The first attempt to exploit the wind to carry weight was by the Norwegian Fridtjof Wedel - Jarlsberg Nansen, who in 1888 led the first crossing of the Greenland interior, at the time, the first major known incursion on the ice. Between 1893 and 1896, Nansen tried to reach the North Pole, and even if he couldn't attain it, this journey served to lay the foundations of what the polar exploration during the twentieth century would be like.

2000

A first prototype in January-February in the year 2000 utilized an Inuit wooden sled, with a kite and was tested in the Pyrenees. Here, Ramon Larramendi and Javier de la Puente, the builder and founder of “Fun Run Kayak”, realized that it had little stability. Joining two sleds was necessary to prevent overturning. A few months later, a second prototype was designed at Javier de la Puente's workshop in Aranda de Duero (Spain). It was made out of fiberglass, 3 meters (9 ft) long by 1.5 meters (4 ft) wide and similar to the ocean catamarans.

After a few testings in Canada a new WindSled begins to take shape, a third prototype based on Inuit design, much simpler in structure but able to be driven by the wind and repaired when needed. The expedition members, thus, substantiate that it may be driven by kites.

They made their first sketches and drawings of what the future sled would be like. In a school notebook they drew, shaped and brainstormed ideas that would originate what is now the only eco-polar vehicle in the world.

The fourth prototype is tested on the first voyage to Greenland in the year 2000; measuring 4 meters (13 ft) long by 2.5 meters (8 ft) wide and weighing 450 kilos (992 lbs). Insisting on the first idea, it is formed by two separate fibre glass sleds, each with its own kite, and quite easy to store every season. The expedition verifies that the more simple “nasa type” kites break less than the “drawer type” ones and that it's much better to use one large sled instead of two given the difficulty for both to progress at the same speed.

2003

In the year 2003 the sixth prototype of WindSled is tested in Greenland, a detachable model that can be divided in two parts. Thus, using four rails, the wind vehicle is converted into two sledges 'pulkas' that can be carried by the expeditionary in case of no wind. It is nicknamed 'the catapulka'. It uses seven kites reinforced with Kevlar, designed and manufactured at Juan Lupión's workshop. For the first time in this type of expedition it uses a 48 square meter (516.66 sq ft) kite as compared to the 28 square meters (301.38 sq ft) above (Mr. Lupión's achievement). In this manner, better use of the wind is accomplished and capability of transporting 500 kilos (1102 lbs) of weight is attained.

2005

The seventh prototype is the first to be taken to Antarctica. Now it is made out of one piece. Its measurements are 5.40 meters (17 ft) long by 2.80 meters (9 ft) wide. Among the improvements we find the tent's habitability module for expeditionary and the size of the kites designed by Juan Lupión; leaded for the first time by a 60 square meter (645.83 sq ft) one. On this crossing, the wind sled suffers numerous breaks of its 97 rungs made out of wood instead of carbon fibre. The Antarctic test shows that vehicle weight should be reduced by about 800 kilos (1763 lbs). The sastruguis are too high to attain velocity and the snow is much harder than in Greenland. But even being in poor condition and during the worst part of the expedition trip, the wind sled obtained a good speed pulled by kites. For a few days it worked with two modules, one hooked up after another, first attempt of a convoy with more than one sled.

One of the priorities of the new model was to reduce the weight of the vehicle itself, to be able to carry more scientific material, which is the ultimate objective. Experts in design and construction tested stronger, more flexible and lighter materials. The new WindSled consisted of three modules: The first was the locomotive one in which there is a transparent tent to protect pilot expeditionary from the wind and cold while allowing part of the team to work inside while other members rest in the third module. The second module is the loading one: food, scientific instrumentation, sample collection and solar panels. The third module is the habitability (or living) one, with a specially designed tent to withstand strong gusts of wind.

2018-19

The tenth prototype was designed for the Ice Summit Expedition Greenland, in 2016. The convoy concept is tested with four modules which can carry greater loads expanding its possibilities of becoming a real scientific vehicle. With this configuration, the WindSled may be divided in two parts.