Ottawa man plans Arctic flight in hot-air ballon

An Ottawa man is planning to lead a hot-air balloon expedition from Ellesmere Island to Greenland next May.

John Davidson, who runs Skyview balloon company, hopes to travel with two balloons from the southeast tip of Ellesmere Island across the North Water Polynya to the east coast of Greenland, the Ottawa Citizen reported this week.

The trip would cover 250 kilometres of frigid, fast-running open water. And, if successful, it would provide an ideal way to view walruses, narwhals and belugas, Davidson said.

During his first Arctic adventure, Davidson landed his balloon on the desolate James Bay coast and had to wait for rescuers to find him.

This time, Davidson will be documenting his trip with the help of Shane Phillips, a Toronto film producer.

The team of four balloon operators, pilots and crew, along with two cameramen and a sound technician, will fly to Resolute Bay and then Grise Fiord.

From there, they will have to travel about 100 kilometres across the ice to the floe edge.

“We camp there and wait for the appropriate conditions,” Davidson told the Citizen.

“We then fly the two balloons over the polynya toward Greenland for about 10 hours. We will land on very rough ice on the edge of the polynya because I have no experience on glaciers. We cannot know exactly where that will be, but I expect we will communicate with the natives in order to get back.”