ALMOST SNOWED IN!! Arctic vanlife problems!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- join me as I embark on an Winter journey through the Nordic Arctic winter in my self-built Ford Transit campervan. This time from Kiruna to the captivating ice hotel, where we sneak in a cheeky shower, to exploring frozen waterfalls in Abisko and nearly getting snowed in overnight on a mountain pass the adventure never stops. Brace yourself for heavy snowfall and navigating through deep snow as we push forward to Norway to reach the stunning Lofoten. Don't miss out on the thrill and beauty of winter van life in the far north!
#livingthevanlife #ChineseDieselHeater #wintervanlife
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❤ Excellent adventure and great places to visit ❤. Tuesday I’m leaving from The Netherlands to Norway with my 25 year old 4x4. Today I spend preparing the Jeep for the trip. Winter and studded tires in the boot, snow chains, led bar and recovery boards on the roof. Plenty of snow and beautiful en interesting places to see. Lofoten, ice hotel, Hardangervidda. ✌️. Thank you very much Alex for sharing your trips. Great help and very inspiring!
Hope you have a wonderful time and epic adventure! Sounds like you’re well prepared.
What 4x4 is it?
@@MispronouncedAdventures 🤩 Thank you. I have a Jeep Cherokee XJ, ( boxy one) with the 4.0 petrol engine in it. Colour dark red.
By the way, the Vegvesentraffic app is great for planning trips, view road cameras and learing a few Norwegian words 😉
@@SuperBobby1974 I only learnt about the app this year. The website is what I’ve been using for the last three years for Norway. I would highly recommend the “Windy” app which allows you to look at temperature amongst many other different weather aspects and local WebCams to see road conditions
@@MispronouncedAdventures App installed. 😊
Nice episode, did that car almost slide into you , great weather!
Shame you didnt get to see Narvik. My Uncle is buried there in an unmarked war grave. He died shortly after the battle of Narvik, 10th April 1940 on board HMS Hunter.
Thank you! And yes that white car did loose control in front of me. But it worked out in the end.
I have visited Narvik before and later on during this trip. I also got to read about some of its history as well.
That beaver room was amazing, and the room where you have the perspective of being in a dam, was stunning, no joke. Wowsers.
Hundred percent agree, that’s my third year, visiting the ice hotel, and that one was simply stunning
That van is a beast! Great footage of it plowing through snow from multiple angles.
I definitely had fun driving around the deep snow!
@@MispronouncedAdventures If you like snow, one thing I would recommend is renting out couple of snowmobiles and go on a one day trip with those into wilderness! Tent, firewood and some food and you good to go! 😁
I would have bet the house on you not getting out of that car park after all that snow. Amazing. Thanks, mate.
I’ve been impressed with what in the right snow conditions, the van can get through with relative ease
Extreme winter wonderland in Scandinavia.
Super Vlog Alex ❄️👍
I do love it up here, although I generally refer to it as Nordics! not Scandinavia as Scandinavia doesn’t technically include Finland! local viewers definitely informed me of my mistake when I use the terminology in my first year
Awesome video as always Alex 📽️so nice to see both of you enjoying every minute of this beautiful Arctic Adventure❄️Safe travels 🚐
Thank you! Missed you guys this winter!
The bridge was Tjeldsundbrua connecting Hinnøya, Norways largest Island to the mainland. 😀
20 minutes from my home.
Thank you! I’m glad I didn’t even attempt to pronounce it on video! as I would’ve got it spectacularly wrong! You call a very beautiful area Home!
Yes, smack in the middle between Lofoten and Vesteraalen, and Swedish Lapland. So it is a good place to be if you like to be out in it with a camera, or a fishing rod. But I must say I much prefer it in the warmer season.
@@MispronouncedAdventures
Great vid mate and nice of you to go and help Adam to find him drone 🤣 that was an adventure of class 🙏🏻
Glad you enjoyed! I couldn’t not help a friend in need!
The bridge you crossed from the mainland to Hinnøya is called «Tjeldsundbrua». Hinnøya is the largest island in Norway. no.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tjeldsundbrua
Thank you very much looking at the spelling. I’m glad I didn’t attempt to pronounce it and butcher the Norwegian language in the process!
