The lofty goal for the Transglobal Car Expedition is to circumnavigate the Earth, pole-to-pole, via wheeled vehicle. If the team manages to pull it off, it’ll be a world’s first, but they want to do it right. Tread lightly, leave no trace, only tracks that blow away in the wind. Unfortunately, on the return leg of a shakedown run to the North Pole, one of the crew’s F-150s took on an impromptu role as a submarine. Four months later, the Transglobal team went to get it back.
First, it’s worth looking at what new ground the Transglobal team is breaking. One look at its balloon-tired F-150s, and those familiar with Arctic truck culture might recognize a smidgen of Icelandic influence. And, in fact, the company that builds these trucks can trace its roots to a sub-division of Toyota Iceland called Toyota Aukahlutir (“accessories”).
This new Ford is the first offering from Arctic Trucks North America, and is built in Wyoming. It’s a beast, flared out to accept 44-inch Nokian tires, fitted with locking differentials and chassis armour to protect against ice, and equipped with a huge 260-litre fuel tank and onboard inflation-deflation system to air down those big tires for floating over the snow.
Transglobal Car Expedition’s modified Ford F-150, an Arctic Trucks North America AT44 Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
The AT44 F-150 is as rugged as they come, but the terrain it faces is completely unforgiving. Expedition team member Andrew Comrie-Picard described huge ice ridges forming on the pack ice, deep snow, and bone-chilling cold.
Comrie-Picard is a pretty interesting guy. A BMX racer from Edmonton in his youth, he completed a law degree at McGill University, won the North American Rally Cup championship in a Mitsubishi Evo, competed in the X-Games alongside Ken Block and Travis Pastrana, was a stunt driver in the Fast and Furious films, and has hosted several car-based TV series. Now he drives trucks over frozen oceans. As you do.
The AT44 F150 was lost through the ice in March of this year while crossing a patch of too-thin ice. The current had thinned the ice in a small section, and the truck simply broke through and began to sink. The team member driving the truck thankfully escaped.
The issue now was how to get the truck off the bottom of the ocean floor. It wasn’t a rescue mission, but a recovery operation. Leaving steel and rubber – let alone fuel and other fluids – in Arctic waters was not going to happen. A plan was hatched, and a helicopter-assisted operation set in place.
Trained cold-water divers descended to the wreck, then attached airbags to bring it to the surface. The truck was then dragged to land and secured for air travel. An Airbus Super Puma heavy-lift helicopter dragged the truck into the air and ferried it to Gjoa Haven, an isolated town in Nunavut. From there, it will be transferred by boat back to Montreal.
“We learned that we need even more hyper-local knowledge,” Comrie-Picard says of the experience, noting that a third of the recovery team were Inuit.
A view from the recovery helicopter picking up the Ford F-150 Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
Transglobal Car Expedition’s Eurocopter Super Puma recovery helicopter, for picking up the Ford F-150 Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
The Ford F-150 recovered by Transglobal Car Expedition Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
Team members from the Transglobal Car Expedition camped out during the recovery Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
Team members from the Transglobal Car Expedition during the recovery Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
An aerial view of the terrain in which the Ford had to be recovered Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
Team members from the Transglobal Car Expedition camped out during the recovery Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
Team members from the Transglobal Car Expedition camped out during the recovery Photo by Transglobal Car Expedition
While setting up on the nearest island for recovering the truck, the team discovered traditional meat caches dating back hundreds of years. Despite the seemingly empty terrain, people have lived in this harsh environment for eons. Comrie-Picard said that the experience of being in the high Arctic and finding evidence of Inuit traditions was awe-inspiring, and also underlined the need to leave the land as untouched as possible.
The truck is, of course, toast. Salt-water doesn’t take long to corrode aluminum and electrical components. The pickup also has a healthy coating of sea vegetation. While not much is salvageable, saving the truck wasn’t really the point of the operation. Preservation of the land was.
The Transglobal Expedition is still on for its 2024 attempt. Should it be successful, perhaps the recovered F-150 will make a nice display in the lobby of the Arctic Truck headquarters.
Keyword: How to recover a Ford F-150 from the Arctic Ocean floor