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Holiday firm heads for volcano

A North East adventure company has set sail to Norway after winning contracts for trips to the country’s only active volcano.

Yacht skipper Mark Richardson, who runs adventure sailing company Polar Front, set sail on Saturday for Jan Meyen, an in the Arctic Sea 550 miles northwest of mainland Norway.

Mark will be taking a dozen Norwegian mountaineers to climb the volcano, which is 2,000 metres high.

His 72ft yacht Polar Bear will left its berth at Royal Quays in North Shields over the weekend and is heading for Bodo in northern Norway just above the Arctic Circle.

“We will be stopping at Lerwick in the Shetland islands on the way for fish and chips,” said Mark.

Mark has been chartered by the Norwegian-based Eco Expeditions adventure travel company for two trips to Jan Meyen. The charters are worth £20,000 each to Polar Front.

It will take around four days to sail from Lofoten to Jan Meyer, but with no harbours or sheltered areas the mountaineers will have to be landed by dinghy - if the weather allows.

Six days will be spent making a base camp and climbing the volcano.

Mark said: “It is the most ambitious trip we have made to date and just to be at Jan Meyer will be a privilege and an experience.”

Jan Meyer, which is home to a weather station, has a “population” of between a dozen and 18 scientists and Mark plans to take them a gift of a crate of Newcastle Brown Ale.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .