 30lb pack, and a yet-to-heal ankle. However, hiking up to the base of Gros Morne in Newfoundland, or kayaking Bonne Bay was far more rewarding than staying alone in a cabin somewhere along the coast. Two months after this incident, I decided I was ready to give lead-climbing another try. Unfortunately, my second attempt didn’t go as smoothly as I expected. I had asked Roberto to come with me the day of my accreditation so that I would be more comfortable and motivated. After spraining my ankle the first time, I was scared I was going to hurt myself yet again. We decided to warm up doing few climbs and after two hours of training it was finally time to get up that wall lead climbing. As I started climbing, everything was going well. My first planed fall at the fifth quickdraw went really smooth and I felt more confident than ever. I continued up my route and as I was getting closer to the next quickdraw, I grabbed the rope and pulled it up to my mouth to hold it with my teeth while taking more slack. I was about to clip when I lost my grip, and once again fell a good 30 feet until I felt the rope ripping- off my teeth. Ouch that hurt!

I was totally shocked and couldn’t believe something wrong happened again. I mean “come- on!” what are the odds of something wrong happening twice in a row! My teeth felt very loose and I started bleeding. Fortunately, I wasn’t in pain and I hadn’t broken any of my teeth. Only the lower ones were hurt and my gum felt very sensitive. Later did i learn you are suppose to put the rope between your lips and not your teeth! Oups!! And other people suggest not to ever do that..

I cried a lot immediately afterward, more from the fear of having my teeth irreparably damaged-- but I was happy Roberto was there to console me. He gave me all the love and comfort I needed at that precise moment. And truth is I just wanted him to hold me. After 20 minutes, I decided to get back on the wall. I was more motivated than ever to do better, and to be 20 times more careful when lead climbing. Hurting myself twice was a good lesson, and I can tell you I will not reproduce the same mistakes again. Some of us have to learn the hard way!

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Still Alive!

My brother recently moved in Toronto to a spectacular new house. With his lady expecting, a new house and a new job (he's a doc)-- there was no lack of things that we could do to help, so Wang-Tsu and I headed over to give a little hand. The move went smoothly and it was awesome to see my nephews, Sandrine and Paul. Nonetheless, we had to head back last Saturday evening. We would have stayed the night in Toronto, but Wang-Tsu had to be at work Sunday morning-so we left the city around 7pm.

Toronto saw Saturday receive a ton of snow-- but the storm system had moved-on by the time we left. My parents had just flown back from Frankfurt and, as is the familial habit, called us as soon as they landed. On the phone, my dad asked me to consider staying in TO due to the weather (as the storm had now hit MTL,) but as usual-- I retorted that I'm used to driving in extreme weather, and driving in general and not to fret. (Over 233 000km on my Pathfinder 2001... almost 60 000 of which was in one year!)

The road was dry at the start, and going was good, until about 100km's from Kingston. Approaching Kingston, we slowed to a full stop near a huge multi-car/truck accident. I mentioned that I hoped everyone was ok. Moments later, my pathfinder fish-tailed HARD and I had lost total control over her. I attempted to over- correct-- but knew the futility of the scenario once we were at 180 degrees. I looked out my left window to see a wall of concrete careening towards me at over 80kph-- knowing that only 6 inches of door separated the wall from my flesh. It's in this instant that I let out a really stressed "wooooooow" and sincerely believed that that was to be the end of me.

"What a dull end," I thought.

"Would have rather been in some extreme adventure.." but no, good 'ol Canadian black-ice was to be my the cause. I blanked as to what happened next. Until the car had come full circle and stopped.

Everyone seemed ok.

Chanelle later told me that I pulled her into me with a death-grip on her jacket--preventing both of us from whip-lashing against our respective windows. Wang-Tsu still traveled from side to side in the back (with his seat-belt on) but managed to escape with a bang on his head--he was sitting behind Chanelle. We were lucky the driver-side rear- left corner took the brunt before my whole side, making the window explode.

We called 911--telling them "We're right after the other accident!" -- but couldn't describe our location whilst in shock and without signs in site. A car stopped to offer aid, seeing parts strewn across the highway--but we told him we were "ok" and his car slipped a little when he left. Afraid another car might lose control on the ice and hit us--the little pathfinder- that- could managed to get us the 500m required to an exit into Kingston.. and a Tim Hortons.

Chanelle has an underlying condition that necessitated further tests and scans at the Kingston hospital-- and I tip my hat off to her for truly being made of steel:) Her father picked us up early in the am, and then drove us back to Montreal via the road that follows the Saint L. as the highway was closed in both directions due to accidents.

Things could have been significantly worse than simply losing my truck... and I think we're all still a little shocked... but most definitely happy to be alive:)

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Le Massif, Quebec

Christmas found both Cherine & I with our families abroad-- and so-- as is our custom when planning adventures-- we waited until the absolute last moment to make a decision on what to do for Xmass...

December 24th in the a.m-- and we started browsing the internet for something: preferably a wood cabin in a secluded are.. with some skiing, or back-country access nearby....

