FROM A LIFE ON ICE Lessons
AT THE CROSSROADS OF EXPLORATION AND LITERATURE WITH ARCTIC ADVENTURER JON TURK
BY EDWARD B. RACKLEY “W
hat do you do when a polar bear charges you? We found yelling colorful language was more effective than gentle talking,” Arctic kayaker Jon Turk explained after a 104-day circumnavigation of Canada’s Ellesmere Island in 2011. “The right tone could communicate, ‘You’re bad. We’re just as bad.’” After a second white bear over-lingered near Turk and expedition partner Erik Boomer’s tent, Jon texted his wife: “Bears scare us. We scare bears. Wind scares us. We do not scare wind.” Along with gale force headwinds, unstable ice and breaching 2,000-pound walrus were a con- stant threat.
Completing the 1,485-mile odyssey around the world’s tenth largest landmass was a crowning achievement in a life of pushing limits in cold and remote climates, primarily by sea kayak. Yet two days after completion, normally a time of recovery and reward, Turk’s life was threatened again. Sudden onset renal failure triggered a descent into metabolic shock, fatal without imme- diate treatment. The trauma coincided with three days of bad weather, delaying his evacuation to Ottawa. Once in hospital, his deadly spiral stabilized.
The journey brought wider renown to a lifetime of exploration, yet prior to Ellesmere, Turk, 69, was relatively unknown. His obscure, analog adventures unfold over months and years, well beyond today’s digital attention spans. He doesn’t use GoPro or Twitter; his no-frills website is efficient but basic. Red Bull isn’t knocking at his door to back his projects, but Turk has never confused outdoor adventure for a marketing stunt.
The real distinguishing factor for Turk, the core of his wonderful anachronism, is that small- craft exploration is not an end in itself, but a means to develop and test explanations for unan- swered questions in human history. How do Arctic peoples relate to their Asian forebears? How did the earliest migrations to North America happen, what beliefs motivated them and what tools or vessels helped them traverse incredible distances?
“It’s boring to just recite details from the trip,” says Turk. “I’m more interested in what
grand journeys like Ellesmere, and the massive migrations undertaken by our ancestors, can teach us. What wisdom do they impart, and why have humans undertaken such journeys throughout history?” Against the current tide of photogenic free climbers, big wave surfers and kayakers dropping 200-foot waterfalls, Turk echoes an older tradition of scholar-explorers who sought answers in the wild, beyond the reach of laboratories and scientific debate.
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