To Cross the Moon (2XtM) is an eco-friendly snowkiting expedition across North Dakota to raise awareness for wind energy and climate change. From the U.S. - Canadian border in the north, to the state line in the south, extreme endurance athletes Sam Salwei, Jason Magness and Paul Cassedy will snowkite 370 miles across the frigid winter moonscape of North Dakota.  Carrying everything they need on their backs for the three-week expedition, the trio will make the journey propelled solely by the wind’s energy.  Driven not only by their quest for adventure and extreme challenges, but also by their passion for empowering and inspiring society to see the potential for wind energy as a meaningful and essential energy source in the fight against climate change.

One of the primary goals of this expedition is to educate people about wind energy, more specifically tell the story about the enormous untapped wind energy resource in North Dakota.  North Dakota is the number one state for wind energy potential, in fact, North Dakota has enough wind to light up 32% of the United States.  Yet, North Dakota consistently ranks far behind other states with less wind.  In 2004, North Dakota ranked 13th in amount of wind energy developed.  By 2005, the state had fallen to 16th and in 2006 North Dakota was ranked 15th in wind development.  Texas, on the other hand, is second to North Dakota in wind potential, but recently passed California (17th in potential) to become the leader in wind energy development.

National attention can provide the spark needed to develop North Dakota’s clean energy economy and fight climate change.  A large transmission line connecting the enormous amount of wind in the Dakotas to the large markets in the Great Lakes is one promising way to accomplish this.