1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections

In the Land of the White Wolves - On Ellesmere Island with Arved Fuchs

March 14, 2008

The German adventurer Arved Fuchs set out to circle Ellesmere Island, the northern-most of Canada's Arctic islands, with 3 companions, 11 sled dogs and a thousand kilos of equipment and provisions.

https://p.dw.com/p/DNpq
Arctic wolf on Ellesmere IslandImage: DW-TV
12.03.2008 im focus wölfe 2
Expedition leader Arved FuchsImage: DW-TV

After a series of expeditions aboard his converted gaff-headed cutter, the Dagmar Aaen, Arved Fuchs decided to abandon ship and strike out on skis and dog sleds through Canada's frozen wastes. Joining him on his journey of exploration to the land of white wolves are his wife Brigitte Ellerbrock, the photographer Torsten Heller and Falk Mahnke.

12.03.2008 im focus wölfe 3
Travelling by dog sledImage: DW-TV

The polar explorers Robert Peary and Dr. Frederick Cook had selected Ellesmere, the tenth largest island on Earth, as the starting point for their history-making expedition to the North Pole in 1909. Following in their footsteps nearly 80 years later, Fuchs set out with an international crew from the island's north coast on a thousand-kilometer trek to the North Pole.

12.03.2008 im focus wölfe 1
A pack of curious white wolves circles the campImage: DW-TV

Now he's returned to Ellesmere Island, a region where, as Fuchs once put it, 'basically, your every move, thought and deed is devoted living, pushing onward, surviving'. During the arduous leg along the island's northern coast, the team endured temperatures plunging to minus 40° Celsius. Every day for 44 days, the skiers and sled dogs were exposed to the most extreme conditions and pushed to their physical limits. The reward for all their pain and effort: Fuchs and team discovered historical artifacts left by the Peary expedition, including cairns and other trail markers. But above all, they experienced an unforgettable encounter with nature. Through the expedition's first days, the crew was accompanied by a pack of rare Arctic wolves. They pose no threat to humans, but can be a great danger to sled dogs.

12.03.2008 im focus wölfe 5
Camp in a vast wasteland of ice and snowImage: DW-TV

The viewer is invited to experience the frozen beauty of the Arctic in Canada's High North in a thrilling documentary with Arved Fuchs on a sled-dog expedition through the hardships and stunning beauty of nature's extremes.

Broadcasting Times:

DW-TV
THURS 17.04.2008 - 18:30 UTC
FRI 18.04.2008 - 06:30 UTC
SUN 20.04.2008 - 00:30 UTC, 12:30 UTC

DW-TV USA/LATIN AMERICA
THURS 17.04.2008 - 18:30 UTC
FRI 18.04.2008 - 06:30 UTC
SUN 20.04.2008 - 12:30 UTC

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

Arved Fuchs Expeditions

www.arved-fuchs.de