Raving Ravens

Win a dog sledge trip in Greenland

In April two Colourobox photographers will join the four winners of the Metro Global Photo Challenge 2012 in a week long expedition to the wilderness of East Greenland.

The tour starts with one night in Reykjavik, capital of Iceland, before leaving for the rough terrain of East Greenland. We will fly with Air Iceland to Kulusuk island in Greenland and then onwards with an old veteran Vietnam helicopter to Tasiilaq.

In Tasiilaq the crew will get dog sledge training and if they do well, they might pass for a dog sledge driving license. During our training days in Tasiilaq we will get an introduction to the fascinating Inuit culture of the locals, meeting local artists, old polar bear hunters and getting a taste of their exotic cuisine. The Inuit traditions are still a strong part of their everyday life, but there are only about 100 years since the local tribes on the east coast had the first contact with the outside world. East Greenland is one of the least explored regions in the world.

One of the dogs that will be in the dog sledge expedition.

When the team is ready we will head out on the ice in dog sledges for three days exploring the wonders of the East Greenlandic nature with enormous icebergs, steep mountains, endless snow and if we are lucky, the phenomenal northern lights colouring the arctic night sky. We will be sleeping in hunter huts along the way.

We will then return to the town of Tasiilaq, a town of 2.000 inhabitants and the largest on the eastern coast of Greenland. On the way back we will again spend one night in Reykjavik, Iceland before heading to our home countries.

  The northern lights dancing above the hunting village in Kulusuk.

The expedition is a challenge, both physically and mentally, but not extremely dangerous. We will be travelling off the beaten track in a cold climate and harsh environment. The crew can not expect any luxury, but you can expect an unforgettable experience.

 

SING UP NOW!

The competition is open for any registered Colourbox photographer. If you've got the quality, you can register here to become a colourbox photographer and submit your photos for the competition. But you've got to hurry. You've only got eleven days to do it!

 

So find your best pictures, sign up on Colourbox and you might be one of the lucky photographers that will come with me on a week long dog sledge expedition in Greenland.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them below and I'll answer them there.

Hjörtur

The Last Viking in America

Did the Vikings ever make to the American continent? Might there still be one left here?

Yes, Leif the Lucky had a brother who wasn't quite as lucky. Like Leif he sailed to "Vineland" in search for a place to settle. But to his bad luck, he got struck by an arrow from the natives and died from his wounds. His body was buried on a peninsula according to the sagas and left there. My mission is to find that grave.

 

Why do I want to find an old grave?
I have a personal relation to these events as Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir, one of the first settlers in America and the first European to give birth in America was my ancestor. I can trace my family directly to her. I grew up listening to the Viking sagas, not only this one, but also local ones. In the recent years archeological excavations have been proofing those sagas to be very accurate in their descriptions with graves and battlegrounds being found where they were said to be. 

This is of significant historical importance. It has been debated for a long time how far the Vikings actually did sail. The sagas tell us they sailed all the way to mainland America and in my mind there is no doubt. But physical evidence is lacking. A Viking camp believed to have belonged to Leif has been found in Newfoundland but that doesn't fit the descriptions of the settlement. So I'm going to try to find physical evidence of their arrival on the mainland.

 

What are my chances?
To increase the chance of finding the grave I will attempt to put myself into the mindset of the Vikings. To do that I will not only study the sagas from the old manuscripts, but also investigate Viking farms and graves that have been excavated in Iceland and Greenland and interview experts in the field. The descriptions of the Sagas will be followed as we sail a 60 foot ketch the same route the Vikings took from Iceland to Greenland and onwards to Canada.

Accompanying me will be the Canadian film-maker Evan Warner who worked on the award winning film People of a Feather. I have created a project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter (http://kck.st/Lp28Km) where people can back the project by pre-purchasing the film, memorabilia or even become co-producers. You can also see examples of our earlier work.

The ketch has already left Ireland and set sail to Iceland where it will arrive June 15th. I only have 60 hours to raise the money needed so all support is very much appreciated, both financial and in spreading the word and getting media publicity. If all my readers chip in just a couple of dollars, we can make it :)

Thanks!
Hjörtur 

Nokia's Ultimate Challenge in Iceland

Nokia was looking for the ultimate test for their new amazing camera phone, the Nokia 808 Pureview with a revolutionary 41 MILLION PIXEL camera! So, with a team from Kin Design and Design Studio in London they came to me for the ultimate challenges that could be found on the island of fire and ice - and in the space above it! Here are the results:

 

Hjörtur

 

ps. if you're looking for the ultimate challenge for yourself, your films or your products - you know who to turn to ;)

Speed record to the South Pole - Arctic Trucks sets new world record

Guinness World Records has recognized Arctic Trucks, the Icelandic developer of extreme modified super jeeps, as being the fastest to cross Antarctica to the South Pole.

During an expedition in December 2010 Arctic Trucks drove two modified Toyota Hilux AT44 Expedition vehicles from Novo to the South Pole, 2.308 km, in just 108 hrs. Their average speed was 21.4 km, which yes, is a new world record in speeding in Antarctica! The old record was actually held by another Icelander who drove his modified 6 wheel Ford Econoline to the South Pole, starting in Patriot Hills.

Conditions during the expedition were very rough with extreme cold, high altitudes of about 3.500 meters (more than 10.000 feet) and the team had to cross previously unexplored fields of crevasses. The expedition was a big success and another proof of the unique capabilities of the modified Arctic Trucks super jeep vehicles. 

Hlynur Sigurdsson, Expedition Driver and Mechanic, of Arctic Trucks International, at the Ceremonial South Pole (Photo: Business Wire)

Arctic Trucks has been a leader in modified super jeeps, first developing cars for the Icelandic glaciers, but later vehicles that have been used in expedition where no one thought a car could go. The most famous expedition is when Top Gear's James May and Jeremy Clarkson drove a modified Toyota Hilux from Arctic Trucks to the North Pole. James May later used that exact same vehicle to drive up an erupting volcano. Nothing seems to be impossible for the mechanics at Arctic Trucks.

“There is a fast growing interest from customers who are looking to supplement slower, less fuel-efficient tracked vehicles with faster, lighter and cleaner vehicles. We have great respect for the fragility of Antarctica and our vehicles have opened up new possibilities for scientific research programs to operate more efficiently in this environment.” says Emil Grimsson from Arctic Trucks.

 

The Antarctic expedition was organized by the Kazakhstan National Geographic Society (KNGS) and The Antarctica Company (TAC). Four other expeditions are planned, another one for the KNGS in a modified Toyota Land Cruiser where the team will celebrate 20 years of independence on the South Pole December 16th, as well as the 100 year anniversary of the arrival of Amundsen's and Scott's arrival to the South Pole. One of the other three expeditions planned is a drive from Patriot Hills in a modified Toyota Tacoma, that will be built specially for the purpose of setting a new world record.

Further information: The Arctic Trucks Expeditions

Hjörtur