Aurora Chase January 2013

[Tom Lynch]

Well i am on three count downs , Christmas is the first and the other two come around the same time. 1. the birth of my fourth grandchild 2. my trip back into the Arctic Circle in search of the northern lights.

I will be taking my camcorder and will be doing a day by day documentary during the trip. We fly out on Monday 21 January and will be spending the night in Kiruna. My intention is to catch a train from Kiruna to Abisko on the Tuesday morning. We will be in Abisko for 3 nights and will hope to catch some aurora on those nights in Abisko.

Yes the chicken is coming along for the ride.

Watch this space

Tom

[Polar Maritime]

Good luck, I hope the conditions are right for you

[Dorsetbred]

Is that you or the chicken all wrapped up in there?

[Tom Lynch]

Yes that is me wrapped up but cant say I was warm in fact I cant remember when I was as cold as I was ever !! My tash was frozen solid.

But good trip with John and the team

Tom

[Tom Lynch]

Oh I nearly forgot the team

On top of the world credit to which ever team member took the photo Ian, John or Arron

Surprisingly warmer up at 3000 ft than at sea level

How could I mention the team without mentioning Chicken George.

Anyway counting down to my next adventure to ABISKO.

Tom

Edited December 5, 2012 by Tom Lynch

[ItIsGee]

i would love to do this one day!

[Tom Lynch]

I was lucky last year , I went on the trip because a place became vacant. I am now returning and taking my wife because the experience was so amazing and the auroa is a something to see before you die thing. The scenery is also something that is a must to see,

If anyone wants information about where to go please let me know,

I have been in communication with the tourist information centre in Kiruna, northern Sweden. I have now sorted out a cheap bus from the airport to our hotel, a thai restaraunt in walking distance and the time/cost of the train to Abisko.

In Abisko they have lots of actiivties fishing through a hole in the ice, driving a motorised snowmobile, climbing an icewall, riding a dog sledge. Also on the cards is a train trip into Norway on the train, the buffet car serves hot food including reindeer stew.

if you dont like cold weather you might not enjoy the trip but what you get out of the trip is worth the pain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jKCckdR6YM

sorry for being boring but her is another short video from last years trip.

Tom

Edited December 15, 2012 by Tom Lynch

[Dorsetbred]

Tom, will be talking to you in the future as we are planning to do this trip.

[Tom Lynch]

Quentin

There may well be better places than Abisko however I can only say Abisko has everything and looking at a local web cam it has had aurora most of this last week when chances were fairly low.

Flights Manchester to Stockholme, Stockholme north to Kiruna about 90 minutes. both flights with SAS.

At Kiruna there is a bus that is timed to match the arrival of the plane.. This bus takes you into the centre of Kiruna close the the hotels and costs £5 each.

The hotels are also close to the train station , may be 10 mins walk. (you can get a taxi)

There you can take the train north to abisko the trip takes about an hour and a bit . It stops about 400 mtrs away from the Abisko Mountain Lodge. the train leave Kiruna about 12.30pm

The lodge is well situated to see any light show and has a smashing place to set up cameras to catch the aurora..

There are a variety of activities. We, went on a dog sledge I can say that i have never been colder, ever.

Forgive me if you have seen this before but it says it all.

You can then catch into Narvic, Norway. I have looked and you can walk to a marina on the side of a nearby fjord.

Whilst in Abisko we went on trip up to the top of a local mountain to the Aurora Sky Station

http://www.aurorasky.../live-camera/9/

The ski lift up to the top is not for the faint hearted and took about 20 minutes (in the dark) (-20C) but certainly worth it

Abisko itself is a small hamlet with a school and a supermarket. The most popluar mode of transport in the town is snowmobile on which they all zoom around. The school has an ice skating rink. all they have to do is spray water on and it freezes instantly , give it a nice slipery surface.

The supermarket was 50% full of sweets but sold beer, weak beer but cheap beer.

All in all I would suggest Abisko as being a brilliant place to see the northern lights and thanks to Dave and the rest of the boys for introducing it to me.

