Photo: Vincent Colliard pulls a sled of supplies and gear for the 3-week Ice Legacy expedition on the Juneau Icefield to raise awareness about climate change and ice loss with partner Børge Ousland.  (Børge Ousland / copyright photo used with permission)

By Taylor Saulsbury

Climate Emergency: The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation.

The UN has partnered with UNESCO, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and 75 other organizations to increase awareness of the role glaciers and ice play in the climate system,  as well as the impact on global and local economies and communities. According to the UN, glaciers and ice sheets hold 70 percent of the Earth’s freshwater and provide water to more than  2 billion people. 

The Ice Legacy Project is part of that effort. 

More than a decade in the making, polar explorers Børge Ousland and Vincent Colliard have pledged to ski the 20 largest ice caps and fields in the world unsupported, documenting the effects of a severely changing climate. In partnership with the UN,  their mission is to “explore, preserve, and share the legacy of our planet’s frozen giants,” according to their Instagram. 

Photo: Map of Vincent Colliard’s and Børge Ousland’s path on the Juneau Icefield, crossed between September 22  and  October 10, 2024.  ( Ice Legacy Project) 

Last fall, they embarked on a 20-day journey of the Juneau Icefield, one of the largest non-polar ice sheets in the world. Stretching over 3900 kilometers (2,423.3 miles), their trek started in Skagway on Sept. 22 and ended near the Taku Glacier in Juneau on Oct. 10.  I sat down for a conversation with UAS Environmental Professor Eran Hood and both explorers to recount their cold escape from comfortable society or the “big washing machine,” as Børge Ousland put it. 

“These alpine icefields,” Ousland said, “because they’re close to the coast, which has a lot of changing weather and altitude, makes them really challenging. It’s one of the most challenging that we’ve done, I think.”

 Colliard laughed. “To me, the South Pole was like vacation compared to this.”

Both adventurers have decades of expeditions under their belts, each with unique and unforeseen challenges. In 1994, Ousland launched the first and fastest solo and unsupported crossing of the Arctic. Twenty-five years later, he completed an Arctic crossing in total darkness, described by National Geographic as “the boldest polar expedition of modern times.” 

In 2023, Colliard became the fastest person to reach the South Pole, unsupported and alone. He broke the world speed record for the journey from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, crossing it in 22 days, 6 hours, and 8 minutes. 

“So, we know what it’s like to ski, but what gets better? It’s like a good wine. It’s the time that you put into it,” Colliard said. 

What made the Juneau Icefield most challenging for the explorers was not only the alpine nature but the season. Eran Hood doesn’t recall anyone ever crossing it in the fall. 

“You could be the only ones,” he told Ousland and Colliard. 

Vincent Colliard and team navigate the alpine, putting sleds and packs on their backs to reach ice good enough to ski on.  (Børge Ousland / copyright photo used with permission)

In one of wettest times of the year, rain and lack of snow cover forced the team to carry their loads “like Sherpas, up and down, until we reached good enough ice,” Colliard said. 

Unseen crevasses were their primary concern, so they resolved to rope up for the plateau crossing. On the 14^th day of the expedition, Colliard had been leading the team, navigating across the ice,  when suddenly, a snow bridge collapsed beneath him. 

“It’s a big surprise, and it’s hard to process in the moment. The navigation is very focused. So, when it happened, I was really in my headspace,” Colliard said. “I was like, I need to be calm and make sure I use all my senses to try to see where the crevasses are. It was very difficult because I couldn’t see absolutely anything on the snow. It was just perfect camouflage. And that’s the first time it happened.”

Vincent Colliard surveys ice crevasses to determine a way forward with partner Børge Ousland during their 3-week expedition on the Juneau Icefield. (Børge Ousland / copyright photo used with permission)

Colliard and Ousland don’t talk much, but when they do, it’s about security and routes.  For Ousland, it’s a time of reflection and a getaway from our fast-paced society. 

