Outdoor / Expeditionary Background
Decades of expeditions in extreme environments - from an unsupported South Pole ski to a paraplegic crossing of the Greenland Icecap.
Neither Anna nor Pasi is new to leading groups in extreme environments. A sample of their outdoor history follows, to give you confidence in their ability to guide you safely through the Arctic tundra.
- Pasi: first unsupported Finnish expedition to the South Pole (2008)
- 560km crossing of the Greenland Icecap completed in 29 days (2006)
- Attempted sea-kayak circumnavigation of Svalbard (2008)
- Anna: Chief Mountaineer for BSES youth expeditions to the Tien Shan and Ladakh
South Pole, 2008
Pasi completed the first unsupported Finnish expedition to the South Pole, leaving in November 2008 and returning in January 2009, leaving Anna to build and manage the farm alone in its first season. He and his partner Poppis reached the Pole on Christmas Day, Poppis becoming the 12th person in Polar history to ski unsupported to both poles.
A full South Pole expedition is a roughly 1200km, two-month ski, man-hauling all equipment without support. More than 30,000 visitors followed their website, and congratulations came from the Finnish president, prime minister and parliamentary chairman.
By Hands and Feet Across Greenland, 2006
In 2006, Anna and Pasi led a pioneering Trans-Greenland expedition with a team of 5 other explorers including Karen, a paraplegic girl whose 2004 visit to Finland inspired the trip, her first journey into wilderness under her own power since the accident that paralysed her.
Designing the necessary clothing and kit took two years and the cooperation of many outdoor brands. The 560km crossing took just 29 days, matching most commercial expeditions despite the team pulling far heavier loads to carry Karen's share. Anna was awarded a Winston Churchill Award for her leadership and congratulated by expedition patron Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Svalbard, ski-mountaineering and earlier journeys
In summer 2008, Pasi and three other Finnish kayakers attempted a circumnavigation of Svalbard, seeing polar bear and walrus before heavier, earlier-than-normal sea-ice blocked them at the northernmost tip.
Their history also spans ski-mountaineering in Norway, Finland and Spitzbergen, Anna's role as Country Director for Raleigh International in Namibia, her appearance in the inaugural BBC2 'SAS: Are You Tough Enough?', her years as Chief Mountaineer leading BSES youth expeditions to the Tien Shan and Ladakh, commercial rafting in Nepal, community forestry research, big-wall and alpine climbing across the Alps, Pyrenees and Canada, and exploratory bike journeys across Tibet.