The S Project

Ucluelet, British Columbia to St.John's, Newfoundland

Butler's journey across Canada roughly follows the 50th Parallel taking the route of the  Pine Tree Line  - a series of now defunct 'pulse mode' radar stations established in the 1950's as a nuclear warning system. Beginning on Vancouver Island at her home in Ucluelet, Butler will complete a real-time walk to Radar Hill in Tofino (31km/19miles), the site of the original radar station in the area. 

Fordham, UK to St. John's, Newfoundland

Filipska will walk from her home on the edge of the Fens in the East Of England and follow the Ickneild Way, the ancient chalk spine of England, to Dorset where she will trace the routes of various Drover's roads into Cornwall. In Poldhu, Cornwall, Filipska will re-enact the sending of the first wireless transmission, marking the beginning of her embarking on the sea crossing where her footsteps will be converted into nautical miles as she follows the shipping routes from the UK to Newfoundland in a conceptual vessel.

The shortest distance between two points is not a straight line...

• Using celestial navigation, Butler has been calculating the shortest route for her virtual walk from Ucluelet to the UK. A great circle route uses a gnomonic chart to find the shortest route from one point to another across the globe. For the S Project the route goes over the Arctic.

Halfway point: Olyokminsk, Russia

Filipska’s route takes her through the channel tunnel, up the coast of France and Belgium and due east - a route which is completely flat until the Ural Mountains.

Butler’s route takes her up the coast of British Columbia toward the Gulf of Alaska, passing Anchorage and crossing the Denali National Park. She will then cross the Bering Straight (only passable by land when frozen) and enter Russian territories, meeting Filipska at Olyokminsk on the Lena River.