The planet just had its hottest January on record. AI is coming for our jobs. Wars are aflame in Europe and the Middle East. But out here, in the chilled heart of the Norwegian wilderness, there's space to breathe, to extend yourself, to redefine the ground beneath your feet. And to leave some of the overwhelm behind.
As far as the eye can see, soft arcs of blue-tinged snow rise and dip to a horizon hung with a cradle of blazing orange light. The sun is sliding away, casting black jags of rock in stark relief against the snow. Laid out below is Ulvik, a landscape that in the early 20th century was the proving ground for the greatest names in the golden age of polar exploration: Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and the ill-fated Robert Falcon Scott. All came and trained here for expeditions to reaches of the world that in their day were the contemporary equivalent of travelling to the moon.
As far as the eye can see, soft arcs of blue-tinged snow rise and dip to a horizon hung with a cradle of blazing orange light. The sun is sliding away, casting black jags of rock in stark relief against the snow. Laid out below is Ulvik, a landscape that in the early 20th century was the proving ground for the greatest names in the golden age of polar exploration: Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and the ill-fated Robert Falcon Scott. All came and trained here for expeditions to reaches of the world that in their day were the contemporary equivalent of travelling to the moon.
Challenge guests learn how to haul kit on a pulk and camp overnight on the frozen terrain | Photo credit: Jack Anstey
This mountainous part of Vestland county, some 120km east of Bergen, remains a place of winter training for serious modern-day explorers and casual outdoors sports enthusiasts alike. Dominated by Norway's sixth largest glacier, the Hardangerjøkulen, it also serves as a regular base of operations for UK-based adventure outfitter Shackleton, which has offered me a tryout of its Level One Polar Skills Challenge. Normally, this is a six-day experience learning some essentials for surviving out on the ice, but for myself and my teammates, it's been chiselled down to three nights, including one sleeping out as far as we're able to haul ourselves and our gear in half a day.
Hence, I find myself standing on this snowy ridge at sunset. Having initially hiked up to pee in privacy, I'm now caught up by the view and the stunning expanse. Down below, a squat conclave of red tents is tucked near the base of the hill. Overhead, stars prick the dense Nordic blue. I'm overtaken by a deep sense of peace – the kind that only a solid day's graft in the outdoors can deliver.
It's been a tumultuous year on a personal front, packed with character-defining loss, relocation, health issues and a lot of hard work. But that encampment, glowing against the snow in the gathering darkness, is testament to having pulled through a different kind of struggle, albeit a small one; namely, learning how to haul my kit on a pulk, or sled, over several kilometres of frozen terrain on the skinniest of skis.
Let it be said, I'm not a skier. But if I was, that would possibly negate some of what Shackleton provides: mettle-testing experiences underpinned by adventure and survival skills.
Shackleton, of course, owes its name to Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish explorer most famous not for a traditional polar triumph but for his grit and leadership in guiding all of his 27 men to safety out of the Antarctic ice pack after their ship, the Endurance, sank in 1915. The company was founded in 2016 by a pair of Londoners, a digital marketer named Martin Brooks and his friend, Ian Holdcroft, who was looking for an escape from a career in the City.
"I was working in trading and financial markets, but my big passion was adventure racing," remembers Holdcroft, who is tall and bearded, with kindly blue eyes and a voice made for radio. "I was doing a lot of ultra marathons, mountain marathons, desert marathons, that type of thing. Martin was a sailor; he'd been down to Antarctica, he'd sailed across the Atlantic. He'd had a picture of Shackleton on his wall as a child. And I was very much interested in that golden era of exploration – not just polar exploration, but attempts to climb Everest and reach parts of the planet that nobody had reached at that time."