Hi Alex . Just watched the vlog .. you should get some cheap yellow driving glasses helps a lot in the snow ... also I keep my sat nav on when visibility is low . Just to get an idea where the road is heading in hard conditions . Take care . Be safe . Cheers 👍
You’re not the first person to mention that, although later on in the series, I do add some amber/yellow high beams to the front and I definitely found them a lot more comfortable for driving at night with
@@MispronouncedAdventures I second the Yellow glasses. My preferred driving glasses is 'Cocoon Sidekick' because they're flip-ups that also cover the peripheral vision. Yellow enhances contrast so makes it easier to see the edge of the road in 'less than ideal conditions' (Not just in blizzards, but sunlight from the wrong direction and so on)
Protection in your peripheral vision is something most ignore, unfortunately. Imagine driving along a road with spruce forrest on the side, the sun is low and to the side... and you get the flashes of light because of all the treetrunks blocking, then unblocking the sunlight. It used to give me headaches. Imagine how it would be for someone who gets migraines...
Lofoten in winter is brave. It really gets the brunt of any storms coming in from the west. Senja to the north is also spectacular, but the road from the ferry at gryllefjord is probably very tricky in winter.
Was my third time in winter in Lofoten. I keep an eye on there weather and where I’m going because of the reason you also said.
I wouldn’t say it was brave at all. It was planned as there was good weather coming
I’ll note down Senja
Great video! There is couple of times when you’re were truly saved by snowplough and road condition was awful. Lot of snow on roadsides saving for cars to be damaged. Of course there must be someone to tow😄
A lot of interesting things in this video. Most memorable for me were: The Ice Hotel, The Train Race and the Terrifying Ice Road Trip.
Pulling cars out, is best done like you did with the second one, compared to the first one: Pull from the direction the vehicle got in, before getting stuck (if you watched too many army recovery vehicle videos).
Aye for the car recovery, second one was a car park so could position myself in anyway. First was an active main road so didn’t really want to point the wrong way in traffic.
That was a giant beaver!! And an animal that builds dams in the next room 😊
I very much approve of this comment
Every video is just ace Alex 👍have you run into Adsventures yet? He is up there somewhere 😁
I spent over a week with him. We probably got two episodes together if not more
@@MispronouncedAdventures oh thats ace! Looking forward to watching them 👍👍
Is that silverfallet? It is amazing during the summer. And cold... it has the most amazing stone beach that all tourists just steal from.
It was indeed Silverfallet ( although I didn’t know it by name ), it’s a shame to hear tourists take stones from it, i’m sure each individually they think it’s only one and its just fine but when you times that by tourism then it’s a problem.
What’s particularly special about the stones on the beach?
@@MispronouncedAdventures The stones have been sanded by Torneträsk for hundreds of years. Elegant jewellry. I just leave them there. Everyone is running around looking for nice stones but it is illegal. You should visit during summer. It is gorgeous. :)
@@MispronouncedAdventures Flipp you reply fast...
This was such a great couple of days and you were awesome navigating those conditions ! I really wish we'd caught the part where you fully buried yourself in the snow to hide from me on camera :-)
Shhhh! They can’t know about me being silly and hiding in the snow from you
😜
Great vid as always , a very good insight into road conditions ,thanks for sharing :)
Thank you very much! as you can see road conditions could definitely be varied!
Excellent as always. Epic adventure & thanks for sharing 👏
Thank you very much for watching
Fair play driving in that! 💪🏻🚐💨
Thanks, definitely one of the more interesting driving days
Hi Alex, Great to start catching up on your vids and what a great one as I've been away. Your tyres so impress me so to the skill required to get through. That car getting sideways in front of you is where you have lost control of the possible outcome.
Enjoy, the videos is plenty more to come. I’ve also been very impressed with the performance of the tyres, especially in the first year which is why I’ve kept using them on the third.
As for the sliding car, definitely some of the situations or potential accidents are not going to be your fault. That was only one of a few examples of that type of potential accident I saw.
An absolute beast indeed! Those ice hotels are wonderful. They'll have to wait until I am ready to die from freezing to death! Great video as always and safe travels. 🫡🚚
The Yeti definitely is!
The ice hotels are great for sure. Not sure still if I’d want to stay overnight
@@MispronouncedAdventures I'd certainly tour one, but +€1000/night is a bit much for this retiree. 😩🚚
Your van conversion is awesome and improves over time. Why didn't you buy a 4x4 Transit? Is your van a L3 H3 version?
