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FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION Note to Editors/Writers Contact: John Bell ACR Electronics to Present Arctic Exploration Team and Heroic Washington State Skier With an Array of Safety Gear at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market Presentation at Booth # 5958 at 4 p.m. January 29th SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH-- JANUARY 29, 2005-- Polar explorers Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen along with Dan Witkowski, a young skier who has overcome the tragic loss of both lower legs to return to the slopes this winter season, are scheduled to make personal appearances at the ACR Electronics' show booth (#5958) at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show. On Saturday, January 29th, Dupre and Larsen, who this summer will attempt the first-ever unsupported summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean, and Witkowski, a 26-year-old skier, who last year survived spending five days alone in the freezing Washington State backcountry, will pick up survival and safety gear at the 4 p.m. presentation. "We are honored to be associated with this extremely brave group of outdoorsmen and sportsmen," said Paul D. Hardin, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, for ACR Electronics, Inc., the world leader in safety and survival technologies. "To ensure that they are equipped with the latest and most effective gear, we are making sure they leave the OR show this year with the best personal safety and survival equipment in the world." At the top of the provisioning list, ACR is providing Dupre, Larsen and Witkowski with its newly FCC-approved TerraFix 406 GPS personal locator beacon-- a compact and lightweight satellite detectable emergency devise capable of broadcasting critical coordinates to Search and Rescue personnel around the world. In attempting the 1,240-mile (100-day) arctic ocean crossing in specially modified polyethylene kayaks (capable of being paddled or pulled), Dupre and Larsen will tackle the Arctic Ocean during its most treacherous and volatile time of the year starting in May of 2005. Their planned four-month journey crosses the frozen ice cap from Cape Arctichesky, Siberia to the geographic North Pole, then on to Ellesmere Island, Canada. While such expeditions have been planned and completed during other times of the year, extreme temperature swings, freeze-thaw conditions, heavy fog and dangerous shifting ice floes have prevented a summer crossing. Dupre and Larsen intend to be the first. Along the way, the pair will sample ice for depth and contaminants and record their observations to create awareness of global climate changes. The findings will be sent to and analyzed by researchers at the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute. Dupre and Larsen, through satellite phones, will post daily updates and images of their trip to www.oneworldexpedition.com, the official website, which is expected to log up to seven million visits per month. Dupre, a native of Minnesota, and an Australian teammate, John Hoelscher, carried ACR's first-generation PLB, The GyPSI 406, every inch of the way as they trail-blazed their way along the coast and on land around immense but little-known Greenland-- an amazing 6,500 mile journey taking nearly two years, successfully concluding in 2001. "Lonnie instantly seized the idea when in 1995 he learned that technology existed that would allow him and his teammate to signal for help from one of the most remote places on the planet should their lives be endangered," said Hardin. "In essence, they helped pioneer the use of this technology in extreme adventure sports. Lonnie is a perfect example of a PLB user. He spends years preparing for an epic adventure to assure his success and survival. Though he never plans to use a PLB, it is an essential part of his contingency plan. Should he ever need SAR assistance, the use of a PLB minimizes the cost of rescue and risk to SAR personnel as the technology takes the Search out of Search and Rescue." When plans began to gel for the adventurer's next quest-- The One World Expedition-- Dupre called Hardin to see what new technology might be available. At Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, Hardin will see to it that Dupre and Larsen and Witkowski-- who this past month skied for the first time since last year's tragedy-- will be carrying the most compact, yet most function-rich personal locator beacon in the world-- the TerraFix 406 GPS. A satellite-detectable beacon capable of broadcasting critical GPS coordinates, the TerraFix 406 GPS will, when activated, provide Search and Rescue crews with exact latitude and longitude (thereby increasing emergency response speed by pinpointing positioning within 100 meters or 110 yards). Dupre, Larsen and Witkowski will be equipped with the TerraFix 406 GPS I/O, which will provide both a cable connection to an external GPS, plus an Onboard GPS engine to acquire and transmit coordinates for the ultimate in speed and reliability. In an emergency, the unit will transmit a unique digitally coded distress signal on 406 MHz frequency to the orbiting COSPAS-SARSAT satellite systems. The beacon also simultaneously transmits a signal on the 121.5 MHz (SAR homing frequency). Dupre and Larsen will record their precise logistical plan along with their beacon registration so that in the advent of an emergency, Search and Rescue agencies will be able to quickly determine the authenticity of the signal, putting assets into action more effectively. Witkowski, who resides in Ellensburg, Washington, will also register his beacon as per requirements. All beacons must be registered following purchase-- a simple and quick process, now with a web-base internet filing option. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages the EPIRB/PLB registration database in the U.S. ACR Booth Schedules for Dupre/Larsen and Dan Witkowski January 29th January 30th Dupre and Larsen-- 4 p.m.
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