This mountainous part of Vestland county, some 120km east of Bergen, remains a place of winter training for serious modern-day explorers and casual outdoors sports enthusiasts alike. Dominated by Norway's sixth largest glacier, the Hardangerjøkulen, it also serves as a regular base of operations for UK-based adventure outfitter Shackleton, which has offered me a tryout of its Level One Polar Skills Challenge. Normally, this is a six-day experience learning some essentials for surviving out on the ice, but for myself and my teammates, it's been chiselled down to three nights, including one sleeping out as far as we're able to haul ourselves and our gear in half a day.
Hence, I find myself standing on this snowy ridge at sunset. Having initially hiked up to pee in privacy, I'm now caught up by the view and the stunning expanse. Down below, a squat conclave of red tents is tucked near the base of the hill. Overhead, stars prick the dense Nordic blue. I'm overtaken by a deep sense of peace – the kind that only a solid day's graft in the outdoors can deliver.
It's been a tumultuous year on a personal front, packed with character-defining loss, relocation, health issues and a lot of hard work. But that encampment, glowing against the snow in the gathering darkness, is testament to having pulled through a different kind of struggle, albeit a small one; namely, learning how to haul my kit on a pulk, or sled, over several kilometres of frozen terrain on the skinniest of skis.
Where there's cold, there's this incredible pristine beauty. And where there's deprivation, there's this simplicity"
Let it be said, I'm not a skier. But if I was, that would possibly negate some of what Shackleton provides: mettle-testing experiences underpinned by adventure and survival skills.
Shackleton, of course, owes its name to Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish explorer most famous not for a traditional polar triumph but for his grit and leadership in guiding all of his 27 men to safety out of the Antarctic ice pack after their ship, the Endurance, sank in 1915. The company was founded in 2016 by a pair of Londoners, a digital marketer named Martin Brooks and his friend, Ian Holdcroft, who was looking for an escape from a career in the City.
"I was working in trading and financial markets, but my big passion was adventure racing," remembers Holdcroft, who is tall and bearded, with kindly blue eyes and a voice made for radio. "I was doing a lot of ultra marathons, mountain marathons, desert marathons, that type of thing. Martin was a sailor; he'd been down to Antarctica, he'd sailed across the Atlantic. He'd had a picture of Shackleton on his wall as a child. And I was very much interested in that golden era of exploration – not just polar exploration, but attempts to climb Everest and reach parts of the planet that nobody had reached at that time."
Shackleton Challenges aims to inspire, prepare and equip people to live life - whether in polar Norway, or back home | Photo credit: Jack Anstey
Unified by shared interests and entrepreneurial ambition, the pair decided to found a brand based around adventure, starting with apparel that combined top levels of performance and a certain sartorial style – a gap they felt had yet to be filled by other outdoor brands.
"If you look at old photos of explorers from around 100 years ago, you have to remember that that was the cutting edge of technology, in terms of their clothing, equipment and everything they were doing," says Holdcroft.
As the pair investigated the business opportunity, another Shackleton connection struck them: "Thomas Burberry," says Holdcroft. "He invented gabardine, which at the time was considered the best felt fabric on Earth. And so Shackleton sought out Thomas Burberry and asked if he could use that fabric for his clothing. There's a famous picture of Shackleton wearing a smock made from the gabardine fabric Thomas Burberry invented. They also used it for their tents. So, there's a real connection between Shackleton, the man himself, and British luxury clothing."
Having received the blessing of Ernest Shackleton's granddaughter, Alexandra, to appropriate the family name, Holdcroft and Brooks had the start of their business. While its core proposition has been in retailing luxury apparel and equipment, Shackleton has since expanded into expedition training and experiences, led by a team of renowned modern-day explorers and expert guides.
Unified by shared interests and entrepreneurial ambition, the pair decided to found a brand based around adventure, starting with apparel that combined top levels of performance and a certain sartorial style – a gap they felt had yet to be filled by other outdoor brands.
"If you look at old photos of explorers from around 100 years ago, you have to remember that that was the cutting edge of technology, in terms of their clothing, equipment and everything they were doing," says Holdcroft.