The All wheel drive transit was out of my budget and hard to find. Yes it’s a L3H3 version
@@MispronouncedAdventures Yes the budget! We all have a budget!. Hard to find? Its a matter of timing and luck, a lot of luck. I found a Transit for sale the same as yours earlier tonight 2023 230miles on the clock., L3L3 but 4x4 for around 42K. I'd rather do a 4x4 conversion than a van conversion but that's the line of work i'm in. So for the future? what plans do you have for future MPA? A newer van etc?
Star Alex. Thanks mate. 👍🏻
Thank you for watching!
cant beat a cheeky shower
Gotta go for a cheeky one!
Thanks for another enjoyable film. As part of your quest to experience colder temperatures, are you planning a trip to somewhere like Oymyakon sometme in the future? ()that is when the troubles have ened)
I think realistically, if there wasn’t the current conflict, I would’ve definitely looked into the options for vehicle insurance and visas to enter Northern areas of Russia during the winter trip. Just it’s not feasible at the moment.
That van of yours is a beast and was that an Audi Quattro you were pulling out at the end?
Definitely impressed with the van in the deeper snow! Not entirely sure the model of Audi was
That looked a bit hairy! (The driving and the artwork!)
Aspects of it definitely were. Although if conditions were undrivable, I would just sit and wait them out. That’s the luck of having a campervan
@@MispronouncedAdventures 🥳🥰
"kolonnkörning" - it is normal there. You have no idea how bad it can be. You see NOTHING but white and a flicker of a orange light sometimes guessing if you are on the road. :D
Trying to figure out / translate that word. Would I be correct in saying convoy or column driving? I’ve had a few convoy in the past waiting for the plow in other parts of Norway in the past.
I am used to whiteouts ( navigating on foot or climbing ) though when you can’t see your hand in front of your face , I’m a winter guide and am used to operating in the working with clients in conditions like that. Not so much in a driving context
Although we dont really have those styles of convoy required in the UK
@@MispronouncedAdventures Convoy. Thanx for clearing that out.
@@MispronouncedAdventures You really have skills on winter roads.
I'm from Scotland but Sweden looks beautiful in the snow. Wish it snowed more often in the U.K. is your van all wheel drive?
I’m also from Scotland, and there is a lot of similarities in our landscape. But they have just so much more snow and colder temperatures. It’s wonderful up.
My van is only rear wheel drive and not all wheel drive. I am hoping for the next van for a AWD Transit
I'm surprised there was no sign for 'convoy' driving at the Swedish side with the boom.
For those who doesn't know, that's the final measure before actually closing the road, and means a plow truck will line up at the boom, and a certain number of cars will be allowed to follow it. And they drive slow so that everyone can follow. Acting up, or driving onto a road with convoy service without being in the convoy can be a killer.
The plow drivers will usually do a full trip along a stretch of road after the boom is closed if they're shutting down the road, but by then the weather is pretty bad, and they may miss a car that has gone off the road and ended up in the ditch or amonth the trees.
People have even been killed when their car was rammed by the plow in extreme whiteout conditions.
The safest place to be on winter roads is 3 seconds behind the plow truck.
Ice hotel. I've been told that it's actually pretty comfy to sleep in one. They've got thick reindeer skins with all that soft, insulating fur, and plenty of them.
For tourists; reindeer skins may look like a nice souvenir, and they are, but boy are they overpriced! At least at the usual tourist shops.
I think I gave 400NOK for mine, about 2decades ago. And in the touristy places they were 600NOK or more.
Not your usual fare, but...
If you happen to pass by Bodø, there's an aircraft museum next to the airport. They've got a U2 hanging from the ceiling, there's a JU-52 with floats(Potugese military airacraft that was rebuilt to match one that flew here from 1935 until 1955), a Catalina and lots of other machines.
I mean...
www.norwegianaviationmuseum.com/northrop-f5arf5a-freedom-fighter
Just the paintjob on this one is woth the detour...
