Fjällrävenbloggen

Fjällräven Polar is starting in two and a half months in Norwegian Signaldalen. Kenth Fjellborg is a professional dog musher and one of the founders of the event. He has also organized Fjällräven Polar ten times. Kenth and his dogs are presently at home in Poikkijärvi, Lapland, preparing for the event which will be taking place in April.

How has the winter been in Poikkijärvi, has it been cold?

Yes, now it is really winter. Last week the temperature dropped below -35 degrees Celsius, and right now it is below -20, but these temperatures are normal for this time of year. The end of January is usually the coldest period. The snow depth is about 60-70cm out in the terrain, plenty for dog sledding, even if there will be more later on in the season. That is usual at this time of the year, the weather has been clear and cold.

There was a solar storm last week, have you seen the Northern Lights?

Yes, we have seen the Northern Lights several times, they are beautiful. People come here from all over the world to see them, which is a bit strange for me as I have grown up with them. But I do understand the attraction.

There are just a couple of months left before Fjällräven Polar, how are preparations going?

Good. We have been working with the event since the end of November and things are going as planned. The dogs are really looking forward to it!

Yes, the dogs. How do they prepare for participating?

Most preparations were made back in August/September. We have had obedience training, fitness and leader dog training. Now that it is winter, we are using the dogs every day for sledding tours. So a lot of time is spent in the terrain. They are living the everyday lives of sled dogs.

You said that the dogs are looking forward to Fjällräven Polar, how do you know that?

Everyone who has been close to working sled dogs has seen their enthusiasm. They jump, yelp and pant to get going every time we go out. Pulling is the natural behaviour of these dogs, just as a Border Collie herds and a Labrador retrieves. As mushers, we make the most of their natural positive attitude to work and steer them in the right direction. So I can say that they are looking forward to Fjällräven Polar. They love seeing new trails and new terrain. Variation is as important to them as it is to us.

You have previously organized ten Fjällräven Polars, are there any memories which stick out from the rest?

The strongest memories are all to do with the enthusiasm and positive energy of everyone who has taken part. Even if it has been challenging at times, with some really tough stages, there are many who have said that it has been the greatest experience of their lives.

Have you finalised the route for 2012? Is there anything in particular that participants can expect to see or do?

We will make our way from Tromsö to the Jukkasjärvi area. The exact route cannot be decided yet, it depends on snow conditions, ice, weather and so on. It will be finalised a few days beforehand, sometimes even on the day. But whatever happens, the participants can expect a totally new experience, that is for sure.

Kenth and his canine colleagues in mid-winter Lapland.

Learn more about Kenth and his dogs

In the summer of 1978 a lot of Swedes could read about how backproblems were appearing in increasingly younger age groups.

The solution became Kånken.

The headline from a major Swedish newspaper says: “Backproblems is appearing in increasingly younger age groups”

Fjällräven Classic 2012 is held 10-17 of August but unfortunately the tickets are out since long but do not dispair you can buy tickets on our forum we also release tickets from people who have cancelled their participation, when it happens, stay posted on our Facebook page or on the news feed on our website.

Do not miss our new film from 2011, “Voices from Fjällräven Classic”

Finally we have decided our winners for Fjällräven Polar 2012. As you may know the competition for Fjällräven Polar have taken place on a country-by-country basis and two people from each country* were selected:

• The first person from each country was selected by visitors to the website voting for their favorite application
• The second person from each country have now been chosen by us.

The decision of our winners have been really hard, all of you have performed extremely well. But here we proudly present our winners, we are proud to present such a great team! Later on you will get to know all the participants better with short interviews. You will also of course follow their adventure in April north of the Arctic Circle with films interviews and so on. Our goal is to educate and inspire – everyone can enjoy nature, with the right knowledge and the right equipment, even during wintertime!

Participants from previous Fjällräven Polar (2006)

We think that you all have made such great applications for Fjällräven Polar, this makes it really hard for us to decide which ones we will pick. Therefor we need you to wait a little bit longer. We will announce the winners the 29 November.

Update! The winners were announced on our website the 29^th of November

Winter expeditions put your equipment to the test. After not being able to keep comfortable in a bivouac in northern Sweden our founder Åke Nordin made a decision. –No one should ever again have to freeze while out in nature.

Two jackets became one

Fabrics were tested and a search was launched for the highest quality down. Unfortunately, the early prototypes were not as warm as Åke had hoped. But then he was struck by an unusually good idea – if one jacket was not warm enough, why not make two jackets? And, as simple as that, two warm jackets were sewn together into one. Test showed that the two layers of down did not only make the jacket warmer, the overlapping construction made it even more insulating by preventing heat from leaking out or cold winds from forcing their way in through the seams. Since 1974 no one needs to freeze while out in nature.

Smart functions

The hood was designed to be large and roomy and had a drawstring opening so only the eyes were visible when pulled tight. Push buttons were added to the zipper for better safety, but also to the possibility of ventilation by only using the buttons. Extra hand-warming pockets were sewn behind the regular pockets and the shoulders

Expedition Down

Durable down parka that keeps you warm even during low-intensity activities in extremely cold weather. The hood were filled with extra synthetic padding to ensure that this area maintained its shape and warmth even when carrying a backpack or heavy items in the pockets. To provide room for layering, the jacket was given a roomy fit.