Even i got some nice shots of the aurora

all for now

Tom

Edited December 16, 2012 by Tom Lynch

[D-J-V]

Ah Tom,

Your going back, very jealous....good move on the night in Kiruna and then getting the train saves hassle with Taxis, look forward to the blog as well! Did you get a room in the main building this time, imagine that will be slightly warmer!

This is a great destination and a great trip if any of you are thinking about doing it yourself you cant go too far wrong following a similiar itinerary, here is the blog and pics from the 2012 trip.

Good luck and happy Aurora hunting

[Arron]

Looking forward to the updates, Tom. You Off this year, Dave? I need to go again but not sure if the wife can do it because of work...

[D-J-V]

Not sure,

I am hopefully getting some paragliding lessons for Xmas and would like to go away and get qualified in Morroco or Spain which takes about 5 days......if there is a trip going I probably would as skiing is looking less and less likely due to weddings and lots of faffing. Would love to try and get up to Katashak, the guys I met at the airport last year said how it was adventure getting there in itself! Did you see Mike Thesis did an Aurora chase recently and got his pics on CNN etc and some of our shots were much better. We need to be better media whores!

Take it your back from the apple?! I hope you got me a can of the green gold for Crimbo

[Arron]

Got back in a couple of hours ago and reeeeeeeeally tired! You know I never saw one can of the stuff while we were there, guess I must have just missed it on the shelf or too busy eating pastrami

Anyway...you're right about media whores, seems these yanks get pics in everywhere and half of them are rubbish so must do more this year. I need to see what the wife wants/can do and if she can't then I'll need a chase partner! That Katashak does look awesome...

[Tom Lynch]

Hi Arron & Dave

Yes, the tourist information centre in Kiruna have been 150% helpful. There is a bus that is timed to meet the plane and is onlt £5 each into the town centre. The hotel is just around the block and has WiFi. There is a Thai restaraunt within walking distance , all be it cold. Strangely enough it is called the Arctic Thai, I suppose it is because of all the chillies they serve

I can see from Google Maps that there is a path the station, can put cases on skis. make it easier for Janette to pull them.

I did ask the good folks at Abisko for a lift from the station in Abisko and the response I got was "It is only 400 mtrs, YOU CAN DO IT!" I think it was the woman who told us off. Anyway i have told Janette it is all part of the adventure, character building, a message I shared with the lady from Abisko. Her reply was "ABISKO IS THE ADVENTURE!" Who can argue, Who would want to argue?

Moving on , went onto Google Maps and found that given the time you can walk from the station in Narvic down to a marina on the fjord. Might be worth a look at.

I do intend to send , somehow, a daily video whilst on the trip.

Can only hope you clear skies and a good show. Would be nice to have a much luck as we did last time , or was it good planning.

[D-J-V]

I have a horrible feeling 'The Dew' is falling out of favour with our American Cousins! I need to go to NYC again now I can drink there, just working out details of a work trip to Boston. Oh balls I have just seen the dates for the conference so its either T2 or Boston or T4 and Boston! Better chase NW up on that.....

The lady at the lodge is brilliant, I have alot of time for her! Tom I think with most things it comes down to luck, you just have to take an educated guess over location and timings! Also great Thai restaraunt joke!

[Tom Lynch]

Dave

the lady of the lodge was cool with me. Well the aurora will like storms be there or not there. However i think that it is as good a place to see them. Can only keep fingers crossed. Will be watching the solar activity nearer the time.

I loved Boston , I had to do the Cheers bar , friendly place, I walked in and they all knew my name, spooky.

would love to do Boston again and Salem was pretty dam good too.

Tom

[DubWeatherAddict]

Hey Lads! , real jealous of you going back Tom! , hope it is as good or even better for ya to our trip!

I MIGHT be venturing somewhere in February , either to try see the aurora again or to go skiing for the first time. Either way , once i get my snow and cold fix ill be happy !