I agree with your first point, I done a few convoys with plows in the past winters. on that particular occasion they didn’t seem to do it. although saying that, it was probably the 1st km after the border point which had poor visibility where the stuck car was. I usually go off if the locals are still driving then within reason it should be okay. But do remember for these videos. I use in wide angle lens for the front filming camera which makes me look like I’m going a lot faster and sometimes visibility is not as good. I have no intention of driving at high-speed in a complete whiteout!
I would quite like a reindeer skin. I am no illusion that the tourist prices will be massively inflated!
I am guessed in the ice hotel would be reasonably comfortable to be fair. I’ve slept out in my sleeping bag in far colder conditions outside.
I’ll take a note about bodø
@@MispronouncedAdventuresreindeer skins are nice and soft, but there is a lot of shedding. You will never get all those hairs out of your camper.
@@MispronouncedAdventures Yeah, the camera adds 10Kg and 20Km/h, depending on who or what you're filming.
I trust that you know how to drive in winter conditions, after all you've already survived 2 winters up here. My comment was mostly aimed at whoever else is watching your videos and considering doing the same.
Merci pour cette superbe vidéo ❤..pourriez vous me dire quel type de pneumatiques vous avez. Merci d avance et encore bravo
Glad you liked it.
I’m using BFgoodrich KO2 tyres in size 225/75R16 115/112
@@MispronouncedAdventures merci, bonne route
Nice video! And solid driving
Thank you. I make a point of usually not going into Norway until I’ve been up in Nordic for a few weeks so I’ve got back into use to driving conditions. I find the Norwegian roads due to the terrain, being a lot, more steep and winding a lot more committing than Sweden and Finland generally.
@@MispronouncedAdventures Yes the roads here can be intresting at times during winter. Yoo drove like a local( a good thing)
@Corsair721 luckily three years of practice so far, definitely something which is learnt by doing! I often get asked by a lot of Brits about coming up to the Arctic winter and I always recommend going up via Sweden to learn to drive fast on easier roads.
@Corsair721 don’t think I can ask for a higher compliment than that!
@@MispronouncedAdventures Some solid advice that for sure, better to start of on better and easier roads for sure.
👍👍👍👍👍
Cheers
Loving season 3 Alex. Can I ask you a diesel heater problem? When I switch mine on at the mo it tries to start up then I get an audio message saying ‘supply voltage over run’ and error code E03? Does than mean my glow plug is buggered. Cheers mate, you’re the Chinese diesel heater man. Andy
Glad you’re enjoying the episodes and yes I would say with 0E3 it’s glow plug related either the glow plug is damaged or the cabling to it has been or has become unplugged. I would start looking there first and potentially order yourself new glow plug online as they’re very cheap and do a swap.
What’s the temperature in that ice hotel?
Not less than -5c I believe. Snow in a great insulator
👍👍👍
Alex doesn’t often do whiteouts, but when he does, he does it right 😀 some of whiteout that Alex. And what a gent helping out the Audi driver. Excellent episode this one, probably one of my favourites over the 3 seasons.
Many whiteouts on the foot in the past working, but not so much in vehicles definitely quite an experience!
Couldn’t leave someone in need of help when I could’ve helped!
👍🚐😎
Cheers!
Does it not annoy you that your beard over hangs your lip?
personally it frustrates me.
Not really.
But I did planned to get a haircut before the trip and then have it grow throughout the trip because it doesn’t really get long enough then. Unfortunately for me I forgot and for continuity reasons I don’t want to just turn up with an episode with short beard halfway through the trip 😂
Nice one Alex, that was a great video, and proper snow too. Loved it. You're a right pair of troopers. Great stuff.👋
Glad you enjoyed it, but more videos to come!
How do you distinguish the roads from the park ups when everything is so white 🙈🤔 do you use coordinates for car parks/park ups?!
Most Nordic countries use the standard Big P for parking or there is a brown symbol with a white swirl on which usually means some sort of nature reserve parking or a hiking symbol for parking.
I also use park4night and just satellite images to see where parking is.
Great video Alex. We're currently in Åre in Sweden and heading north over the next few weeks. I'm guessing (hoping) this video was filmed quite a few weeks ago as we're now a little alarmed at the weather up there. Any chance you could let us know when this was filmed please? Thanks, Ben & Sarah.
Hey! This was filmed at the beginning of February. The weather can still be entertaining for while to come though, so keep an eye on road conditions, but usually if the roads are unsafe, then they will be closed until cleared.
