3 Countries Ski Challenge
Overview
| Duration: | 8 days (incl. travel), 6 days on the snow |
| Grade: | Difficult to Strenuous (Talk to us if you have concerns about fitness) |
| Departure date: | 3rd-10th March 2024 |
| Group size: | 8 people max |
| Fees: | €2,990pp + flights €450 approx Fees may be paid in installments |
| Additional costs: | Flights (approx €450), excursions, travel insurance. |
Highlights
- Arctic Exploration
- Remote, off-grid wilderness
- Awe-inspiring Arctic tundra
- Hanging glaciers and granite rock walls
- Frozen lakes and deep snowdrifts
- Surreal sunsets
- Northern Lights potential
What`s included
- All in-country fees
- Pre-departure training in advance of the trip
- All specialist equipment hire: skis/sleeping bags/jackets/pulks etc
- All meals
- Internal transfers
- Accommodation
- Expert tuition & guiding
- 20% discount on purchases in our store
3 Countries Ski Tour In The Arctic Tundra!
Aimed at those who have overseas expedition/trekking experience, good fitness levels and ideally have some ski experience, this charity challenge is a genuine step outside the comfort zone, but is completely worth it.
Taking Charity Challenges to the next level. Including travel and training, this is an 8-day trip. The 3 Countries Arctic Expedition itself is 5 days of back-to-back ski journey.
Travelling as a self-sufficient team, using a combination of remote cabins and tents, we will be ski across the bewitching and awe-inspiring Arctic tundra, pulling our pulks behind us. This stark, unforgiving, yet beautiful landscape gives us the opportunity to enhance our back-country winter skills, where each person plays a vital role in the team’s success on this 3 Countries Arctic Ski Challenge.
Along the way we will ski past hanging glaciers and granite rock walls, across massive frozen lakes and deep snowdrifts.
Your sense of space, distance and time will get distorted as the incredible clarity of the light leads to a false sense of perspective. Learn to embrace the meditative rhythm of breaking new trails on fresh snow, as the silence seeps into your consciousness as we continue on our 3 Counties Arctic Ski Challenge.
3 Countries Ski: Who’s it For?
Fit outdoors people who are looking for the next step! Those who want to dip their toes into Arctic Exploration, preparing for one of the major crossings. Maybe you’ve done a big trek or one of our other expeditions and feel there’s more out there calling you…
We also include a briefing/training day and ongoing support in advance of the expedition before departure on our 3 Country Ski Challenge
There are no hidden extras – all specialist equipment hire is included: sleeping bags, down jackets, skis etc.
3 Countries Ski: Accommodation
The first two nights and the final night will be in basic comfortable cabins. The remainder of the nights will be spent in remote huts or tents. These huts vary in their level of comfort, all are shared accommodation/dorms. There may be other people using the huts. We’ll cook communally as a group each evening.
We will provide you with all the specialist equipment as follows:
- Sleeping bag
- Down Jacket
- Mitts
- Sled
- Backcountry ski equipment
We’ll provide you with a full kit list. All participant receive a 20% discount on purchases in our store in advance of departure.
We also include a briefing/training day and offer ongoing support in advance of the expedition.
3 Countries Ski FAQs
This expedition is 8 Days in duration. The first day will be spent travelling to Northern Scandanavia, far north of the Arctic Circle. The first full day is spent getting everyone up to speed on the skis and packing our sleds for departure the following day. We then have 5 days travelling on snow through Finland, Norway, Sweden and back to Finland. The last day is spent travelling back home.
Ideally participants need to have some experience having completed a long trek or expedition in the recent past. Some ski experience is desirable.
Included in expedition fees is the hire of specialist cold weather clothing and sleeping bags. Participants need to bring thermal clothing, warm fleeces, hat and gloves, boots etc. More details will be provided on our training sessions, however, we are endeavouring to cover as much of the costs as possible in the expedition fees so participants won’t have to invest in specialist equipment.
We have space for 8 participants on this 3 Countries Arctic Ski Challenge.
As we are limited on the number of participants we can take on this expedition, to give you the best chance at a high fundraising capacity, we are not offering a free charity place. In this instance, we can be your representative on the expedition and ‘fly the flag’ for your charity. We have experience doing this – telling appropriate stories on behalf of the charity prior to an event and/or over dinner. You can however, travel with the group to the base location and be there for their departure and welcome them on their return from the 5 day expedition.
The 3 Countries Ski expedition fees are €2,990/£2,750. This includes:
> All in-country transport
> Accommodation
> Catering
> All equipment hire
> PL insurance
> Expert tuition and highly skilled & qualified guides
Daytime temperatures will vary from -4 to -12 and night time will vary from -12 to -25. As we’re travelling through the Arctic Tundra we are very exposed to the weather, especially wind. If winds pick up then temperatures we feel will drop and it may make progress very slow and result in very long days on the skis.
They are similar but with the following differences:
– Skis are a little wider with metal edges to help turn
– Boots are bigger- like a chunky trekking boot
– We don’t ski in the tracks like Cross Country, instead we make our own!
Being caught in an avalanche is a problem, avoiding one is a skill. Our guides hold the professional International Mountain Leader (IML) qualification and have considerable experience of reading avalanche terrain and avoiding it.
Flights, you can use your own travel agent or we can have our travel partner take care of them for you.
Each participant will require specific travel insurance, see below.
It is essential that all participants take out additional insurance for the trip. This should cover repatriation to UK/Ireland and rescue fees. Your insurance must list guided backcountry skiing. Let us know if you need details on insurance companies. We also advise that you apply for your EHIC (formally E11): Irish residents. UK residents.