“The good thing about doing a trip like this is that you’re present in your own life in a different way than back here. I feel that in daily life in modern society you’re always working for something that’s happening tomorrow. You’re never really here and now, but on the glacier or on an expedition, you are forced to do it because you have to be alert and pay attention to what’s going on,” Ousland said. “You have to stop and look around you and appreciate small things in life; that you’re able to go into the kitchen, open the fridge, and take out the glass of milk. It’s luxury, you know?”

Photo: Vincent Colliard wrangling ropes used as a precaution for weak snow bridges and unseen crevasses (Børge Ousland / copyright photo used with permission)

We reminisced about their journey in the UAS Áakʼw Tá Hít science building on Auke Bay: two explorers, a professor, and myself. Looking out at the sprinkling of islands and intersections of channels, Ousland recalled the dangerous and fleeting beauty of the ice.  

“I’m privileged that I’m able to explore these moments that not so many other people can see and explore,” he said.

 “It’s beautiful up there. Really beautiful. You know, some of those mountains we saw and ice falls and the way everything’s just shaped, it’s really massive and amazing. So much power in that ice.” Ousland gestured beyond, toward the forested islands, “This whole landscape, all this landscape, is shaped by ice.” 

Eran Hood interjected. “All of it! Twenty-thousand years ago, everything here was covered completely in ice.”

Ousland responded, “It’s what this project is about, to show the beauty of this world and remind people that this is something that we need to protect. The bottom line here is not to give up. This is the big test when we’re talking about climate change and protecting nature. ” 

Ousland recalled his first North Pole trek in 1990, where approximately half the polar ice cap was old, multi-year ice. In the North Pole, he skied uninterrupted. Now, less than 10 percent of this ice remains in the Arctic. 

 In 2007, Ousland retraced the 1893 voyage of Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who had attempted to reach the North Pole by freezing his ship into the ice. Nansen never arrived at his destination after struggling to make progress due to the sheer amount of ice. 

For Ousland in 2007: “We were paddling on open water where ice used to be back then,” he said.

Ousland and Colliard have been witnesses to the melting, giving them an immense sense of frustration, they said, which fueled the continuation of Ice Legacy Project. “Climate change is happening here and now. It changed the whole landscape, changed the whole biodiversity and the species, the Polar bears… everything is changing so fast.”

Photo: Børge Ousland and Vincent Colliard celebrate finishing their 3-week expedition near the Taku Glacier on Oct. 10, 2024. (Eric Boomer/copyright photo used with permission)

With the January declaration of 2025 as a critical year in glacial ice loss prevention, projects like Ice Legacy aim to protect the Juneau Icefield and other ice caps for future generations.

 University of Saskatchewan Professor John Pomeroy told the UN that “history will record that 2025 was the tipping point where humanity changed course and eventually saved the glaciers, ourselves, and our planet.” 

In their partnership with UN Glacier Year Canada, Børge Ousland and Vincent Colliard will head to Ellesmere Island in April for the next stage of Ice Legacy.  The expedition will cover the entire length of Ellesmere Island, approximately 1000 km (621.3 miles) in six weeks. They plan to use ski sails for a portion of the journey. 

Photo: Børge Ousland and Vincent Colliard used ski sails on a 2016 expedition of St Elias/Wrangell icecap in Alaska (Ice Legacy Project Instagram page) 

After completing the Juneau Icefield in October, Ousland and Colliard caught a boat ride from Eran Hood back to Juneau. On that trip, Ousland concluded, “We don’t pretend to be scientists or anything, but we thought that we could at least do something. And what we can do is go up there and cross these ice fields.”

As for the Juneau Icefield crossing: “I don’t think I’ve been so wet on a trip in my whole life.” 

To learn more about Børge Ousland and Vincent Colliard’s future Ice Legacyprojects and expeditions, visit https://icelegacy.org/.