I Abandoned My Van to the WORST Blizzard of a Lifetime: Arctic Life Surviving Extreme Snowstorm
Life in the Arctic continues: I abandon my van in a record-breaking Dramatic Bomb Cyclone Blizzard in the arctic. A Hurricane force winter storm of the decade followed by insane amounts of blizzard and heavy snow storm activity and intense arctic cold as low as to -32°c or -26°F. I am traveling and surviving through Finland, Sweden and Norway to go and spend holidays with family as the storm descend on the arctic, destroying weather station when the winds cross the 100mph speed limit. Things get very dramatic with shocking consequences for the whole arctic region. Follow my journey and challenges as I battle the elements and abandon the van😳 in the arctic. What happens next? Watch to find out!
2026 Arctic Winter season episodes:
EPISODE 1 https://youtu.be/FsHv_Pce29Q
EPISODE 2: https://youtu.be/i8DhOF18X7c
EPISODE 3: https://youtu.be/_4T6PqGRFUE
EPISODE 4: https://youtu.be/qBfXNDg4kMc
EPISODE 5: https://youtu.be/L686kIFrFsQ
EPISODE 6: https://youtu.be/niXqow_Jppw
EPISODE 7: https://youtu.be/1qFq9fzMw60
EPISODE 8: This Episode
Previously I have started my journey to the Arctic facing extreme temperatures and freezing cold in the first days as I journey through blizzard, snow storm and extreme weather in arctic Norway, Sweden and Finland. I have explained why I choose to spend my winters camping in a tiny cabin on wheel, my vanlife van, in the harshest climates known to the world. I revealed this and many other things as I braved the elements on my snowy drive towards the edge of the frozen worlds. Check out the new exterior lights on my van, it makes a world of a difference. I took you into the ground, through the deep tunnels where trolls are awakened, I took you grocery shopping for supplies, I know you want to see the inside of arctic stores, and I make coffee of course, and it is very cold! This is now episode 8 of my Life in the arctic journey. Real cold, real storms and polar night!
Keep in mind my videos are all real, very real, there are no “I survived -71°c blizzard camping in a hot tent” or even worse “I survived -80°c on a bike in a snow storm”. That stuff is not real, but this IS real, this is my life, my experience, so please dont get fooled by all the recent faked -70°c, -71°c,-72°c, -80°c,-82°c,-65°c videos on Youtube!
Are you a female traveler: If you’re wondering—yes, it’s a safe place to camp solo for female van travelers. Out here, no one bothers you. The people are kind, and the solitude is next level, even in the middle of town.
Grab a blanket, hit play, and ride out this Arctic storm with me—Arctic life in the harshest winters, off-grid survival style.
Oh, one more thing. I hear storms are piling up all over the place, Donner Pass, California, New York, all over the northern America, Canada and USA with atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones! Scotland and the UK is being hit massively with snow. Let me know how you are doing as we are suffering extreme cold now in the Nordics!
Sometimes I wonder if a Truck Camper would be cool so I could get up some of these cool roads to the outlook and arctic towers, let me know about that my American, UK, Canadian & German friends who are building vehicles like that.
Part of the brand new 2026 arctic tour series:
Surviving my 4th Arctic Winter of Extreme Van Life. Solo in Hurricanes, Blizzards, Snow Storms & Camping in Extreme Cold Freezing Temperatures.
🎬 Filmed in the Arctic frontier — real storms, real solitude, nothing fake. The frozen lands as they really are.
My van is a Fiat Ducato, FWD with Nokian Hakkapalitta studless Winter Tires. This is the same as a Ram Promaster in America – USA and Canada.
MAPS:
-If you want access to maps of my routes and campsite, and support my video creation you can sign up at Patreon.com/NorwegianXplorer
Enjoy camping and van life friends from around the world! Personally I enjoy watching Alaska van life, Canadian wilderness Winter off-grid survival & Remote cabins USA / winter bushcraft videos
About me: I am a Norwegian adventurer and wilderness explorer. My youtube channel focus on outdoor wilderness adventures and exploration, backpacking, hiking, canyoneering, skiing, climbing and mountaineering. Nights spent in a tent, alone or with friends. From the snow covered mountains and misty fjords of Norway and Scandinavia to the remote plateaus of Yellowstone and the debts of the red canyons of Utah to the summit of Mt Whitney and the heart of Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park. I love the Wilderness! Email is under “For business inquiries”, for general questions please comment on a video, I try to answer everyone.
#arctic #survival #snowstorm #blizzard
43 Comments
Back to the 2026 "Life in the Arctic" series! So much unexpected stuff here, poor van! 😭 Anyways, what are your plans and resolutions for the new year?
NB! Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE! If you want to support my channel and get access to my maps exclusive content etc, please go to https://patreon.com/norwegianxplorer or hit "join" to become a member here.
I really appreciate all your kind comments and I am really grateful to all of you for being part of the family! ❤
Happy new year ..2.028 !! The corect year ! Piece and health for you and yr familly ! Hellas !❤
Thank you for taking us along. I watched drinking tea and imagined riding as a passenger. Beautiful and Cheers from California where we freeze at 45F
Gosh I would have been freaking out too. Definitely wouldn't get much sleep worrying about what to expect upon returning. What an epic adventure that was !! ❤
Your videos touch the soul. The winter wonderland with your music is mesmerizing. God bless.