As the pair investigated the business opportunity, another Shackleton connection struck them: "Thomas Burberry," says Holdcroft. "He invented gabardine, which at the time was considered the best felt fabric on Earth. And so Shackleton sought out Thomas Burberry and asked if he could use that fabric for his clothing. There's a famous picture of Shackleton wearing a smock made from the gabardine fabric Thomas Burberry invented. They also used it for their tents. So, there's a real connection between Shackleton, the man himself, and British luxury clothing."
Having received the blessing of Ernest Shackleton's granddaughter, Alexandra, to appropriate the family name, Holdcroft and Brooks had the start of their business. While its core proposition has been in retailing luxury apparel and equipment, Shackleton has since expanded into expedition training and experiences, led by a team of renowned modern-day explorers and expert guides.
Director of expeditions, Louis Rudd guides challenge guests through gaining the skills – and mental resilience – needed to attempt polar adventures | Photo credit: Jack Anstey
This is where a lot of Holdcroft, the endurance athlete's, passion lies: in helping people dig deep, building resilience or discovering reserves of it that they never realised they had.
"We've come up with this brand purpose, which is essentially to inspire, prepare and equip people to live life," he says. "It doesn't have to be in the context of going to a pole, climbing a mountain or crossing an ocean. Everyone has life challenges day to day; it could be a relationship challenge, a work-related challenge, it could be overcoming illness... Whatever it might be, we are for people who want to seek the path of most resistance in life, to do great things."
Among those who have done great things are Shackleton's director of expeditions, Louis Rudd MBE, and expedition manager Wendy Searle, both polar veterans. Rudd made headlines in 2018, when the media turned his solo, unassisted coast-to-coast journey across Antarctica into a story of competition between himself and American Colin O'Brady. (In the end, O'Brady made it two days ahead of Rudd, though not without controversy.) He's also the first, and only, person to have crossed Antarctica twice using human power alone. Searle, meanwhile, with extensive experience in polar environments, was only the seventh woman in history to complete a solo, unsupported trek to the geographical South Pole.
This is where a lot of Holdcroft, the endurance athlete's, passion lies: in helping people dig deep, building resilience or discovering reserves of it that they never realised they had.
"We've come up with this brand purpose, which is essentially to inspire, prepare and equip people to live life," he says. "It doesn't have to be in the context of going to a pole, climbing a mountain or crossing an ocean. Everyone has life challenges day to day; it could be a relationship challenge, a work-related challenge, it could be overcoming illness... Whatever it might be, we are for people who want to seek the path of most resistance in life, to do great things."
Among those who have done great things are Shackleton's director of expeditions, Louis Rudd MBE, and expedition manager Wendy Searle, both polar veterans. Rudd made headlines in 2018, when the media turned his solo, unassisted coast-to-coast journey across Antarctica into a story of competition between himself and American Colin O'Brady. (In the end, O'Brady made it two days ahead of Rudd, though not without controversy.) He's also the first, and only, person to have crossed Antarctica twice using human power alone. Searle, meanwhile, with extensive experience in polar environments, was only the seventh woman in history to complete a solo, unsupported trek to the geographical South Pole.
Hotel Finse 1222, Norway
We sit down with them at a briefing session in one of the spare yet gracious wood-panelled rooms at Hotel Finse 1222 – in the very same room, it transpires, that Scott and Amundsen planned their own expeditions. As with the surrounding glacial landscape, Hotel Finse 1222 holds a storied place in the annals of polar exploration. Named partly for its elevation, partly for the surrounding village, it was originally built in 1906 to provide lodging for railroad workers, then reopened as an adventure hotel in 1909, and is still only accessible via a four-and-a-half journey from Oslo on the Bergen Railway. Climbing down from the snow train, you can virtually tumble straight from the platform into the hotel, which overlooks a scattered collection of low-rise houses around Finsevann lake.
