Our 4th skiing season has now come to an end and we're moving into other activities.  We did some great runs this season and even occasional first descents.  We are pretty much the only ones going to the Hornstrandir area during the snowy months, so we've always had the entire fjords and mountains for ourselves!  Our groups this season were exceptionally good and fun but on the contrary to previous years, this year we mostly got Icelandic guests.

Just as Runar announced in the last entry, Borea Adventures is expanding and we are now selling shorter trips under another brand, North Explorers.  Our new brand has been a big success and so far we've taken numerous persons, from different parts of the world, for kayak and hiking trips.  We are very optimistic for this summer and we hope to make many new friends in the coming months.

Our new office, our home, is up and running. There are still a few minor issues that still need to be fixed, but the most important things, our comfortable sofas and the fireplace, are up and working!  Now we have plenty of space to store our skiing and kayaking equipment and we have the best hangout place in town. When we ourselves are not outside playing, we always have coffee and some outdoor magazines lying around, so come hang out with us! (that also gives us an excuse to take a break from our less exciting computer work!)

There is one thing that we have completely forgot to mention here on cyberspace, for our friends far away. Borea Adventures has now 3 new staff members.  First I'd like to introduce Höskuldur who is our kayaking specialist.  Secondly it's Örvar who is our climber and mountain goat.  And third, but not last, it's myself, Haukur, and I'm responsible for everything and nothing.  The Borea family is expanding rapidly and we are all very happy about that.

Aurora, our sailing yacht, is going to Jan Mayen in the middle of this month with captain Siggi and Höskuldur as a guide. They will go there twice, with two different groups, and they are hoping to get good weather to climb the volcano.  The rest of us will stay in Isafjordur enjoying summer and hopefully get many visitors to our new house. 

I´ve attached few photos here from our friend and photographer Colin Samuels from La Grave, France who joined us on three ski trips. One trip was pretty special. A camping trip with a Swiss group where we had a Zodiac to move the gear between fjords. Runar, who guided the trip, said it was one of the best trips ever. The weather was bluebird everyday but a little fog on the glacier that we crossed the last day. Never done that before with a group and probably the first time snowboarders have crossed the glacier. We´re thinking about offering that trip next year in May when you can find dry grass to camp close to the water but still good snow in the mountains. Life is good.

P.s. I´m sorry but I couldn´r resist in putting in lots of photos...!

The things we here at Borea Adventures like the most in life are the outdoors and good gourmet food. We are always exploring new regions in and around the north Atlantic and local cuisine is always an interesting exploration. Combining these two is what we try to aim at!

Agathe and Kalista, our friends at the remote Ipiutaq guest farm in southern Greenland, are starting something really special this summer. Under snow-covered mountain peaks, next to icy coasts and rivers packed with huge arctic chars, their farm is located right in the middle of this spectacular environment.

In July and August, this multilingual duet will welcome guests to their farm and share their daily life and stories. They are master chefs and, after their guests have spent the day fishing, they'll be happy to prepare the day's catch in an original French-Greenlandic gourmet way!

Fishing, hiking, picking berries, sailing between icebergs, eating gourmet food and simply relax and take it easy in this unusual surroundings; sure sounds good to me!

Borea Adventures and Ipiutaq guest farm are working together on introducing the remote arctic regions to the rest of the world.  Below is their proposal for this summer. For more information check out this or that, or simply just contact us!  Also, take a look at Siggi's entry on Ipiutaq from April here.

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Duration: 5 nights / 6 days
Departures from Reykjavík: Thursdays

Accommodation:
    -Option 1: Guestroom at Ipiutaq guest farm and youth hostel in Narsarsuaq
    -Option 2: Guestroom at Ipiutaq guest farm and hotel in Narsarsuaq
Meals:
    -Breakfast each day
    -Dinner at Ipiutaq guest farm, gourmet 3 course menu of French-Greenlandic cooking
Boat transfers:
    -Option 1: Open speed boat
    -Option 2: Luxury boat with large cabin

Itinerary:
    -Day 1: Arrival to Narsarsuaq from Reykjavík. Boat transfer to Ipiutaq guest farm, accommodation and dinner at Ipiutaq guest farm.
    -Day 2 to day 4: Free days for activities.  Accommodation and dinner at Ipiutaq guest farm.
    -Day 5: Morning at Ipiutaq guest farm. Around noon take a boat back to Narsarsuaq and spend the afternoon there. Accommodation in Narsarsuaq.
    -Day 6: Morning in Narsarsuaq. Departure to Reykjavík at 15:45.

Included in the price:
    -Option 1: Boat transfers with open speed boat, accommodation in double room with shared bath, bath towels, breakfast and gourmet dinner at Ipiutaq guest farm, accommodation in 4-beds dorm with shared bathroom and breakfast in Narsarsuaq.
    -Option 2: Boat transfers with luxury boat, accommodation in double room with shared bath, bath towels, breakfast and gourmet dinner at Ipiutaq guest farm, accommodation in double room with private bath and breakfast in Narsarsuaq.

Not included in the price:
    -Flight tickets (approximately 515 EUR from Reykjavík to Narsarsuaq)
    -Lunches and dinner in Narsarsuaq
    -Lunches at Ipiutaq guest farm (can be ordered in advance)

Price:
    -Option 1:      667 EUR
    -Option 2:      727 EUR

Last Sunday we finally opened our office in the centre of Isafjordur. After hard work and a lot of help from our friends, the space looks very nice. Lots of people came to have some coffee and cakes and check out the house. We didn´t even have time to take photos until most of the people had left! We showed some outdoor adventure videos and in the evening we watched a great sea kayaking film called Paddle to Seattle (www.paddletoseattle.com) that we all enjoyed.
We´re starting selling day trips for the first time this summer under a different brand; North Explorers with a great selection of sea kayaking trips and hiking in the mountains around Isafjordur. The website is under construction (www.northexplorers.com) and the Icelandic site is more or less ready.

We are certain that this beautiful house will in the near future become the hotspot for adventure seekers travelling in Iceland. 

The backcountry skiing season in Iceland is now up and runnning smoothly. We´ve done few trips and more coming up in the next few weeks. We´re used to more snow in Glacier Fjords but there is still plenty of  the white stuff to slide down the mountains.
Here is a video shot the other week by one of the skiers.