I wasn’t overly nervous about Beyond The Ultimate’s Ice Ultra in Swedish Lapland, mostly north of the Arctic Circle. I’ve done the Spine Race twice, so how much harder could a bit more snow and the occasional stubborn moose be?
But then, on an internal flight north from Stockholm to Lulea, the friendly Swedish lady next to me mentioned they’d had the highest snowfall for 30 years. And described the current temperatures, -12°C, as “warm”. I like snow and I like the cold – or at least, I thought I did – but this seemed a little, well… real.