News With the support of Rolex, Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer have embarked on a four month adventure taking them 4,300 km across the Arctic. Their objective: to advance scientific research into climate at high latitudes.
Learning and progressing through adventure, Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer have set themselves a multidisciplinary challenge as part of the International Polar Year (IPY). Above and beyond the unique athletic aspect of their expedition, which is a world first, their journey will advance knowledge of the polar regions they are to cross. Because the programme comprises a scientific component, in which the explorer and the athlete will take an active part, in cooperation with ESA, the European Space Agency, namely carrying out studies, taking ice samples and analysing them, checking satellite data and validating mathematical models. An educational component is also central to this adventure: it will help to raise awareness among young people from the ages of 8 to 18 in 40 countries, through a broad and enduring educational programme, drawn up in cooperation with the International Polar Foundation.
The crossing, which began on 24 February in the Russian Arctic, will pass through the North Pole, continue towards the south across the icecap, and go as far as the southernmost tip of Greenland. The adventure will end around 13 June.
Two hundred and thirty projects in the fields of biology, physics and sociology, 50,000 scientists mobilised and more than 60 countries involved: the fourth IPY will once again bring together the scientific community of the whole world and encourage more than ever the development of research activities in the polar regions. A commission, the Education and Outreach Commission, has even been set up for raising awareness among the young generations. Its aim is to sensitise young people to the subject in a lasting way and encourage them to take action during the IPY. The Arctic Arc expedition fits perfectly within the parameters of this IPY.
Since the 1930s, Rolex has supported outstanding personalities in the fields of sports and exploration. As of 1933, the Himalayan expeditions that set out to conquer Everest were equipped with Oyster Perpetual watches, including the successful ascent led by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. As of the 1960s, Rolex forged privileged relationships with polar explorers such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Janusz Kurbiel. This commitment continued with the sponsoring of such pioneers as Erling Kagge and Rune Gjeldnes. All of them could count on the precision and reliability of the Oyster Perpetual, a vital tool indispensable to their success.
True to its spirit of enterprise, its sense of sharing and social responsibility, Rolex today is once again demonstrating its commitment by becoming an official sponsor of The Arctic Arc Expedition led by Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer. The objective of this expedition is to contribute to a better scientific understanding of the polar regions and to draw attention to the importance of global warming.
With its sponsoring programmes, Rolex encourages visionary women and men who, through their exceptional talent and the quality of their achievements, make significant contributions to the world in which we live.
March 15, 2007
