{"id":14435,"date":"2017-10-18T20:41:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T20:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/archive.banskofilmfest.com\/en\/stars-of-bff-2017-eric-mcnair-landry-canada\/"},"modified":"2017-10-18T20:52:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T20:52:12","slug":"stars-of-bff-2017-eric-mcnair-landry-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.banskofilmfest.com\/en\/stars-of-bff-2017-eric-mcnair-landry-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Stars of BFF 2017: Eric McNair-Landry (Canada)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric McNair-Landry (Canada)<\/strong> – polar adventurer, kite-skiing, world record for the longest distance kite-skied in 24 hours and dog sledding – Presentation day of Banskofilmfest`2017<\/b>\u00a0– 25th of November, 20:00h, Big Hall, Culture center “Nikola Vapcarov”, Bansko.<\/p>\n

Eric grew up in\u00a0Iqaluit<\/b>,\u00a0Nunavut<\/b>\u00a0where dog sledding, kite-skiing, and cold weather survival skills were learned at an early age. His passion for expeditions has resulted in\u00a0more than 15,000km travelled via kite-ski<\/b>. His adventures have taken him across the Northwest Passage, to the Gobi Desert, twice to the South Pole, and across the Greenland Icecap six times.<\/p>\n

Eric holds the\u00a0world record for the longest distance kite-skied in 24 hours<\/b>; he has been nominated for National Geographic\u2019s Adventurer of the Year Award and received the Outdoor Idol Award in 2007. Eric\u2019s photo was recently published in The National Geographic Magazine.<\/p>\n

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His adventures have taken him across the Northwest Passage, to the Gobi Desert, twice to the South Pole, and across the Greenland Icecap six times.<\/p>\n

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He has been nominated for National Geographic\u2019s Adventurer of the Year Award and received the Outdoor Idol Award in 2007. Eric\u2019s photo was recently published in The National Geographic Magazine.<\/p>\n

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When asked about his first memory of Greenland, Eric shared this story:<\/p>\n

At the age of 14 I visited West Greenland as part of a family trip.\u00a0 Our goal was to hike between the towns of Sarfannguit and Sisimiut.\u00a0 I was struck by how similar to home Greenland was, yet how simple policy changes had benefitted Greenland in ways still lacking back home in Canada.\u00a0 Overall I was impressed by how clean the towns were, how much importance people placed on Inuit\/Greenlandic traditions such as dog sledding and kayaking, and the seamless integration of Danish and Greenlandic customs.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Eric\u2019s first adventure was at the age of 10:<\/p>\n

My sister Sarah (then age 9) and I departed on an overnight hiking trip across the tundra to find the headwaters of a small local stream.\u00a0 My parents has us practice camping on the front deck for a week until we could light our MSR stove, read a map, and communicate using the VHF radio.<\/i><\/p>\n

For this newest adventure, Eric has high hopes and realistic expectations.<\/p>\n

I enjoy the nomadic experience, moving place to place from one day to another.\u00a0 I love the variety of daily life on an expedition, with each new day presenting new & different challenges from the last.\u00a0 There is no \u20189 to 5\u2019 on a kiting expedition!<\/i><\/p>\n

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