{"id":13454,"date":"2017-03-02T16:24:01","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T16:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainwarehouse.com\/community\/?p=13454"},"modified":"2017-06-09T11:05:06","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T10:05:06","slug":"real-life-arctic-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mountainwarehouse.com\/Arctic-Adventure","title":{"rendered":"Real Life Arctic Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hannah Barbey and her family share their real life arctic adventure with us and how they put their Mountain Warehouse gear to good use!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you had asked me where I would like to travel when I was nearly six, I would have answered instantly: Lapland. I made plenty of make-believe visits, though, arriving at Santa\u2019s hometown in a sledge pulled by huskies, snugly wrapped in a white fur cape, the perfect attire for a fairytale adventurer. I would stay in an igloo, skate on frozen lakes, feed the reindeer\u2026 and then return home to my Wiltshire home for supper.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

30 years later, I now have a little girl who is nearly six. But for my daughter, Beatrice, and her three-year-old brother, Xavier, Lapland isn\u2019t an imaginary destination \u2013 it\u2019s a real place which we visited this winter. Huskies and a sledge weren\u2019t feasible transport for this 4700 mile round-trip through the Nordic countries. Instead, my husband St\u00e9phane drove us to the Arctic Circle in a Bailey motorhome, packed with everything a family needs for 6 weeks on the road, including a sizeable stash of Mountain Warehouse\u2019s warmest winter clothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Barbey<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But what does an ordinary family in an ordinary motorhome need to wear on an extraordinary arctic adventure? Given the seriously sub-zero temperatures, guaranteed snow and frozen lakes, plus hopes to ski and sled, we had to make sure we weren\u2019t going to get cold, wet, or ill. Since Mountain Warehouse don\u2019t make the white fur capes of my childhood fairytale dreams, we chose an all-in-one snowsuit<\/a> (the gap-proof option) for our three-year-old, and thick hooded down jackets<\/a> and fleece-lined snow trousers<\/a> for the rest of us. We all took a lot of thermal long johns and vests<\/a>, and sturdy lined snowboots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With an entire overhead locker of miscellaneous hats, scarves and mittens<\/a>, we had the kit ready but would we know how to use it? Scandinavians are famous for getting outside in all weather, so we asked Norwegian friends for wisdom on dressing children for the cold. This is what they advised:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Layers, layers, layers!<\/strong> You\u2019ll need a thermal or wool base-layer, a fleece or wool mid-layer, and then the waterproof\/water resistant outer-layer. Hats are a must. Don\u2019t overdo it, though, as too many layers will make you sweat, and restrict your movement.<\/li>\n
  2. The Norwegian rhyme uttered by all grandmothers \u201cUll er gull<\/em> (wool is gold)\u201d is true:<\/strong> Gone, thankfully, are the days of itchy woollen undies. No scratching for us in our Mountain Warehouse Merino-blend thermals.<\/li>\n
  3. Mittens, not gloves:<\/strong> You don\u2019t spot Scandinavian children in gloves for two reasons: Firstly, fingers keep warmer when bunched together. Secondly, mittens are much<\/em> quicker to put on.<\/li>\n
  4. Tuck yourself in:<\/strong> Tuck long johns into socks, vests into long johns, and mitten cuffs under mid-layer sleeves\u2026 and only then put on the outer layer.<\/li>\n
  5. Don\u2019t rush! Be prepared for the kitting-up to take ages:<\/strong> However eager the children are to get outside in the snow, short-cuts – you\u2019ll only regret it 10 minutes later when they are complaining about the cold.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Mostly, we stuck to these tips but the times we cut corners we (and the children) regretted it. Whether sledding around the campsite or frozen river in Lule\u00e5 in Sweden, sliding down the slopes in Haukelifjell, Norway, or kicksledding around our friends\u2019 street in Finland, our Mountain Warehouse kit was put to good use every single day. We even made a small igloo and enjoyed cramming in, although with all the extra padding there was only enough room for three of us at a time!<\/p>\n

    The most spectacular part of our dream journey was the 24 hours we spent by a frozen Arctic lake, wild-camping in the motorhome as temperatures plummeted to -27 degrees C.<\/p>\n

    Just before we embarked on this, we joined Theo Turner, a former UK Marine Commando now running the bespoke tour service Wild About Lapland<\/em>, by the frozen river in Rovaniemi, Finland. As well as teaching us an infallible trick to light a fire using birch bark (which lights even when wet due to the high oil content), and suggesting the spectacular Lake Olkkavaara as our wild-camping spot, Theo gave us some sound advice for keeping warm.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe most important thing,\u201d he revealed, \u201cis your feet.\u00a0 If your feet are warm, the rest of you will be fine.\u201d In order to keep your blood circulating freely, Theo encourages buying boots one or two sizes too big so there\u2019s enough space to wriggle your toes easily, while wearing either a Merino base sock or ski sock, and then another woollen sock on top of that. I was glad to have accidentally ordered my boots a size too big, although the arctic expert himself wears boots 3 sizes too big to accommodate three pairs of Merino socks with wriggle-room to spare at -30 degrees or below!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Beatrice<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Following Theo\u2019s guidance, we spent several hours the next day on or around Lake Olkkavaara without being beaten by the cold, even though it was about -25 degrees. From the second we stepped out of the warmth of the motorhome our breath was taken away, first by the icy air and then by the elegant beauty of the lake bathed in an ever-shifting warm pink, orange and golden light. Watching the sunrise and sunset over the lake within a couple of hours of each other, and playing in the sparkling snow with the children was exhilarating \u2013 better than I could have imagined. We merrily made snow angels, planted tracks in the snow, chased shadows, and pretended to skate and fish on the lake. After building a fire in a traditional wooden Finnish laavu<\/em> (wilderness hut), mince pies from home warmed us up from the inside out. As darkness settled over the lake we re-packed all our gear into the motorhome and headed south, back over the Arctic Circle and towards Sweden, our minds buzzing with memories from our 24 hour arctic challenge.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Beatrice<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Temperatures back home in Wiltshire are hardly arctic but we\u2019re still getting outside in our Mountain Warehouse gear every day. We may have swapped frozen lakes for muddy farm puddles and snow drifts for a frosty garden but our Arctic Adventure lives on in the imaginations of our children who are still playing make-believe Lapland, just like their mother, 30 years before.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hannah Barbey and her family share their real life arctic adventure with us and how they put their Mountain Warehouse gear to good use!   If you had asked me where I would like to travel when I was nearly six, I would have answered instantly: Lapland. I made plenty of make-believe visits, though, arriving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":14449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[578,657,433,658,432,547,288,659,558],"class_list":["post-13454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-wonders","tag-adventure","tag-arctic","tag-base-layers","tag-lapland","tag-merino","tag-merino-base-layer","tag-ski-2","tag-sled","tag-winter-clothing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReal Life Arctic Adventure - Inside the Outdoors | Mountain Warehouse Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hannah Barbey and her family share their real life arctic adventure with us and how they put their winter Mountain Warehouse gear to good use!\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mountainwarehouse.com\/Arctic-Adventure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Real Life Arctic Adventure - 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