Nicolas Vanier

Born in 1962, Nicolas Vanier lives in Sologne with his wife and his two children, when he is not travelling in the Nordic countries. He is the author of various travel books, amongst which The Child of the Snows (1995), which has now been adapted for the big screen, and The White Odyssey (1999), a huge bestseller. The Song of the Big North, his third novel, is published in two volumes.

1982: Expedition on foot across the vast planes of Lapland.

1983: canoe crossing of the great Quebecan north from Shefferville to Ungava Bay, retracing the steps of the Mountain Indians.

Winter 1983-1984: dog-sled crossing of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula.

1986-87: During a year and a half, Nicolas Vanier and his team breath new life into the legend of the great pioneers of the West: 7000 kilometres through the wildest areas of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska, from Wyoming to the Bering straits with twelve horses, twenty-four sled-dogs, a fir tree raft and two Indian canoes.

1989: Canoe expedition in Labrador on a quest to find the largest group of caribou in the world.

1990-1991: Complete crossing of the whole of Siberia, from Mongolia to the Arctic ocean, during a year and a half, 7000 kilometres through the wild taiga, on horseback, riding reindeers or ponies, by canoe or by dog sled…

1993: Nicolas Vanier lives with an Evene family – nomads and reindeer breeders in the Siberian arctic.

1994-1995: A year with his wife and their 18 month old little girl, travelling through the Rockies and Yukon on horseback. They lived for a few months in a cabin they built with their own hands, then they left by dog-sled for a big trip until reaching Alaska.

1996: Winter in the Rocky Mountains and participation in the Yukon Quest, the most difficult dog sled race in the world: 1600 kilometres through the great Canadian North and Alaska.

1999: The White Odyssey, the crossing of all of the great Canadian North from Skagway in Alaska to Quebec, a full 8600 kilometres in less than a hundred days with his pack of sled dogs.

2000: the writing of a great novel in two volumes for XO Editions. Setting up of an association whose object is to make it possible for physically handicapped people to practice dog-sledding.

2002: publication by XO of the two volumes of the Song of the Great North. A winter in the Yukon, taking part in various long distance dog sled races, including the “Quest 250” in which he came fourth.

2003: Nicolas takes part in the Yukon Quest and shoots his first fiction feature film: The Last Trapper (on our screens on 14 December 2004).