That’s great, thanks. I’m sure we’ll have fun!
1st time viewer here. I enjoyed the show. Be safe and see ya later.
Thank you very much, I enjoy the snow myself!
She is holding the ceiling up though.
What? I don’t understand what you are trying to say?
Really cool content again and of course in two meanings. That Audi towing was also cool. I'm not sure now if your Transit is RWD or not?
My transit is RWD, hopefully next one will be AWD.
As for towing on the Audi point of view, pulling off a tow hitch, I don’t think is necessarily recommended at all due to the risks involved ( the recovery point would’ve been better ) , but the line of fire if the tow hitch failed was not through the windscreen where I was sitting
@@MispronouncedAdventures I'm not sure if I've told you that I have a regular 2008 Sunlight A69 motorhome which is based on Ford Transit. It is RWD and with dual wheels. I have often joked that it is four wheel drive, but all the four driving wheels are on the rear axle :D :D
@oh2mp well I would say technically it was four-wheels-drive then!
A tip to You when driving in condition like that on Bjørnefjell, try to get Your front window dry outside, use cold air inside to it's done, then the snow that hit the window don't melt, if You need heat, use a little only on Your feet, have a little gap on You side window can also help.!
Excellent adventure, can’t help getting the impression you and Joe Clash sometimes 🤭😂also bumped into your friend in a lift in Dubai airport 👌😂🤭
Hey Alex, just seen you on the German A1 towards Dortmund. You should definetely give Yeti a wash mate.
She is absolutely filthy, but yes, that definitely was me
@@MispronouncedAdventures ummm... I'm wondering about the fast reply. I was the co-driver but haven't seen anyone else in your van. 🤔🙈 Drive safely!
@@YamahaYZFR6RJ05 i’m dyslexic I use speech to text dictation for pretty much everything and I see all comments pop up on my phone
Great video Jo and Alex! So good to see so much snow and the Ice Hotel in the dark (Steve Marsh just did it in daylight). Next upgrade a winch?
Yes, the ice hotel is definitely worth seeing towards sunset!
Next van I would quite like a front winch that’s for sure. Although after pulling out two vehicles with my rope, I went and bought a tow strap .
aaa good lord watching your vlog from my warm living room I would say Love to be there with you......naah I am not that angry with my self.....that crap is COLD....nice vlog thou..
to be fair, the video is mostly recorded from my nice warm cab!
Many moons ago you asked "What else could I get for the van for my winter travels?"
I replied a winch. I think that might of come in handy incase you got your self stuck, wrap it around a tree and pull your self out.
I also saw your frozen windscreen blades, there are a few companies in the UK that do heated windscreen wipers.
Ford also do heated windscreens to help when it's really bad.
Love watching your wonderful adventures, stay safe and glad your over that damn cold.
Winch is definitely on the next van plan.
Didn’t know about heated windscreen wipers.
I do actually have a heated windscreen, which is great for stationary. however it’s not always good to use it! There are some awkward temperatures where the light ice crystals can hit the heated windscreen. If it’s turned on instantly melt, and then instantly freeze and stick to it because of windchill.
When you say the temperature, I’m assuming you are saying the proper measurement of Celsius? 🇨🇦
Although 41c is the same as 41f lol
Yep, proper measurement of centigrade / Celsius! But when I hit my -40. I’m going to make the particular point about Celsius and Fahrenheit, being the same at that point.
Earful : ... it looks like that section of the facility does hearing tests and sells hearing aids ... 🙂
Definitely some interesting room designs. Some of them I get, some of them I don’t!
Excellent and interesting video thanks!
Thank you, I’m glad you thought so
THANKS FROM REIDSVILLE N.C U.S.A
Thank you very much for watching, i’m gonna have to look up a map where that is
Small town on the East Coast,
Earful! - awful
👌 I do my best
As my son would say, that was punny 😂
Simply amazing. Great job makes you want to try, maybe one day…
Definitely worth the opportunity if you can make it
@@MispronouncedAdventures never say never my friend but let’s be honest, you make it look to easy…🤣🤣
@@gianluca777 anything can be done 10 years ago i didn’t think I’ll be here. Preparation & planning make it look easy
@@MispronouncedAdventures i totally agree with you. See you on the next one and stay safe 👍