Bella looked on her laptop--while I on mine... for hours...and everything was triple the price it usually is. Unjustifiable for us-- as we can go a couple of weeks later, for longer, for less.  We resigned ourselves to stay in Montreal... .. ..  but that was not to be-- as Cherine (Bella) found us a retarded-last-minute-deal for $70/night at the base of Mont-Saint-Anne near Quebec City-- and only a 20min drive from Le Massif. It's an alpine-ski mountain that's supposed to give a similar feeling to skiing in Norway-- where the inclination of the terrain gives you the sensation that you're skiing right down into the ocean. In this case--the Saint-Lawrence River. The Co-Founder of Le Cirque du Soleil owns the place, and they are investing 230million to make it "the" place go for East coast skiing. Here's the link to it:

http://www.lemassif.com/en/montagne/pistes/carte

Not too much snow had fallen before our arrival--but we nonetheless managed to put in a couple of powder runs on the un-groomed (and closed) trails. Unfortunately the triple-black-diamond was closed as well...as well as the much-touted new Gondolas. That being said--the facilities were pristine, the mountain was desolate--and the mountain showed huuuuge potential for some awesome back-country glade skiing-- once there's another couple of snowstorms.

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Snowshoeing UP Mont Tremblant .. at night!

On Friday, Bella and I decided to head North to Saint-Agathe, as a friend of hers had given her a gift certificate for a "boutique B&B." Now, I've been to my share of B&B's, hostels, and hotels...and this place is a class apart... each room has a theme: the owner showed us around to give us the choice of room--fist we started-out by visiting the "Cleopatra" room, which was painted in a bright gold--floor, walls, and ceiling.... with a giant jacuzzi in the middle of it all... (it's at this point that I began to wonder....) 

Next was the "Eros & Psyche" room ... suffice it to say, we were grossed-out by the "pleasure swing" that was in the middle of the room... NEXT!

The Bill & Hilary Clinton room was unavailable -- so we opted for the "Free Willy" room that looked like a kids room-- except for the naked woman next to Poseidon.. We thanked the owner for showing us around--and indicated we would be going to sleep, to which he retorted "You're not going to sleep ALL night;)!" .... which is when I really regretted not having brought our sleeping bags... Morning came, and we jetted out of the place faster than the roadrunner!

The rest of the drive to Mont Tremblant was pleasant-- although we hadn't booked any lodging, so we were wary of the prices we would be quoted on arriving--being Christmas and all. $350, $300, and $250+tax were the respective prices in the village... (we usually pay around $170) -- Dissatisfied with the quotes, I went into my phone and checked the Mont Tremblant "Last Minute Deals" section--and found a Studio (with Kitchenette) for $100! The catch here-- is that they don't tell you the place you're staying until you reserve--which is fine--as the studios and rooms are pretty standard. So we opted for two nights.

On Sat. evening we went snowshoeing up the mountain-- taking the runs that had yet to be groomed-- avoiding the maintenance crew on their sleds, as well as the groomers. Whenever they were about to pass--we either melted into the forest or jumped into the ditch on the side of the run--as we were skeptical about being allowed to hike-up at night... Apart from that, the temperature was nice, the trees snow-laden, and the view of the sparkling village below simply picturesque..

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Labrador Lighthouse

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To get an idea of our trips and photos-- check-out our website. You can also purchase prints here!

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Highways to Nowhere

      The Expeditioners last adventure led us to drive along some of the most remote regions and highways of Canada. Our original goal was to drive to the most North- Eastern point in Labrador accessible by road-- Cartwright. Now, the "highways" that we took to get to Cartwright are by no means what you would consider to be normal roadways. They are gravel, hole-strewn roads that are more reminiscent of logging roads than any concept of "highway" you might have. These back-country roads are the lifeblood of Canada in many ways, as these were built for Hydro Dams, Mining, and logging. The most common vehicles seen are indeed almost always for industry. The only other travelers on these will tend to be hunters; rarely will you see any campers or adventurers---as simply getting there can take a week; and most people won't sacrifice a week out of their two week vacation to be on a desolate road to nowhere. That being said, I love these roads---for they allow me to access the most remote regions of our country without having to fly.

On our adventures to Newfoundland and Labrador, we traversed Labrador from West to East, as well as driving the magnificent coastal section on the Atlantic. A few of the things we encountered on these desolate roads:

1. Every time a 18 wheeler logging truck passed us (from either direction) we had to come to a full stop, as the plume of dust that the truck lifted would leave us totally blind time and time again.

2. Make sure not to drive too close to the shoulder, as they're quite soft--and you might find the gravel underneath suddenly start to give way. (This becomes a nuisance--as there is nowhere to pull-over.) So, if you want a pee-stop, you have to leave the car in the middle of the road, while you do your business--and hope that a truck will not ramble-by at that instant... which also tends to happen.

3. Make sure you have enough gas! We drove through several sections where there isn't a gas station for 297, 303, and 393km's respectively. Being that most phone companies don't cover this area, you can have quite a conundrum if you don't pay attention to your gas gage.

4. Snowmobile trails parallel these roads, so keep an eye out for the refuges-- they can be quite wonderful on an evening of -15C...

5. Most of the industry people we chatted-up mentioned that they all travel with a Satellite phone and an Emergency Beacon.... well, at least we had our emergency beacon!

6. Be totally ready to sleep just off the side of the road--as often there is no place to pull off!

7. Bring new music! Listening to the same bunch of songs over and over on what ended-up being 5191km of driving can drive you crazy!