Pulpit Rock in Norway is a 604 meter (1982 ft) cliff that overlooks Lysefjord fjord. It is a popular landmark that draws hikers from all over to take in its sweeping views. Today, you can visit the rock through this beautiful timelapse video, which is likely to inspire you to want to go and see it for yourself. It seems like a fitting way to end the week.

The Pulpit Rock - Norway from Kjetil kaasa on Vimeo.

A pair of French adventurers are attempting to sail from Barrow, Alaska to Spitsbergen, Svalbard in Norway via the North Pole this summer. That's a distance of 3300 km (2050 miles) by way the croew flies. But this route is seldom straight and easy as they pass through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean and it's massive ice flows.

Sébastien Roubinet and Vincent Berthet set out from point Barrow in early July and have been attempting to make their way to the North Pole ever since. The voyage has not been an easy one however as they have encountered more ice this summer than they had expected. Often times they find themselves sailing south just so they can find an open waterway that will allow them to continue towards the Pole. The weather hasn't been all that cooperative either as they have at alternating times battled high winds that were too dangerous to sail and lacked wind altogether, becoming becalmed while they wait for an opportunity to move ahead.

They are making this unprecedented journey aboard a specially designed catamaran that can capture the wind to help sail both around and over the ice. They've named the boat Babouchka and for the most part it has performed remarkable well in very tough conditions. But travel has been extremely sporadic. Some days they are only able to cover just 3-4 km (2-2.5 miles) while on their best day they managed to cross 194 km (120 miles).

A few days ago Sébastien and Vincent crossed over the 78ºN latitudinal line. That means they still have a long way to go before the reach the North Pole, located at 90ºN. The duo are hoping that surface conditions will be more stable as they head north, possibly allowing them to cover longer distances more easily. Since the Babouchka is capable of traveling over both water and ice, they are looking forward to a time when they aren't necessarily battling both.

You can follow the two men on this epic journey on the expedition's official website. After five weeks out on the Arctic Ocean, their tale is a compelling one to read. But with such a long way to go yet, it will be interesting to see if they can actually complete this expedition at all.

Starting today, two long distance cyclists will embark on an epic ride that will have them pass through 14 countries, on three continents, in an attempt to cover 18,000 km (11,184 miles) in just 100 days. The duo will go unsupported throughout the journey, averaging more than 180 km (112 miles) per day while carrying 30 kg (66 pounds) of equipment with them at all times. As is often the case these days, this expedition is being undertaken for a good cause as well.

The two men who will attempt this ride are Reza Pakravan and Steven Pawley, each of whom has a great deal of experience in endurance cycling. Back in 2011, Reza set a record for the fastest crossing of the Sahara Desert on a bike, while Steven has undertaken several long distance cycling expeditions as well. They'll need all of their considerable skills and experience to get through this journey however as it will be a tough one to complete.

Reza and Steven set out this morning from Nordkapp, Norway which actually sits above the Arctic Circle. They'll now ride south to Cape Town, South Africa and their eventual finish line. With that route in mind, they've named their endeavor the Cycle Kapp to Cape expedition. Over the next 3+ months, their route will take them through Finland, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran. They'll then hop a flight to Egypt and resume the pedaling through Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and on into South Africa.

While the two cyclists hope to set a speed record on their way to Cape Town they have bigger, more altruistic goals in mind as well. They are attempting to raise £28,000 ($43,320) to build new schools in Madagascar. Reza and Steven are working in conjunction with Azafady, a nonproft that is striving to eradicate poverty and environmental damage in that country and they believe a good education is key to achieving those goals.

You'll be able follow the riders' progress through their blog, Facebook page and Twitter stream. Since they have just gotten underway this morning, there isn't much to report just yet, but expect plenty of updates from the road soon.

Good luck boys!

There are so many amazing athletic competitions taking place on our planet that it is impossible to keep track of them all. Take for instance, the Expedition Amundsen race that took place a month ago on the mountain plateau of Hardangervidda in Norway. The race is 100 km in length (62 miles) through some of the toughest and most remote backcountry in all of Europe. To put it mildly, this is a tough race under the best of conditions.

But the 2013 edition of the race didn't take place under the best of conditions. Part way through the event, a storm rolled through the region, stranding 63 of the 136 competitors in their tents for more than 36 hours. They sat out the storm before proceeding to the finish line, where the race leaders were able to cross before things took a turn for the worse. All told, 51 racers were forced to withdraw due to the extreme weather and difficult conditions.

The video below gives you a sense of what this race is all about. It looks like it was brutal out there, but fortunately everyone got home in one piece.

Traditionally this is the time of the year when arctic expeditions begin to ramp up, particularly with skiers attempting to go to the North Pole. As I've mentioned numerous times in recent weeks however, that is becoming a more difficult prospect with each passing year and fewer and fewer adventurers have set their sights on that difficult journey.

But that doesn't mean the arctic doesn't have plenty to offer in terms of other challenges and there are still plenty of opportunities to explore its icy landscapes. Take the Svalbard Solo expedition for example, which will send Liam Wilton on a month-long journey through Norway's Spitsbergen island, the largest in the Svalbard archipelago.