Inside, the hotel's atmosphere blends hints of old-world style with no-nonsense new. Floral wallpaper is the backdrop to huge paintings depicting wooden toboggans, villagers digging out snow and glamorous long-skirted women holding onto their hats in the fresh Arctic wind. Framed black-and-whites of past guests range from famed explorers to 1930s Norwegian Olympic figure skater and film star Sonja Henie. In one corner, you find an ornate grandfather clock painted in gold and green; around another, a stormtrooper costume from Star Wars – Finse being the real-life location for the planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back.
In one photo, Norwegian writer Arne Garborg is perched next to a round stone fireplace, a book flipped open on his lap and a faraway look in his eye. It's the same fireplace that Holdcroft, Rudd and Searle are seated next to in the expedition briefing room today, as they run through the kit list, talk about their backgrounds and explain what to expect on our Polar Skills Challenge.
"It was Apsley Cherry-Garrard who said, 'Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised,'" says Searle, as she outlines the mental strength it takes to tackle endurance challenges in the extreme cold. "That can definitely come to mind a lot when you're skiing uphill, in a total whiteout and totally on your own...". She gestures out the window, where vast hummocks of glittering white are heaped up against the hotel walls. "But there's always a flip side to that. Where there's cold, there's this incredible pristine beauty. And where there's deprivation, there's this simplicity. You've got your pulk, and your life in that pulk, and providing everything in there is everything you need, you can keep going almost indefinitely, just living this very kind of pure existence of skiing all day, sleeping, and then doing it all again the next day. It's almost meditative."
Not that we will be on our own. Searle is about to depart Finse, but Holdcroft and Rudd are joined by Jacob "Val" Myers, a young, Shackleton Challenges guide who hails from the Appalachians but channels a certain Viking style. At the time training for an attempt to become the youngest person to reach the South Pole, Myers is prone to quoting poetry and breaking out into Jason Isbell tunes. He follows the expedition leaders' briefing with an introduction to a boggling array of polar kit laid out on the floor and tables: glacier glasses, pogies for keeping hands warm, a polar hood designed by Rudd, and Brynje mesh undies with a windproof crotch to prevent "polar penis" – to name a few.
Finally, we're introduced to the pulk, the kind of low-slung Norwegian sled that we'll each be hauling into the surrounding snowscape. As Searle mentioned, this is the polar explorer's lifeline, containing all the kit and rations required for survival.
We sit down with them at a briefing session in one of the spare yet gracious wood-panelled rooms at Hotel Finse 1222 – in the very same room, it transpires, that Scott and Amundsen planned their own expeditions. As with the surrounding glacial landscape, Hotel Finse 1222 holds a storied place in the annals of polar exploration. Named partly for its elevation, partly for the surrounding village, it was originally built in 1906 to provide lodging for railroad workers, then reopened as an adventure hotel in 1909, and is still only accessible via a four-and-a-half journey from Oslo on the Bergen Railway. Climbing down from the snow train, you can virtually tumble straight from the platform into the hotel, which overlooks a scattered collection of low-rise houses around Finsevann lake.
Inside, the hotel's atmosphere blends hints of old-world style with no-nonsense new. Floral wallpaper is the backdrop to huge paintings depicting wooden toboggans, villagers digging out snow and glamorous long-skirted women holding onto their hats in the fresh Arctic wind. Framed black-and-whites of past guests range from famed explorers to 1930s Norwegian Olympic figure skater and film star Sonja Henie. In one corner, you find an ornate grandfather clock painted in gold and green; around another, a stormtrooper costume from Star Wars – Finse being the real-life location for the planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back.
In one photo, Norwegian writer Arne Garborg is perched next to a round stone fireplace, a book flipped open on his lap and a faraway look in his eye. It's the same fireplace that Holdcroft, Rudd and Searle are seated next to in the expedition briefing room today, as they run through the kit list, talk about their backgrounds and explain what to expect on our Polar Skills Challenge.
