No blues on this Norwegian trip
Sailing in the Alps? Be amazed when you join Sophie Nicholson in discovering the Sunnmore Alps on a converted minesweeper
‘There are two types of people – those who dream, and those who act on their dream,” said Mark Desvaux. Sven Stewart is definitely one of the latter.
Born and raised in Edinburgh with a Swedish mother and Scottish father, Stewart is the owner of Fjord Adventures, an adventure holiday company with a genuine point of difference. Fjord Adventures is the only company offering boat-based activity holidays in the exquisitely beautiful outdoor adventure paradise of the Sunnmore Alps in Norway.
This will be Stewart’s fourth winter on board the HMS Gassten – his beautifully restored ex-naval minesweeper based in the heart of the spectacular Norwegian fjords. Operating as a luxurious floating adventure basecamp, Stewart and his crew offer unrivalled access to some of the best ski touring, mountain biking, hiking and trail running on the planet. “I wanted to provide outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds with the opportunity to experience a dream adventure,” Stewart explains. “With the boat as our base, we can cruise around the fjords and take our guests wherever conditions are best on that particular day. Our clients spend their time laying down fresh tracks in the truly exceptional mountain environment of the Sunnmore Alps before coming back on board to all the comforts of a top quality hotel including hot showers, exceptional food and wine, and a comfortable bed for the night. It’s a pretty unique summit to sea experience.”
Exercise – eat – sleep – repeat. Life on board Stewart’s boat may be idyllic in its simplicity but what makes it truly special is the stunning environment that lies beyond the deck. Recently featured in the BBC’S Wonders of the Universe series, the Sunnmore Alps are a hidden jewel in Norway’s rich mountain gem collection. Often overshadowed by their more famous neighbours – the Lyngen Alps and Lofoten Islands – the crowd-free, pristine, and unspoiled Sunnmore Alps offer the perfect backdrop to unplug from virtual reality and recharge with genuine adventure. And this is the HMS
“The opportunity to operate and own my own adventure boat was something I had always dreamed of ”
Gassten’s secret playground – you won’t have to share it.
It may all sound like smooth sailing but the journey to get to this point has been anything but straightforward for the 47-year-old ex-commercial offshore diver.
“As a life-long skier and ocean lover with a passion for Scandinavia, the opportunity to operate and own an adventure boat was something I had always dreamed of doing but the reality of actually making it happen has been seriously tough,” Stewart explains. “Finding the right boat was an adventure in itself as our criteria was very specific. We knew we were on to something when we found the Gassten as she was an ice class vessel and a safe, solid, spacious, and comfy boat. She also had a real feeling of history about her and as a wooden boat, looked perfectly at home in the Norwegian fjords. The only problem was that she wasn’t for sale. We registered interest with the owner in any case and a month later he got back in touch to say that he was putting her on the market. Apparently his wife decided that she was done with living on a boat and wanted to live in a real house.”
Having finally found the right boat for the job, Stewart then had to start the long and arduous process of getting the HMS Gassten shipshape for Fjord Adventures. Over the course of five months, the Gassten was based in Fraserburgh whilst Stewart worked tirelessly to bring her in line with his vision. Cabins were refitted, showers and toilets installed, and navigation systems upgraded. The entire boat was repainted and the hull
was recaulked in time for winter 201415 when the real work began.
Delivering a top-quality product week-in, week-out in the remote Norwegian fjords was the least of Stewart’s concerns. Overcoming language barriers and ingratiating himself with the locals were also equally easily achieved for this lowkey, humble Scot. Far more difficult, however, has been the challenge of getting the Fjord Adventures word out there into an already saturated adventure holiday marketplace.
Unlike many other entrepreneurs, self-promotion and hyperbole don’t come naturally to Stewart, he prefers to let the product do the talking. “As soon as a guest sets foot on board, they get it straight away. It doesn’t matter whether they’re here for the skiing, the biking, hiking or just the experience of cruising around the fjords on board your own private boat, our guests really do fall in love with what we’re doing out here.” He adds: “Our chefs have had grown men in tears with the quality of the food produced on board and I regularly have super-experienced, welltravelled skiers telling me that the skiing in the Sunnmore Alps is right up there with the very best they’ve experienced anywhere on the planet.”
The product may be unique and the place is undeniably impressive, yet it is the people on board the HMS Gassten who make it such a genuinely vibrant adventure. One of the most important and influential components of the Fjord Adventures experience is Stewart’s right hand woman – the highly qualified, ever modest and exceptionally friendly Tash Wright. Another Scot with a penchant for living with intention and exploring new horizons, Tash’s adventure CV is packed full of legitimately impressive sailing and ski mountaineering feats including solo transatlantic crossings and sail/ ski expeditions to Arctic Greenland, Canada, South Georgia and Elephant Island. She not only brings bucket loads of skills, support and enthusiasm to the Fjord Adventures party, she also provides invaluable support and a much-needed sounding board to Stewart.
Four years in and word is getting out there and the Fjord Adventures team are increasingly finding themselves on the receiving end of some pretty significant recognition from the global adventure community. Partnerships with key players in the outdoor industry such as Swedish brands Haglofs and Addnature are testament to the success of what Stewart has achieved so far and international awareness is also on the up thanks to some pretty impressive content being produced on his trips.
In 2016 for example, an image from a Fjord Adventures ski touring trip taken by the Swedish ski photographer Alric Ljunghager picked up Powder Magazine’s hotly-contested “Photo of the Year” award. One year on and Colombian filmmaker Julian Manrique was recently given The Adventure Travel Trade Association’s award for Best Tourism Video of the Year. Julian’s film was produced for Scottish mountain bike company H&I Adventures who offer a series of pioneering two wheeled adventures based on board the HMS Gassten during the summer.
Whilst the demands of running his operation are ever-present, the constant and consistently positive feedback from guests and the outdoor industry alike prove that Stewart is well on his way to achieving his adventurous ambition.