The extreme cold was expected. Niyog had prepared himself for it by spending some days in Manali, Himachal Pradesh, in winter. But, the 26-year-old from Punalur, the first Indian to take part in Fjällräven Polar, a dream expedition of adventure travellers, found that no preparation was good enough to face the wild Arctic wind. “The wind was such that we couldn’t stand on the ground. We had to build ice walls around our tents so that they wouldn’t be blown away. Breathing was tough at some point,” Niyog recalled his journey across the Arctic with 19 selected adventurers from all over the world.

Fjällräven Polar is an annual expedition being organised by the Swedish company Fjällräven since 1997. The participants, selected through an online poll, travelled 300 km in -30° Celsius through the Arctic wilderness in Norway and Sweden on sleighs pulled by six Siberian Husky dogs.

The participants had to adopt different methods to make fire as it was an integral part of survival in the Arctic. “We were provided stoves to cook food, that worked on Super Fuel. We used magnesium coils to make fire and then brought them to compressive mode. On another day we collected fibres from the bark of a tree to make fire,” Niyog said.

Danger in sweating

Cooking using melted ice for water and sleeping in a sleeping bag inside a trench, when the snow could bury them any time, were part of the adventure.

“We had to be careful about sweating, as sweat turning into ice could be very dangerous. The ice settled anywhere in 10 seconds and the wind made the situation worse,” he said.

Niyog found controlling the dogs easier than expected as the animals were trained to follow the well defined path. But he had a hard time balancing the sleigh in the unpredictable terrain and was thrown off many a time.

The trip over, Niyog cherishes watching the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and enjoying the hospitality of the Sami tribe that served the adventurers with reindeer meat dishes. It took several baths alternatively in steam and ice cold water besides dipping in an ice hole to acclimatise. Now, back home, the young man who is always driven by adventure finds himself unfit for more — for at least a few weeks.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Aabha Raveendran / Kozhikode – April 20th, 2018