Russia-Canada Ski Trek 1988

I bought a stack of covers from the far north of Canada at the San Diego Stamp Show a few weeks ago. Here is one from 1988: Fort Smith NWT, this commemorated one of the members of the Soviet-Canadian Ski Trek, which was a big deal at the time.  Signed by the expedition member Laurie Dexter, the one being commemorated here.

It is not especially pretty, though the polar bear cachet with signature does stand out.  The stamp is common, and the postmarks are not small town rarities.  But it felt like there was a story here.

I'm always curious about the details of some of the events and places shown on covers.  I have an eye for picking out some point of interest among the thousands of covers I flip through.  In this case, it turned out that this Ski Trek was a major event, with position updates, satellites tracking their location, announcements to school students in many countries, and even words of encouragement along the way by Gorbahev and the Prime Minister of Canada.

Check out the Wikipedia page.  Russia even issued a stamp to commemorate the event.  The page has quotes from member journals along the way.  They set out on 3 March, facing -47C weather, reached the North Pole on 27 April, and faced continual darkness for the first two months.

Apparently, the Ski Trek ended on 1 June 1988, but this cover is from 14 October 1988.  It feels like a hometown event or homecoming.  It was postmarked at Fort Smith, which is still in the Northwest Territory but way down on the Alberta border at 60 degrees North.

As a real treat, about halfway down the Wikipedia page, there is a minute-and-a-half speech from Laurie Dexter herself, upon reaching the North Pole, promoting peace.