Bernard Voyer | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Bernard Voyer

Bernard Voyer, explorer and lecturer (born 7 March 1953 in Rimouski, Québec) is a born adventurer.

Bernard Voyer, explorer and lecturer (born 7 March 1953 in Rimouski, Québec) is a born adventurer. He loves extreme challenges, and the ones that he has met, either solo or with friends, are now countless. His quest for adventure is never-ending, and the Sahara Desert, the Far North of Québec, Siberia, the Canadian Rockies and Baffin Island are just a few of the places where he has pursued it. In 1994, he became the first Canadian to reach Ellesmere Island in the Northwest Territories, the northernmost land mass on the planet. In January 1996, he and another Québécois, Thierry Petry, completed a 1500 km ski trip across Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth. They skied for more than 9 hours every day, towing their equipment behind them on fibreglass sleds. Their trip took 63 days, during which they experienced glacial cold and sometimes violent winds. In May 1999, Voyer and his companions successfully completed another exploit that few other people could claim at the time: the conquest of Everest. He realized this dream eight years after Yves Laforêt had become the first Québécois to reach the Himalayan summit, on 15 May 1991.