For the first time in months, I've been fully immersed in a world outside my own head – drawing from a deep-seated well of determination that I suddenly know will always be there"
"It was Apsley Cherry-Garrard who said, 'Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised,'" says Searle, as she outlines the mental strength it takes to tackle endurance challenges in the extreme cold. "That can definitely come to mind a lot when you're skiing uphill, in a total whiteout and totally on your own...". She gestures out the window, where vast hummocks of glittering white are heaped up against the hotel walls. "But there's always a flip side to that. Where there's cold, there's this incredible pristine beauty. And where there's deprivation, there's this simplicity. You've got your pulk, and your life in that pulk, and providing everything in there is everything you need, you can keep going almost indefinitely, just living this very kind of pure existence of skiing all day, sleeping, and then doing it all again the next day. It's almost meditative."
Not that we will be on our own. Searle is about to depart Finse, but Holdcroft and Rudd are joined by Jacob "Val" Myers, a young, Shackleton Challenges guide who hails from the Appalachians but channels a certain Viking style. At the time training for an attempt to become the youngest person to reach the South Pole, Myers is prone to quoting poetry and breaking out into Jason Isbell tunes. He follows the expedition leaders' briefing with an introduction to a boggling array of polar kit laid out on the floor and tables: glacier glasses, pogies for keeping hands warm, a polar hood designed by Rudd, and Brynje mesh undies with a windproof crotch to prevent "polar penis" – to name a few.
Finally, we're introduced to the pulk, the kind of low-slung Norwegian sled that we'll each be hauling into the surrounding snowscape. As Searle mentioned, this is the polar explorer's lifeline, containing all the kit and rations required for survival.
Pulks - or sleds - are a polar explorer's lifeline, containing the kit and rations required for survival | Photo credit: Jack Anstey
Held up against the achievements of polar explorers, dragging this plastic tub into the mountains for a few kilometres may fade into a mote of insignificance, but despite the guide-to-guest ratio of almost one to one, and the infinite patience of our team leaders, I never quite master control of my pulk.
A quick training session and test run out on the frozen lake goes well, but my lack of experience on skis is compounded by the way the pulk has a tendency to chase me down every small descent like some badly behaved husky. The results are either a warning nip at my calves followed by a speed wobble, or a full-blown pulk-charge that knocks me sprawling into the snow. The solid uphill sections are where I feel most comfortable, finally getting a sense of the flow and glide that everyone else seems to be achieving with more competence.
Rudd, who is supremely understated despite having plenty to brag about, exudes unmistakeable leadership qualities that hint at his military background. A veteran of the Royal Marines and the SAS, he learned, as he describes it, "the dark arts of cold weather warfare" in 2011, before joining his friend Henry Worsley (who perished in his own 2016 record-breaking attempt in Antarctica) to race a group of SAS mates to the South Pole, igniting his love for the frozen continent.
As the day progresses, Rudd is who each of us naturally turns to for advice. Under his and Myers' direction, after 6.5km of sledding, we finally unclip our pulk harnesses and select a spot at which to set up camp, learning how to watch for crevasses, face the tent doors away from the wind, gauge avalanche risk and shovel out blocks of snow from under the tent vestibule to create a footwell and a place for the cold air to sink into. Later, having demonstrated how to prime the stove – essential in the extreme cold for it to work u2013 for melting snow, Rudd gathers all seven of us together in one four-person tent for nips of aquavit and stories of his experiences in life-or-death situations. Warmed by the booze and our freeze-dried meals, we hunker down.
The next day is a bluebird beauty and, leaving our pulks behind, we head up onto the glacier. The skiing is feeling easier, while the views are increasingly phenomenal. As we single-file up the incline, I fall in with the affable Holdcroft, chatting about his background in endurance racing and where he wants to take Shackleton – which seems to be everywhere that nature tests us. The brand's DNA is rooted in the poles, but there are now desert challenges and an increasing line-up of mountain itineraries, from Lofoten to Mont Blanc, while this March, Searle will be heading back to Finse for another Polar Skills Challenge, this time for women only.
