Most liked posts in thread: Project Arctic MINI - UK to Arctic Circle to raise money for Leukemia Research

Justa Jim · Nov 23, 2010

Vikki said: ↑

We are off on Saturday! Can't wait!
Click to expand...

Have a good & safe trip.

Jim

geowit · Nov 23, 2010

Good luck.The Countryman should make the challenge less daunting.

There's been a group on this side of the pond that have been testing the winter capabilities of the MINI since 2005. I have been on 3 of the excursions. You can see information at ArcticMINI.com.

DavidB · Nov 24, 2010

Hi again everyone - really sorry for neglecting this thread, needless to say it's a very hectic time as my sister gave birth last week as well!

As for the Time Attack MINI - we're still waiting to here if it's totaled or not, hopefully I'll know by the time we get back from the Arctic as it's taking an age to sort out!

Geowit - I found the Arcticmini website a while ago, the photos and experiences shared inspired me to attempt the Arctic Circle on this side of the pond

The Motoring Alliance stickers will be going on tomorrow but until then here is a photo of the official Countryman handover by Jochen Goller - Director of MINI UK

I'll try and keep you posted during the trip but keep an eye on baylissracing.com for latest updates...

Nathan · Dec 14, 2010

They made it to the Arctic Circle.

The Blog Post

Today we were in HonningsvÃ¥g â€“ the last stop before our goal of Nordkapp. Overnight we had heard conflicting stories over not only how difficult it would be to drive up there but also if it was possible at all. We had long discussions about the dangers involved and if it was worth the risk. The information we had learned was that a bus takes tourists up there in a convoy with a snow plough, cars could join the convoy as long as they were a proper 4Ã—4.

Our options were:

1) Take the risk and try to reach the top in the Countryman and complete our goal
2) Take the bus and get there without the Countryman
3) Except defeat and stay in HonningsvÃ¥g for the day

We quickly ruled out option 3 as we hadnâ€™t come all this way to give in at the final hurdle. Spending some time thinking about what the trip meant to us and what we wanted to achieve we decided the only option was to take the risk and find out once and for all if the Countryman was a true 4Ã—4.

First we had to climb the mountains up to where we would meet the convoy at the closed road marker, the final stretch to Nordkapp is shut to all traffic apart from the convoy. The road was covered with fresh ice and snow that had fallen overnight making driving up the twisty mountain roads tricky to say the least. The Countryman plowed on without trouble, climbing higher and higher up the mountains with the temperature plummeting in the little light we get this far North.

We reached the convoy meeting point and were treated to stunning views as well as Arctic winds blowing more ice and snow across the road. After about half an hour the snow plough arrived and the driver, once again, reiterated the importance of having a 4Ã—4. Soon the bus arrived and it was time to setoff, both of us full of apprehension about what we were taking on.

The first part of the climb is done without any help from the snow plough and therefore is probably the most scary. We climbed and climbed with no crash barriers to save you from certain death if you plummeted down the thousand foot drop to the left. The road continued in the same manner for the next 12 miles.

Finally we reached the sign that said â€˜Nordkapp 500 metersâ€™, we knew weâ€™d made it. Months of planning had come together, the Countryman had performed perfectly and weâ€™d made it! In the dark we made our way to the lit up globe that marks the top of Europe which is the symbol we used for â€˜MINI 2 the Arcticâ€™. We had reached over 71Â° north and the most Northern point drivable in Europe.

We took lots of photos and congratulated each other on our achievement â€“ driving thousands of miles through France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway to get to the top of Europe.

Now we just had to get homeâ€¦

More photos from the trip here
Click to expand...

Justa Jim · Dec 14, 2010

Now what do all you Countryman nay-sayers think?

Jim

Nathan · Jun 1, 2011

MINi to the Arctic Movie Trailer...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo3GZwm52Bw]YouTube - ‪MINI 2 the Arctic trailer‬&rlm;[/ame]

Justa Jim · Jun 1, 2011

Jim

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