Wilton intends to set out in early-March on what will be a 450 mile (724 km) unsupported and unassisted ski expedition through the Arctic. He'll spend the first week acclimatizing near Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Spitsbergen. Those early days of the expedition will give him the opportunity to get use to the cold temperatures while also testing his gear and supplies. Once he completes that work, he'll launch the expedition proper, heading north to the furthest reaches of the island.

Liam has set a goal of covering approximately 15 miles (24 km) per day, which would mean he should finish the route in about 30 days. Along the way he intends to shoot video of the landscape and his travels through it with the intention of making a short film about solo arctic travel when he returns home.

The expedition is still a couple of weeks from getting underway and Wilton is busy getting his gear sorted and last minute travel details worked out. You'll be able to follow his progress on SvalbardSolo.com or through his Twitter feed.

Good luck Liam! Enjoy the experience.

One of the things I love about kayaking is how close it allows you to get to nature. Of course, at times that can mean getting a little too close to nature. Take for example the sea kayakers in the video below, who were paddling off the coast of Norway this past weekend when they came across a humpback whale. Just how close did they get? You'll have to watch the video to see for yourself, but lets just say it's closer than most of us would feel comfortable with. I also learned from this video that certain words are universal in meaning and pronunciation, no matter the language.

Tip of the hat to my friend Laurel over at Gadling for sharing this video earlier. Very nice find.

 

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Norway is a country at a crossroads, although given Norway’s natural wonders and significant wealth, it’s a situation in which most countries in the world would love to find themselves.

Norway is, by any standards, one of the most beautiful countries on earth, but that beauty brings with it a responsibility that weighs heavily upon Norwegians. For here is a people with an enduring love for the natural world that is profoundly etched into the national character. In the past, this was expressed in the Norwegian tradition of isolated farmsteads that colonised the most secluded corners of the country’s wilderness. Increasingly, however, the irrevocable movement of Norwegians towards the cities – cities that are themselves places of great beauty, such as Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger and Tromsø – has altered the relationship between Norwegians and their natural world. But one thing remains unaltered: to paraphrase that great Norwegian son, Henrik Ibsen, those who wish to understand Norwegians, must first understand Norway’s magnificent but severe natural environment, for these are a people of the land, perhaps more so than any other Europeans.

Wilderness in Norway has become more of a leisure pursuit, an idea that Norwegians embrace, escape to and explore with great fervour. Nowhere is this more evident than in the country’s national parks – shining symbols of the nation’s desire to protect the environment as much as they are showpieces of Norway’s peerless landscapes and otherworldly natural grace. At the same time, Norwegians worry about their impact upon the environment, over the consequences of global warming for the country’s glaciers and Arctic ecosystems, and about Norway’s contributions to this decline and the decline of wilderness the world over due to their massive oil reserves and exports.

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It feels like a temple in the open air. You almost expect that, at any moment, an angry Nordic god will appear from behind a rock and carve another fjord from the very stones.
We stood on a flat rock, the wind blew gently and we cautiously peered over the edge – a sheer drop of 600 meters to the water below.
Now you know what ants see when they look down stairs! This place is called Preikestolen, meaning "Pulpit", and everybody who travels throught the fjords in Norway comes here to experience the sense of vertigo this massive cliff produces.

The view from this rocky platform is beautiful; the tops of the hills have been ground down by glaciers, reminiscent of The Badlands in the United States, and they are covered by a sprinkling of low trees that seem like lichen from this distance. The air is crisp and crystal clear. The sun is surprisingly warm and the azure skies, vaulting and open above us, seem infinite.

Unto Valhalla

There are other beautiful nice fjords; take Sognefjord, for instance – it is also called "King's Fjord" as the Norwegian successor to the throne comes here to fish. Another reason for the name is that it is the largest in Norway. Hideous depths lurk in these dark waters with the sea bed lying some 1200 meters below the surface.
The fjord cuts almost 200 kilometers inland and when the ship steered into some of the side fjords, which are in fact quite independent, you get the impression of being tested for claustrophobia. The cliffs are so impossibly high and so close that there is a tangible sense of enclosure, of being locked within the landscape itself.
The landscape is beautiful and deserted. You look around in wonder, knowing that Valhalla is near at hand, the hall where heroes and gods feast before the final battle and the end of the world.
You fear that at any moment a Viking "drakkar" may glide out from the mists, full of merciless conquerors. Instead, you might come across a thousand-year-old wooden church, six storeys high, resembling in shape a Viking helmet. Or, more frequently, you'll find a herd of goats with bells round their necks.
The secrets of the hundreds of fjords, cutting into the Norwegian shores like wrinkles in her skin, are made more tantalising yet by the colorful houses of the locals. Many people come here to breathe deeply and experience one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, a landscape so sparsely populated that it just swallows up crowds without trace.

Norwegian fjords are a fisherman's paradise teeming with cod, mackerel, sea trout, wolf-fish, sea-devils and of course the king of the fish, the wild salmon. You'd have to search high and low for a better place to fish: a snack perched on a steep slope, its pillars washed by the sea. The views open out across the fjord to ragged rocks dusted with snow and the midnight sun gleaning on the dark waters. And the catch? None, except perhaps a meter long cod or delicious Salmon! It may look like a normal lake but it's actually northern wilderness. Norway is a country with most unreliable weather forecasts – they are of no use anyway, since you turn a corner and everything is different. "We have two seasons," Norwegian say, "a white winter and green winter. There's no such thing as bad weather. You can only be poorly dressed."