BENGT ROTMO

Bengt is, by all accounts, the kind of man who would rather fix a broken sledge in a whiteout than talk about himself in a warm room.

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Ask around and you'll hear the same thing over and over: nobody has done more and said less about it. He is a real 'Trønder', grew up in Verdalsøra, Norway, but his childhood suffers from the same as his expedition exploits – not much is known.

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What is known is that he has been an 'arctic nomad'. Whenever you thought he was home it proved he was not. An urban ghost that always seemed to be on a hunting trip, fishing expedition, dog mushing exploit — or why not a shooting competition somewhere. Always on the go, either for himself or for helping others out.

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For those who have been lucky enough to join him on a long trip, they have always marvelled at his stoic calm, dry optimism, and willingness to teach the polar handicraft.

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What is (in fact) known about him, is that he is married to Janne. And if the saying of 'behind every man etc' holds water, it is solely due to Janne. Bengt, kids, dogs, a farm and her own career are juggled in a way and with a smile that is infectious and makes us all worship her.

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Back to the known-unknowns about Bengt: he is very often seen dressed in green, alluding to a foot in the military. This is backed up by his haircut – so we treat this as a fact ;-)

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As an explorer he burst onto the scene when he and Randulf (Valle) said they would ski the Northwest Passage. In winter.

The polar community, the temperature and the distance left them little hope. But, as the word 'failure' doesn't seem to exist in Trøndelag, they skied roughly 2,500 km through the Northwest Passage and along Canada's Arctic coast, retracing Amundsen's route 100 years later — the first to complete the full passage on skis. As proof of the pudding they even co-authored a book about it, published as "Nordvestpassasjen – 100 år etter" (also released as "På ski gjennom Nordvestpassasjen"). Go look it up in antique bookstores.

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In our company's cooperation with the Antarctic Heritage Trust, he was always the person they sought. He led them on epic expeditions across Greenland and the full length to the South Pole. Both trips produced beautiful documentaries.

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As the lead guide for Ousland for many years he laid down the foundations of our philosophy: the slowest team member does not exist and is no worry; crevasse fields, storms, self-doubt are great for focus and teamwork – as he makes the impossible feel merely difficult.

Bengt has always sought the authentic. He loved his spells in Greenland and especially Alaska. And when he made Patagonia his favoured place on earth, it was because he felt it was what Alaska had been before he had time to go there.

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If you want a rock and someone to go to war with, Bengt would always be the only choice. In 2020, at Expedition Finse, he received the Shackleton Award for his unique contribution to Børge and Mike's epic crossing over the North Pole. No one in the world reads ice-satellite photos more accurately than Bengt. And when the expedition looked like it wasn't going to make it, he had a mission ready to bring food into the ice. In the end, his and Aleksander Gamme's contribution wasn't needed. But it just shows what thinking ahead, having the skills and the balls means for those around you.

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Hmmmm – this sounded a little too much like an obituary — but that is sooo wrong. Keep your eyes open, because he will be out there – always.