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Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure
Ice Raven is a partner site of Ravenlore Bushcraft and Wilderness Skills

Expeditions

A few years ago someone told me that the Arctic was dying...      Of  course that turned out to be a huge exaggeration but what is clear is  that it is changing,    fast.

I’m not just  talking about the increasingly obvious signs of climate change which is  having far reaching and damaging effects on the environment and it’s  wildlife. Probably the biggest change is happening amongst the people  that have lived, worked and thrived in these regions for centuries. The  twentieth century brought about the some of most rapid cultural changes  to indigenous peoples that history has ever known and the Twenty first  century is likely to be much the same. Many of the traditional ways of  life are rapidly disappearing as people adopt new technology and social  changes. This is quite understandable and probably inevitable.

Arctic Trip - 2012 - Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure - Copyright Gary Waidson, All rights reserved.

2012 Expedition - Arctic Norway

Today those ”old ways” are preserved more for the benefit of tourists than as a real way of life. Part of my desire to visit the Arctic Circle and  the Boreal Forest that surrounds it is that I want to see what is left  before it is too late. The grand idea then was to draw together a team  of people with similar aims and a broad range of skills.

A co-operative enterprise without profit as its objective, working together to plan and achieve expeditions that are beyond the reach of  most individuals.

The members of this ”Sub Zero Crew” need to have the basic survival skills that the environment demands and the early stages of the project will involve training and the building of experience. Beyond it’s key members, this group does not need to have a fixed structure, people with the necessary skills may come and go as their commitments allow. Initially I built good contacts through the excellent ”Bushcraft UK” forum and used courses run for them by ”Bushcraft Expeditions” to firm up my own skills.

During this time I made a good friend in Damian O’Toole,  Owner and chief instructor of ”Woodsman Bushcraft” at the time and with his careful organisational skills the Ice Raven project really started to grow wings.

Sub Zero Crew - Bushcraft UK

Unless noted otherwise, all photography, artwork and content on this site is copyrighted. © Gary Waidson 2022 All rights reserved

The Ice Raven Project promotes sustainable and low impact bushcraft and wilderness skills in Arctic and winter conditions. This includes the use of  tents, tarps  and snow shelters where possible. Fires are only used where safe and where use and collection of firewood will not damage the natural environment. We often travel to locations by public transport and then use snowshoes, sleds, toboggans and pulks to transport our equipment into the wilderness.