I’m lying face down in the snow …. again.

This time it is not deep snow, I am not trapped by my pulk and it is not -30 degrees.

It is however my pulk that is the cause of my current predicament. And it’s not the first time I’ve been in this situation in the race, I’ve fallen down maybe 100 times. Its death by a thousand pulk hits.

Pre-race excitement

I’m back in Sweden to once again take on the Arctic Spine, 293 miles on the Kungsleden trail, this time over 9.5 days.

I’m lying face down on the ground under 3 feet of snow, it’s -30 degrees Celsius and I’m unable to move.

Moments before I had been descending from the Tjäktja Pass on cross country ski’s pulling a pulk behind me. I was fully in control and everything was going well .. until it wasn’t. Until I built up to a speed I wasn’t able to control, lost control and fell face forward into the deep snow.

For a while now I’ve been drawn to adventures in the polar climes, having followed races such as the Yukon Arctic Ultra and Iditarod and read a number of books and accounts.

When I heard the Spine team were going to be launching a race based in Arctic Sweden I was immediately interested but also very apprehensive. I have spent many a day and night in some pretty horrendous conditions in the UK but nothing like surviving in temperatures as low as -40 degrees C, strong winds and limited daylight hours.