Driving a snowmobile sounds easy - think 'driving a quad bike on snow' - then think again! The beast weighs more than twice the weight of a quad bike, your hands are so cold they can't close on the throttle, and you have to steer using your body weight leaning out to the side, which is not easy when you weigh less than a sparrow (ahem!). Luckily I had a well-built Norwegian guide (with a knife in his belt - to fight off bears I like to think) to assist, or rather to drive the snowmobile while I sat on the back going oooh and aaah, and admiring the rather amazing views. We drove 20km through the bleak and barren arctic wilderness to a beautiful spot overlooking the point where Norway, Sweden and Finland meet. It felt like we were the only people on earth, with Mother Nature warning us that she was definitely in charge - the conditions were brutal and hostile, but humbling and enriching at the same time.
Just for the record I did drive the snowmobile round in a circle with perfect control and a big grin on my face. I also believed my guide when he said that I was a 'natural'. An extra bonus was that the rest of my family ended up several times in the ditch with a rather heavy snowmobile on top of them. No injuries, so it is acceptable to laugh - so I did!
More arctic challenges to follow - read on!.
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