Share this on:
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Tumblr
 E-mail
386
VIEWS
 
RECOMMENDS
23
SHARES
About this iReport
  • Approved for CNN

    • Click to view konacraig's profile
    Posted February 20, 2012 by
    konacraig
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    Adventure travel

    More from konacraig
    More iReports you should see

    Ice Bears

    By konacraig  |  Posted February 20, 2012  
     

    CNN PRODUCER NOTE     konacraig took these photos during an adventurous expedition in 2010 to the snow-swathed and remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. 'None of [the six of us] had formal training or experience in this type of extreme environment,' he said. After a bout of severe freezing cold where temperatures dipped to negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit, 'the snow drifts caused several of our tents to cave in. I received frost bite on my face. Our five layers of clothes and our arctic single-man tents were our shelter. After five days the weather cleared and we found polar bears on the sheet ice. We then made our way back to Svalbard taking 10 hours, getting lost, navigating large snow drifts and flipping several snowmobiles as we made our way through some rather treacherous terrain.'
    - jmsaba, CNN iReport producer

    Fly 8000 miles from Los Angeles to a remote island above Norway called Svalbard. Meet your small group of travelers. Dress in 5 layers of Arctic clothing. Put all of your supplies in a sledge towed behind your snowmobile. Set out on unmarked trails for 50 miles. Camp out on the sheet ice in winter. All for the thrill of spotting polar bears in the wild. Brave temperatures that dip below 0 degrees centigrade. Carry with you all the supplies you will need to survive. There is no 911 to call. There is no one to get you out of a jam. If you get into trouble and if you have a satellite phone and if you are able to reach the governor of the island and if the weather permits a helicopter to search for you and if you have the $15k per hour to get rescued you might get out, otherwise you get out because of you and no one else. This is adventure travel in the high arctic- 82 degrees north latitude. You cheat death and survive and yes you might get to see a polar bear up close.
    • TAGS:

    • GROUPS:

    What do you think of this story?

    Select one of the options below. Your feedback will help tell CNN producers what to do with this iReport. If you'd like, you can explain your choice in the comments below.
    Be and editor! Choose an option below:
      Awesome! Put this on TV! Almost! Needs work. This submission violates iReport's community guidelines.
    More from this assignment - Adventure travel
    On CNN
    Hoi An – the World Cultural Heritage
    On CNN
    Climbing a Via Ferrata in the Saguenay Fjord, Quebec
    On CNN On CNN
    The Life and Death of a Eucalyptus Forest
    See all 81 iReports
    Add your Story

    Comments

    Log in to comment

    iReport welcomes a lively discussion, so comments on iReports are not pre-screened before they post. See the iReport community guidelines for details about content that is not welcome on iReport.

    Add your Story Add your Story