The ultimate test

Before the jacket could be shipped to the stores, it naturally needed to be tested. The first test was carried out at high elevation as a group of Swedes used the jacket during an
expedition to the Himalayas in 1973. Fjällräven’s own tests in the north region of Sweden also gave positive feedback. In 1974, Expedition Down was ready to be released to the public.

Expedition Down Jacket in Sweden in the seventies

Classified as art by the court of law

There have been many attempts to imitate this optimal winter jacket. At the
beginning of the 2000’s, the imitations went so far that the Supreme Court and the
Svea Court of Appeal passed down a verdict that the construction of Expedition Down was so original it deserved to be protected by copyright laws and should be classified as artwork.

Still just as popular

Today we continue our proud tradition of making jackets for expeditions and cold winters. Forty years after Expedition Down saw its first winter in Örnsköldsvik it is still our most popular winter jacket. When nature freezes over and the wind turns bitter cold, many people wrap around themselves the warm arms of an old friend.
– See you out there.

Fjällräven Expedition Down Jacket in Ice blue

The arcic regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland are called Nordkalotten. It connects three (not including Russia) countries with no “real” borders. The people of the northern parts has lived here since the stone age. The area was multicultural even before the word was invented. here lives the Sami people who still herds reindeers in the area.

But they have not been alone. Fishers and hunters lived in the coastal regions long before the age of Vikings (800 to 1050 AD). Other pioneers settled here after the medieval times. The Fjällräven Polar teams will travel from west to east, like the ancient trade routes, like the Sami follow their eight season herding “schedule”.

The area today hosts both the traditional nomad people of the north and hypermodern Esrange rocket launch station, Sweden’s answer to cape Canaveral. Some of the main employers in the area are the big mining companies. But tourist industryrelated operations are gaining momentum. The Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, is known all over the world. The arctic regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland cover 30 percent of the area. But only five percent of the country’s population live here.

Extreme facts

Lowest temperature:
Malgovik, Lappland, 1941 December 13, – 53 degrees Celsius

Highest wind speed:
Tarfala, Lappland, 1992, December 20, 81 meters per secound.

Largest snow depth:
Kopparåsen, 1926 February 13, 327 centimetres.

Longest visibility: 75-100 kilometres

Shortest visibility: 0 centimetres

Kappåive in Lappland

I got a hold of Grzegorz Linda who is right now the over all leader in the Fjällräven Polar contest with more then 2400 votes! How has he managed to get as many votes and what is it that drives him to participate in Fjällräven Polar?

How have you manage to get as many as more than 2000 votes?
First of all, thank you very much for the opportunity to have this short interview. I am surprised by the results myself. It turns out that I have a lot of friends who think that it is me who will use this expedition best. For the first time I learned about Fjällraven Polar from your catalogue in the year 2004 and I still have this catalogue at home. Then it was just a dream and today it may come true!

Do you have any tips for the other contestants that you would like to share?
Such a competition is a good way to refresh old contacts. For the last few days I have talked with many of my friends whom I didn’t have time to call and of course we talked about the competition least. We have also created an event and invite our friends to vote. Of course my friends, acquaintances and family help me very much.

If you would win Fjällräven Polar, what are you looking forward to most?
Of course I look forward to working supervised by the man who finished Iditarod (Kenth Fjellborg, Iditarod is a famous dog sled race), testing your equipment in such difficult conditions and meeting new people who just like me care about taking part in your expedition.

Grzegorz Linda with the Fjällräven Polar catalogue from 2004

As we have said we are overwhelmed by all the great applications we have received for Fjällräven Polar. But how are things going? How many people have applied? How many have voted? And which countries are the most popular? Time for some statistics!

Number of applications: 685
Most popular countries: Sweden: 158, Denmark 133, The Netherlands: 115, Germany: 99, Other countries: 46, Finland: 44, Great Britain: 39, Norway: 38, Poland: 13
Total number of votes: 39 708 (unique people who have voted: 37 849, you can vote for more than one application)
Applicants with most votes: 1965 (!), 1174, 1065.
Number of applications and date:
169 (2011-10-15)
128 (2011-10-16)
116 (2011-10-17)
75 (2011-10-18)
57 (2011-10-19)
47 (2011-10-20)
35 (2011-10-21)
28 (2011-10-22)
26 (2011-10-23)
21 (2011-10-24)
26 (2011-10-25)

Interested in competing for a place on Fjällräven Polar?

It is not too late – we can see from the statistics that voting for each applicant ebbs out after about a week. And there are three whole weeks left for you to get votes. We at Fjällräven also select one applicant per country, and we don’t pay any attention to how many votes you have.
All new applicants have the chance of winning a hat perfect for really cold weather; the applicant who gets the most votes each day wins. Apply here!

Picture caption: The reality of taking part in Fjällräven Polar

A short greeting from Johan Skullman our outdoor expert and product specialist. Johan will guide participants through out Fjällräven Polar.