Another great video. Glad to see you are back in your happy place!
Great vid! Thanks! Whats the name of you air pump for the tires?
Oh , The Beauty that Mother Nature Brings ….Ty Jarl for bringing all of us along with you.. Wishing you and your family all the best..😊
🙏♥️🌹🌺🛐🤗
The Most High's Angels were watching over you.
I'm happy to see you got out of that parking lot safely.
Next time, start with cleaning the back of the vehicle first. (This way the engine can heat the car while you're cleaning off the snow.) Then work on the glass and hood areas.
Another fantastic video with fine landscape sceneries. ❤
Stay safe, Jarl. 🎉 Happy New Year 2026 ! 🎉 ❤❤❤
Wow.just came across your video.so many questions 😂.
👍🏻
I just remain speechless watching these images.Compliments.
Hey love your video s I m full time vanlifer for 8 years already .. I love your curtains in front of that you can remove . Do you have a link ???
The trustee old van fired straight up nice 👍
Your video of arctic Sweden and the beautiful yellow and pink sky was transfixing. I could look at the landscape and be in awe for hours. Please show more of the beauty of Finland and Sweden, a dreamy snowy paradise. Thank you for your wonderful videography.
Great video. Love the arctic scenes. Question and curious since i am Canadian: why you did not try immediately start your van for safety reason and get the warm comfort in case you feel exhausted needing dome rest and a glass of water.?
Great videos. Love your work !
Great video and your van as with you are great warriors …Happy NewYear !
How do you get the drone to follow your amazing van?
I think next winter you deserve to spend it in your van in the South of France.
Wow Jarl, some serious snow to return back to the van to. Hope you had a great Christmas with your family. Thank you for another brilliant video, Happy New Year, cheers Russ Oh my New Year’s resolution is too enjoy life and that includes your adventures plus try and reach my target of 10k subscribers for my channel
nice job. you got lucky with the van
Another good job ! Thx Norseman ❄️
Great video again thank you. Apologies if I've asked this before but do you have studded tyres or just winter tyres. Thanks.
Wow that was so much work! I got winded watching 😂 Great video!
G'day Jarl. Great video. Never seen so much snow ❄️ n my life. As a matter of fact I have never seen snow living in Australia. Question. When you scrape off the snow off your van. Doesn't it scratch the paint work?.
I'm not sure if I'm seeing an optical illusion or is there something sticking out of that elk's back? It's an elk, no? Anyway, I'm early on in the video, going to watch more now. Looks interesting.
I love that you didn’t throw your arms up and find the nearest hotel. Your van didn’t let you down and you worked off those extra Christmas kilos. Happy new year keep cheerful love your videos ❤️
I'm so glad for you that you keep a close contact to your family, that's my impression Jarl. In your videos you seem to be quite alone, living in solitude, although your bright character keeps you, spontaneously, happy and smiling. But your family must be, I guess, longing for you and for hearing you relate your adventures in their warm company….❤
Jarl, Remember your age! ⛑
'HAPPY NEW YEAR' Jarl 🎉. I enjoy all your videos, the are all Amazing, but this one was truely heartfelt. Driving through the snow paradise was magical. Thank you Jarl, you are much appreciated 😊❤
Good afternoon Arctic_Jarl and the Family of Freshness Fans ❤ Congratulations to everyone who still survived after the holidays and is still feasting 😊 We also had a cyclone with a strong snowstorm and knee-deep snowdrifts. In general, it wasn’t boring 🙂 I spent two days raking snowdrifts from morning to evening)
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family and wish you the best new year with fantastic adventure in your winter wonderland.
After such a snowfall, it becomes increasingly difficult for deer to get food moss moss
🙏♥️
24:45 just absolutely stunning 🤩
Your videos are incredibly relaxing, just like the Arctic itself. Excellent music, transitions, and cinematography… the calmness of your voice as well. Truly excellent.
But despite such immense beauty, cameras still can’t capture its true splendor. Seeing it in person is unbelievably more beautiful. Congratulations on your journey.
Thank you for your latent upload. I am always looking forward to it.
But that snowload was insane! I cannot imagine how exhausting that must have been. But your trustworthy van held firm ⛄️🥳🥳🥳
Winter came for christmas here in the Northwest of Germany. First it became very cold and After christmas came snow. Friday was intense , heavy snowfall, wind. I like the Winter 🥳❄️⛄️☃️
Happy new year for you and your family. I wish you health and happiness and of course safe travels!
Jarl, I am so glad you and your van are ok. Glad you were able to celebrate Christmas with your family. Please keep safe and God bless you.😊
Thank you for sharing this epic adventure!
Jarl, you must had a fit when you saw all of the snow all over you're van. It's lovely to see, but not much fun to drive in. I'm glad you had a lovely Christmas with you're family. But as you say that's you back home in the comfart of you house on wheels. Best wishes for safe travels in2026 jarl.🙏
The van looked like a white hippopotamus 😊A lonely house and a van is covered in snow) It’s okay, now the Jarl will warm you up 🙂
man 😀 you need a partner for this winter
😂 Yes, buddy) Walking through snowdrifts in sneakers is another activity hehe