The previous day was an arduous 17 hours of travelling: John – who roped me into this and would be my room and tent buddy – picked me up at 4:00am, Diane at 4:15am, and then via Edinburgh, London and Helsinki we would arrive at our hotel in Rovaniemi at 11:00pm Finnish time (9:00pm UK time ). Nonetheless, spirits were high as we enthusiastically attended a morning trek briefing. We got more information about the route, taken through technical equipment (i.e. how to put on snow shoes), and meet the rest of the BSE team who would join us; Les, Neil and Jo. These guys would end up as Arctic Yoda’s with their wisdom of the environment, but also genuine life savers.
After the briefing we had an afternoon to do as we pleased, I chose to wander around Rovaniemi. The first thing that hit me was the air literally sparkled; it was that cold that any moisture immediately turned in to tiny ice crystals and glittered when the sun hit them. I also marvelled at how a few hairs in my beard froze, and how -19 felt so cold it tore right through you. I naively assumed it could not feel worse than that.
A restless night of nerves and excitement followed as tomorrow we needed to be breakfasted and out early to start to trek the Arctic.
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