T.R. 2 weeks hammocking in the Arctic winter; Jokkmokk, Abisko. -6c to -40c.

[Teepee]

Awe-inspiring and very entertaining as well as educational account. Many thanks for going to the trouble of writing- much appreciated.

Thanks OT Pleased you liked it.

Utterly brilliant. Many, many thanks for your write up - it is truly inspirational. I am deeply envious of your trip but, now that I've read your excellent articles, I realise that it is possible with careful planning.

Superb!

Thanks Tiley It was hard at times on my own collecting all the wood and melting snow for hours every day but yes, with the right experience and first rate training and advice, it's do-able. Being lucky with the weather helped too, as did fantastic company at the start.

 

[Wayland]

Brilliant report Pete.

Makes me wish I'd spent more time out in the cold instead of nurse-maiding the camera gear in a nice warm cabin.

Back on the temperature thing, I noticed the temperature readout on the building in Jokkmokk stuck at -3°c for much of the market week while my Kestrel meter was reading well below -20°c even in the town.

I had to keep the meter inside my clothing for much of the time to prevent the LCD freezing and on one occasion the brand new lithium batteries failed due to the cold which means I couldn't use the temperature logging features which was disappointing.

All the readings I took were spot readings and at least three of those were below -30°c the lowest being -34°c although the locals were reporting -37°c on that same night.

We were very fortunate not to get much wind while the temperatures were so low. Wind chill would have added a whole different set of challenges for us.

I would be very interested in setting up some kind of reliable data logging system like iButton for future trips but don't know much about how they work.

 

[Richie N]

I set off north from Kiruna early in January and spent a week dog sledding , I think we got a low of about 20 below but it may have been lower at night . The sun is not up for long at that time of year , but it was the wind chill that really determined the effects of the temperature .
Great pics , looks like you had a grand time .

 

[Teepee]

Brilliant report Pete.

Makes me wish I'd spent more time out in the cold instead of nurse-maiding the camera gear in a nice warm cabin.

Back on the temperature thing, I noticed the temperature readout on the building in Jokkmokk stuck at -3°c for much of the market week while my Kestrel meter was reading well below -20°c even in the town.

I had to keep the meter inside my clothing for much of the time to prevent the LCD freezing and on one occasion the brand new lithium batteries failed due to the cold which means I couldn't use the temperature logging features which was disappointing.

All the readings I took were spot readings and at least three of those were below -30°c the lowest being -34°c although the locals were reporting -37°c on that same night.

We were very fortunate not to get much wind while the temperatures were so low. Wind chill would have added a whole different set of challenges for us.

I would be very interested in setting up some kind of reliable data logging system like iButton for future trips but don't know much about how they work.

Thanks mate

The inability of any of us to take meaningful temp readings in the field was frustrating. An iButton setup, along with some modifications (slicone wire) to the -50c thermometer I took should put that one to bed. The internal measurement on it was only supposed to get to -20c but it was still reading at -29c when the display failed on the night the wire snapped. I noticed missing data from the official weather station too, it wasn't just us that had problems as it seems.

I set off north from Kiruna early in January and spent a week dog sledding , I think we got a low of about 20 below but it may have been lower at night . The sun is not up for long at that time of year , but it was the wind chill that really determined the effects of the temperature .
Great pics , looks like you had a grand time .

Thanks Richie Beautiful area isn't it? I'd been watching the Kiruna and Tornetrask weather, along with Jokkmokk for weeks before. It seemed to alternate between the two for minimums, but Jokkmokk pipped Kiruna for week or so. All the clued Swedes said it was either the Jokkmokk area or the Northern mountains (Kiruna and North/ West) for the coldest conditions.

Kiruna was much windier than Jokkmokk and would have been a different story at -20c and strong winds. One of the locals said they had -44c just outside of Kiruna with 20m/s (40mph +) last year and they all struggled.

 

[maddave]

My thermometer maxed out at -30c too and never recovered LOL. Is there any small handheld/lightweight jobbie out there that can handle temps to -50c or thereabouts that isn't over the top. Last time I was in Canada at -54c there was a chap who had an analogue thermometer rated to -100c but i'm damned if I can find one

 

[salad]

I have been off line for over a week (back on yesterday) so have not seen this until now, great trip thread very well written with some great photos .

Thanks for taking the time to share

 

[Paul K]

Hi Pete,

Enjoyable - and extensive - trip write up. Great effort and thanks for sharing.

And just to chip in on the temperature debate - we were up north of Gallivare that same week and the days you had the cold temps in Jokkmokk the temperature where we were was minus 20 to 25 during the day and around minus 30 to 35 at night. We weren't using a low-reading thermometer but the coldest we noticed was minus 37.

