Thor Skytte Hanson (Engineer)

This trip started as myself and a couple of mates driving out to Denmark to visit some of my family for a couple of weeks away. We had all been working solidly for several months without a break.

Forever annoyed with the lack of snow in England, I thought it would be fun to nip up into Sweden for a few days to see some real snow! Over drinks and a discussion someone mentioned how for did I think my old Land Rover would make it North if we pressed on a bit.

After a few more light ales, this evolved into, ‘do you think we could make it to the Arctic Circle?’ Thus was born the idea for an epic winter road trip. The reasoning… Why not?

With some planning, a few vehicle modifications and a bit of luck, we should have an amazing story to tell by the time we return!

As temperatures in February in Northern Sweden tend to not go above -10 at any time, plummeting to a blistering -30 at night, some modifications to my trusty Landy ‘Fluffy’ are required. Insulating the vehicle as much as possible, adding winter tyres, a split charge battery system, higher rated thermostat, and changing all the engineer fluids for the cooler temperatures, this trip has become a reality.

As merely the driver on this adhoc adventure, all I have to do is get the modifications finished before we leave and not forget my chauffeur’s cap!

All in all it should be a monumental mount of fun. I have actually done something highly unusual and interesting, with the possibility of seeing the northern lights which has been a lifelong dream of mine.