A good preparation is essential for your winter camping trip. Make sure you read up on the area to visit and buy some booklets and detailed hiking maps. Pay attention to the (most extreme) weather conditions during the planned tour period, transport options and the accessibility of rescue services. In hilly/mountainous areas, also pay attention to avalanche danger and how to get avalanche warnings.
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For most people, trekking and camping in the snow is something seen on television, in images of expeditions to polar regions or high mountain peaks. These are generally hardened and well-trained people in brightly coloured polar clothing setting up their tents in harsh conditions in snow and ice.
For most people this seems a beautiful, but strange and hostile world, watched preferably on television from the comfort of a warm living room. Certainly not something to try out for fun!
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Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz explored the seas around the Northern tip of Norway three times, looking for the infamous northern passage to Asia. On his third journey, in 1596, he stranded in heavy sea ice on the barren island of Nova Zembla, where he ultimately perished after spending the winter in the famous ‘Behouden Huys’, made of the wreckage of his ship in 1597. In an urge to relive some of the crew’s endurance, a small Dutch expedition ventured out to Kirkenes in Northern Norway, to see the part of the Arctic Ocean named after our national 16th century hero, in the middle of the Arctic winter. Continue reading
The title really describes the essence of Greenland: Ice. We know it was a big mistake to call Greenland green. Even Iceland is greener than Greenland. If you like green you go to Ireland. But if you like white, this is your destination. 82% percent of the vast landmass of Greenland is permanently covered by a thick icesheet. Glaciologists don’t refer to this ice as a glacier, but rather call it an icesheet. Officially this refers to an ice covered area larger than 50,000 km2. There are only two icesheets on the planet: one in Antarctica and one here in Greenland. Continue reading
