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Saab Salomon Live Your Dream Contest Winner
Nathalie Gervais lives her Arctic Ski Adventure Dream
“I won’t eat! I don’t care, I’ll do what I have to, I don’t want to leave!”
These were Nathalie Gervais’ parting words as she approached the end of her 17-day dream adventure of traveling, skiing and living on the frozen sea ice of Nunavut. Her experiences were so spectacular that she was willing to squeeze more days out of her trip than her food rations would allow.
While Nathalie is an adventurer, her life as a Pro Avalanche Technician at Castle Mountain Resort, Alberta was a long way from Baffin Island, Nunavut. In the Fall of 2006, Nathalie entered the Saab Salomon Live Your Dream Contest as a long shot chance at living her own dream of experiencing an Arctic ski adventure.
In March 2007, Nathalie became the first-ever Canadian winner of the Live Your Dream contest. Soon after, she found herself and two friends packed tightly into a brand new 9-3 SAAB Sport Combi with ski touring and kiting equipment, camping gear and enough dehydrated food for a month. Their cross-country drive from Pincher Creek, Alberta took them to Ottawa for a flight to the small Inuit hamlet of Clyde River, Nunavut, on the shores of Baffin Island.
Dropped off in a frozen desert, the trio spent the next 16 bluebird days touring unforgettable ranges, and skiing couloirs that they thought only existed in their dreams.
“The couloirs were unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said Nathalie, “with average lines of 3000 feet, they were 20 feet wide and 40 to 55 degrees.”
The group spent their down-time basking in the 24 hour daylight of the land of the midnight sun, learning to build igloos, freezing their fingertips and sun burning their lips.
”It was bliss!” said Nathalie.
When the dream came to an end, and the snowmobile came to return them home, they stopped in Clyde River for goodbyes.
“We said farewell to everyone in the town who had been so welcoming.” Nathalie said. “I will take away some incredible memories from this place.”
