Gorge Guide

National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Erik Boomer comes to Columbia Center for the Arts.

Join us on February 29, 2012 as we proudly present professional sports adventure-photographer and National Geographic adventurer of the year Erik Boomer. Boomer will share via a slideshow presentation, the story of his 1,485-mile circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island in Canada with fellow adventurer Jon Turk.

There will be a reception beginning at 7:00 p.m. presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. with a question and answer session following the show.

The last great unattempted polar expedition

The journey around the world’s tenth largest island, which took Turk and Boomer 104 days on skis, in kayaks, and on foot, was considered by polar experts to be the last great unattempted polar expedition, so daunting due to its remoteness and dangerous ice conditions.

No one had attempted it before this summer.

In May, the duo began by dragging their 220-pound, 13.5-foot kayaks 800 miles across flat ice. As the ice broke up with the spring thaw, they were forced to jump over cracks and between unstable ice floes. By midsummer, they were able to paddle through slivers of open water.