One of the most reliable sources for weather in this area from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.

The IRF weather data includes historical temperatures as well as real-time (it's currently -26 Celsius as I write this).

You can see current data on this page here:

http://www.irf.se/weather/

You can click on 'temperature', 'moisture', 'pressure' etc to get detailed historical data.

All the best,

Paul

 

[Samon]

looks like you guys had fun

I would have bottles some of ice, melted it and kept it as a souvenir ina special bottle! that way not only will you remember the trip you dudes had, but you can keep a bit of it for ever.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Fantastic read, really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[MickeS]

Another good source of recent and historical temperatures in Sweden is
http://www.temperatur.nu/

By choosing town / part of town at "Välj plats" you can see recent and historical temps at quite a few places.
Kiruna for example has 4 or 5 different readings, at the moment ranging from -12C to -25C...
At the left you can choose
1 Dygn = 1 day
1 Vecka = 1 week
1 Månad = 1 month
1 år = 1 year

 

[Teepee]

My thermometer maxed out at -30c too and never recovered LOL. Is there any small handheld/lightweight jobbie out there that can handle temps to -50c or thereabouts that isn't over the top. Last time I was in Canada at -54c there was a chap who had an analogue thermometer rated to -100c but i'm damned if I can find one

Have a look for 'Dry Ice' thermometers mate. I've found a logger that goes down to -90 or so. Apparently, its hard to get loggers to work below -40 and they fetch a premium.

I have been off line for over a week (back on yesterday) so have not seen this until now, great trip thread very well written with some great photos .

Thanks for taking the time to share

Thanks Salad

Hi Pete,

Enjoyable - and extensive - trip write up. Great effort and thanks for sharing.

And just to chip in on the temperature debate - we were up north of Gallivare that same week and the days you had the cold temps in Jokkmokk the temperature where we were was minus 20 to 25 during the day and around minus 30 to 35 at night. We weren't using a low-reading thermometer but the coldest we noticed was minus 37.

One of the most reliable sources for weather in this area from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.

The IRF weather data includes historical temperatures as well as real-time (it's currently -26 Celsius as I write this).

You can see current data on this page here:

http://www.irf.se/weather/

You can click on 'temperature', 'moisture', 'pressure' etc to get detailed historical data.

All the best,

Paul

Hi Paul the link for the Space institute came in very useful. The advice, extensive blogging and tuition is all much appreciated-it was all useful.

looks like you guys had fun

I would have bottles some of ice, melted it and kept it as a souvenir ina special bottle! that way not only will you remember the trip you dudes had, but you can keep a bit of it for ever.

Thanks Samon
Nooooooo! I forgot to do that! Oh well, guess I'll have to go back then

Fantastic read, really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks CK, a pleasure

Another good source of recent and historical temperatures in Sweden is
http://www.temperatur.nu/

By choosing town / part of town at "Välj plats" you can see recent and historical temps at quite a few places.
Kiruna for example has 4 or 5 different readings, at the moment ranging from -12C to -25C...
At the left you can choose
1 Dygn = 1 day
1 Vecka = 1 week
1 Månad = 1 month
1 år = 1 year

Brilliant link Micke, added to favourites

 

[bodhran4me]

Wow, very impressive!

A fun and detailed write up and some great photos. Thanks for letting us tag along with ya!

 

[Imagedude]

Any word from the airline yet?

 

[Teepee]

Wow, very impressive!

A fun and detailed write up and some great photos. Thanks for letting us tag along with ya!

Thanks Bodhran

Any word from the airline yet?

Nope

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Just watching 'Driven to Extremes', Discovery Channel, down to -50. Engines run all night otherwise they freeze. Interesting furlined felt boots, warmer than the synthetic ones.

 

[Dreadhead]

Just read this, great write up! wish i had read this before the last northwood would have had plenty of questions to annoy you with

 

[Teepee]

Just watching 'Driven to Extremes', Discovery Channel, down to -50. Engines run all night otherwise they freeze. Interesting furlined felt boots, warmer than the synthetic ones.

I'll keep an eye out for that one SC All the vehicles over there plug into the mains overnight so they will start in the morning.

Just read this, great write up! wish i had read this before the last northwood would have had plenty of questions to annoy you with

Thanks Hamish Hopefully see you at a meet again before long.

 

[theoctagon]

BOOM!

I'm not sure if I've commented on this thread or not already but if I haven't, I should have!

Just read through it again, awesome write up of what looks to have been an awesome trip!

Great stuff mate


Matt

 

[Teepee]

Thanks Matt, glad you enjoyed it mate

 

[sgtoutback]

came late to the game on this one, excellent write up. One i am sure I will read a number of times. Thank you