The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Father and son bonding taken to extreme levels
Adventure: Duo cover 130 miles on skis in temperatures of -3O°C
A globetrotting Aberdeenshire father and son have completed their latest adventure – where they braved sub-zero temperatures in an ambitious trek using only skis as transport.
Former commando, Michael Byrne, and his 15year-old son, Liam, from Stonehaven, have previously conquered Kilimanjaro and Russia’s Mount Elbrus and travelled across Norway and Sweden on a husky-driven sleigh.
This month, they gave themselves just 10 days to cover 124 miles in the Norwegian plateau of Finnmarksvidda, where temperatures can plummet as low as -37°C.
Mr Byrne, 45, said: “The first days were spent on the outskirts of Alta on skis, because Liam had never used them prior to us arriving. You simply put one ski in front of the other, how difficult could it be?
“Thankfully this was the case and on the first day we covered more than 15 miles, with a similar distance on day two, but much faster.
“The area we covered is not only Norway’s largest plateau, but also its most northerly, covering 8500 square miles, and we were skiing west to east.
“During the crossing, we covered more than 100 miles, skiing 50 minutes every hour with a 10-minute break to take on water and food.
“We boiled water from the snow every night as soon as we pitched our tents, adding boiled water to freeze-dried food for evening meals and a nice cup of hot chocolate.
“We would ski from almost first to last light. Over the whole trip, we covered more than 130 miles.
“Coping in temperatures as low as -30 was quite frightening as well as fun, you couldn’t take your gloves off or your hands would freeze, and our eyelids would almost freeze together.
“Every part of our bodies were covered, often with three or four layers, two or three pairs of socks and the same with gloves, long johns and waterproof or windproof trousers were a must.
“Liam has done without Christmas presents and for his birthday we plan to go to Seville for a week’s accelerated free fall parachuting. This will help us have a lazy week throwing ourselves from an aeroplane numerous times.
“Thanks to Ian Garden and RigDeluge for their ongoing support.”