To see the ready market for Shackleton, you need only look at the post-pandemic explosion in triathlons, marathons and ultra running. "I think what Covid did was essentially make people reevaluate what they were doing and explore a bit more," says Holdcroft. "Louis, Jacob, Wendy... you know, we've all experienced what it's like to push yourself physically, mentally, emotionally – and we understand what a transformative impact that has."
It's not so much, 6km out, 8km back. It's not so much, to be sure. But for the first time in months, I've been fully immersed in a world outside my own head – drawing from a deep-seated well of determination that I suddenly know will always be there. And right now, that definitely feels like I've got somewhere.
Held up against the achievements of polar explorers, dragging this plastic tub into the mountains for a few kilometres may fade into a mote of insignificance, but despite the guide-to-guest ratio of almost one to one, and the infinite patience of our team leaders, I never quite master control of my pulk.
A quick training session and test run out on the frozen lake goes well, but my lack of experience on skis is compounded by the way the pulk has a tendency to chase me down every small descent like some badly behaved husky. The results are either a warning nip at my calves followed by a speed wobble, or a full-blown pulk-charge that knocks me sprawling into the snow. The solid uphill sections are where I feel most comfortable, finally getting a sense of the flow and glide that everyone else seems to be achieving with more competence.
Rudd, who is supremely understated despite having plenty to brag about, exudes unmistakeable leadership qualities that hint at his military background. A veteran of the Royal Marines and the SAS, he learned, as he describes it, "the dark arts of cold weather warfare" in 2011, before joining his friend Henry Worsley (who perished in his own 2016 record-breaking attempt in Antarctica) to race a group of SAS mates to the South Pole, igniting his love for the frozen continent.
As the day progresses, Rudd is who each of us naturally turns to for advice. Under his and Myers' direction, after 6.5km of sledding, we finally unclip our pulk harnesses and select a spot at which to set up camp, learning how to watch for crevasses, face the tent doors away from the wind, gauge avalanche risk and shovel out blocks of snow from under the tent vestibule to create a footwell and a place for the cold air to sink into. Later, having demonstrated how to prime the stove – essential in the extreme cold for it to work u2013 for melting snow, Rudd gathers all seven of us together in one four-person tent for nips of aquavit and stories of his experiences in life-or-death situations. Warmed by the booze and our freeze-dried meals, we hunker down.
We've all experienced what it's like to push yourself physically, mentally, emotionally – and we understand what a transformative impact that has"
The next day is a bluebird beauty and, leaving our pulks behind, we head up onto the glacier. The skiing is feeling easier, while the views are increasingly phenomenal. As we single-file up the incline, I fall in with the affable Holdcroft, chatting about his background in endurance racing and where he wants to take Shackleton – which seems to be everywhere that nature tests us. The brand's DNA is rooted in the poles, but there are now desert challenges and an increasing line-up of mountain itineraries, from Lofoten to Mont Blanc, while this March, Searle will be heading back to Finse for another Polar Skills Challenge, this time for women only.
To see the ready market for Shackleton, you need only look at the post-pandemic explosion in triathlons, marathons and ultra running. "I think what Covid did was essentially make people reevaluate what they were doing and explore a bit more," says Holdcroft. "Louis, Jacob, Wendy... you know, we've all experienced what it's like to push yourself physically, mentally, emotionally – and we understand what a transformative impact that has."
It's not so much, 6km out, 8km back. It's not so much, to be sure. But for the first time in months, I've been fully immersed in a world outside my own head – drawing from a deep-seated well of determination that I suddenly know will always be there. And right now, that definitely feels like I've got somewhere.
The Lowdown
The Level One Finse Polar Skills Challenge £6,995pp, including transfers by train from Oslo to Finse, expedition equipment and safety gear (you get to keep the water bottle and exclusive Shackleton Challenges Mission Pulk Jacket, RRP £1,295), expedition rations, meals and four nights' accommodation at Hotel Finse 1222. For the full Shackleton Challenges line-up of itineraries, visit shackleton.com
