PORTLAND, Oregon – Arctic explorer Cameron McPherson Smith (39), an archaeologist at Portland State University, will test an amphibious sled in the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon, on the 11th of November, 2006 from 3pm to roughly 6pm.

In late December Smith will travel to the Arctic to document the changing world of sea ice, trekking over 200 miles on the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean. “But where the ice is cracked,” Smith said, “I’ll have to paddle between ice floes, and to do that I have to test my sled-kayak first.” Smith will paddle the sled alone, but will be followed in a chase boat by Chuck Sullivan, the expedition Coordinator, and Rockwell Near, a local survival expert.

The test will begin with launch of the sled-kayak on the dock just downstream of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry; from there, Smith will paddle across the Willamette, 1,400 feet to Waterfront Park, before paddling roughly a mile downstream to the dock near Burnside bridge. Media are advised that good footage can also be obtained from pedestrian bridges.

Dr. Smith, whose sailing, arctic, and archaeological expeditions have been widely televised, is currently raising sponsors for the expedition, and preparing his equipment.

Contact for text, interviews and/or images (video and still photography): Cameron M. Smith at: team@soloice.com.

Press material, including high-res images, are available at www.soloice.com or by direct link at: http://www.cameronmsmith.com/footsteps/press.html.
or by phone at: 503-224-9522