[Tom Lynch]

Well if nothing else my wife will be able to enjoy the stunning scenery and the trip into Narvic. I am sure thart we will get to see some aurora; My wife says it will be through the windows of the lodge.

Nice photo ian.

Tom

[Tom Lynch]

17 days before we go keeping one eye on the solar activity but like weather the sun will do what the sun wants do

I am getting all my bits and pieces together for the trip i.e. train ticket from Kiruna to Abisko , which is so easy to do.

Temperatures seem to be above normal at the moment - not tee shirt weather but pretty warm compared to our arrival there last January

Tom

[Tom Lynch]

ABISKO OR BUST

Count down to our Abisko or Bust has now started with earnest. We fly out Monday 21st January and i have started to put things into a case.

Pete Scott is heading out a day or two before me and will be 150 miles to the south east of our location. So between us we should hopefully have something to send home.

For those people thinking of doing this type of trip I will put together a few tips. One of the main ones being purple/blue fingers is most likely to be frostbite and not poor circulation. My daughter informed me that the only type of poor circulation that can make your hands turn blue is no circulation. i.e. you are dead! John tells me that standing for 4 hours in -30 C can cause frost bite and having suffered it he should know.

Tom

Edited January 5, 2013 by Tom Lynch

[Tom Lynch]

3 Days before we go and I have to admit it has been colder in parts of this country than it is in the part of the Arctic Circle that we are heading for.

Take off from Manchester Airport on Monday moring first flight to Stockholm about 2.30 mins flight. We thenhave another 1.30mins flight north to a place called Kiruna. Kiruna is the most northern town in Sweden. We stay overnight in Kiruna and catch a train north mid day on Tuesday. We arrive in Abisko around 2pm.

Weather there looks like we could have snow which will not lend itself to looking for aurora. However like I always say the weather will do what the weather wants.

WATCH THIS SPACE

Tom

[Dorsetbred]

3 Days before we go and I have to admit it has been colder in parts of this country than it is in the part of the Arctic Circle that we are heading for.

Take off from Manchester Airport on Monday moring first flight to Stockholm about 2.30 mins flight. We thenhave another 1.30mins flight north to a place called Kiruna. Kiruna is the most northern town in Sweden. We stay overnight in Kiruna and catch a train north mid day on Tuesday. We arrive in Abisko around 2pm.

Weather there looks like we could have snow which will not lend itself to looking for aurora. However like I always say the weather will do what the weather wants.

WATCH THIS SPACE

Tom

Tom, any chance you can climb up the skycam tower with the chicken so we know you made it. Looking clear at the moment. Enjoy the trip and come back and tell us all about it. Maybe next years tour? Recent viewing on the webcam has been great.

UPDATE

INCOMING CME BOOSTS ODDS FOR AURORAS: NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% to 45% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Jan. 17th when a CME is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The impact could spark bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Even before the CME's arrival, auroras are already arcing across the skies of northern Scandinavia. Entitle this photoReflections:

Edited January 19, 2013 by Dorsetbred

[Tom Lynch]

.............

Wow, you want me to take Chicken George to the top of the Sky Station . It is about 3000 ft and some. It takes 20 minutes to get up on the ski lift holding on like dear life to all your belongings at -24C . Will give it a go.

I aim to do a day by day video dairy of the trip.

So keep an eye out on the forum...

Tom. .....

[Tom Lynch]

We fly off tomorrow and the weather where we are heading has turned or is turning to snow. So aurora might be a bit alusive. However the scenery will be stunning. My 4th Grandchild is also proving to be alusive and we are heading away a liitle sad because we may not be around for the birth.

Manchester airport will not hopefully be snowed in and flights should take off on time. Pete storm took off today and will be there now. I am told last nights aurora was fabulous. heyho...

Will be putting up a video tomorrow evening once we arrive in Kiruna.

Tom....

[D-J-V]

Tom!

I just want to wish you luck on your adventure, very jealous! I would not worry about the weather forecast, Abisko is in a bit of a rain/snow shadow anyways!

Look forward to the updates...Happy Hunting!