French man hopes to complete 7,000-km Northwest Passage trip

A manfrom France has set off from Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. to finish an adventurethat's a year in the making the 7,000-kilometre trip across theNorthwest Passage.

If he's successful, Charles Hedrich will be the first paddler to complete the trip from the Bering Strait to Greenland in just two seasons.

Hedrich planned to paddle the full distance in a single season last summer, but he got iced in at Tuktoyaktuk andhad to leave his rowboat there for the winter.

But the 56-year-old has set off again.

Hedrich says climate change has made his expedition possible.

"Well, the Northwest Passage was impossible, absolutely impossible to do due to the ice something like 10 years ago," Hedrick said."Now, there is less and less ice in the summer, so it is probably possible to do it, even in a very light boat like my boat."

Like many summers, Hedrich isnot alone in trying to cross the Northwest Passage.

Another adventurer left Inuvik, N.W.T. in a kayak last month, and agroup of women is planning to snorkel the passage in 2016.