When the 2022 season was being planned, it was assumed that all the glaciers of Norway and Sweden would be photographed. A house was rented for almost three months, a base of operations arranged, automotive transport brought in, and the like.
Within a few days after arrival, it was apparent that the weather is too difficult and expanses too grand in Scandinavia to complete that much terrain in one summer glacier season. The goal was immediately revised downward to focus on the glaciers of the southern part of Norway, largely south of Trondheim, as there is a sizable gap between 63 and 65N without glaciers. The northern part of Norway and Sweden would have to wait until next summer.
As it turned out, it was barely possible to complete even that revised goal…which at the last minute, it was done. This summer was terrible by even Norwegian standards, with lots of rain, clouds, and cold temperatures, and even a threat of midsummer snow, which managed to not materialize. There were many cold afternoons in July with a fire in the wood stove, keeping the cabin heated while waiting on the weather.
Complications were abundant. A part of the engine failed inspection, and engineers had to be brought in to replace a cylinder, which involved working overnight to get the plane back together, followed by some days lost to flight tests and other steps necessary to get the plane back in service. Following that, the Associated Press sent a small team to follow us around for two weeks, working on a short documentary. While it is fantastic for our mission and spreading the word, it turned out to be an incredible amount of work to mix glacier photography around the film shoot.
The season ended with an increasing crescendo. The weather improved somewhat in August, allowing for an almost crazed schedule of flying and photography, culminating in one last 8 hour flying day with nearly 4,000 photographs taken. Then it was time to point the nose south and drop off the plane in the Netherlands, for some scheduled airframe upgrades.
Next year it will be somewhere north of the Arctic Circle, to get the rest of the glaciers of Continental Scandinavia.
What are some observations?
When the Global Glacier Initiative...
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First snows in the Arctic...
As is the case with...
Image by AP/Bram Janssen A...