Journeying coast to coast through mountainous terrain and frigid temperatures, Jordan Rosen’s seventh trip to Iceland was an adventure to remember.

Jordan is a California based photographer who captures gorgeous images all over the world. He’s got a particular fondness for the Arctic. From off-road driving (overlanding) to ski mountaineering, he enjoys the thrill of the outdoors that comes along with his job.  

Jordan has always been a bit of an adventure seeker. After playing NCAA D1 Lacrosse at Hofstra University, he graduated college, and flipped his life upside down by dropping job offers and taking a trip to New Zealand with a small camera in hand and his heart on his sleeve.

“I took splendidly horrible photos, that, upon review, failed to help spark actual memories from my trip. I wanted to change that. I wanted to make images that helped me remember this trip, and if possible, that sparked the curiosity of my friends so that maybe they wanted to come with me next time,” said Jordan.

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

Even though Jordan left the lacrosse world behind, the athlete inside of him was apparently quite restless. After college, he ventured into the world of triathlon and ski mountaineering.

Professional photography became an option when he had the opportunity to shoot photos of his friends who were competing in Triathlons and skiing professionally. He developed a portfolio and brands began to find him. Jordan’s photography focuses on landscapes and big wild places while showing human interactions with those landscapes. He takes gritty yet approachable images and identifies as a “mountain athlete with a camera” who is inspired by the amazing athletes around him. He now shoots for some of the most elite outdoor brands in the world. 

With a goal of venturing from north to south completely over-snow, in the dead of Icelandic winter, this dangerous trip required a lot of planning and preparation to become a viable reality. Jordan was accompanied by several of his friends including Steve Lewis, a commercial arctic logistics expert, Palmi Baldursson, one of the world’s best arctic drivers, and Keree Smith, a fierce ski guide. “This combination of extremely experienced, talented people rarely leads to a bad time,” said Jordan.

In the winter time, a lot of places in Iceland become even more remote as they are not accessible by road or even by helicopter since the weather is hard to predict. Arctic Trucks and man-powered skiing allows an adventurous thrill seeker to overcome this. “Steve frequently pushes my comfort level with trips and is candidly the whole reason this trip was able to safely happen,” said Jordan.

Jordan also looks to both Palmi and Keree to make an expedition like this possible. Palmi Baldursson is one of the best Arctic drivers in the world. He’s an Icelandic native and grew up in the Westfjords. Palmi spent three summers in Antarctica as a professional driver and mechanic. He was trusted to drive Prince Harry on a week long expedition.

Keree is an expert ski guide who lives part time in Alaska is confident in her abilities and in herself. “Keree is fierce and can take charge of any testosterone filled group in an instant. She isn’t the loud or commanding type of guide. She’s the calm, ‘stay with me if you want to live,’ type. She’s so calm that everyone becomes keenly aware she’s the best skier in the group…and we all pretty much grew up ski racing,” said Jordan.

(Featured Watch: Diver 42mm)

Featured Watch: Diver 42mm)

(Featured watch: Aviator 38mm) 

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

The trip began as the group packed up all the food and gear that they would need for the journey across Iceland. From there, the four arctic-modified 70 Series 44-inch Land Cruisers began the drive up to the very northern edge of Iceland.“These large trucks are a part of Icelandic culture. They are one of the only ways to get around in the snow and ice,” said Jordan.

On the very start of their journey just outside of Reykjavik, one of the team’s trucks broke down on an icy road before even reaching off road terrain. They had to tow the broken-down truck to a repair shop and consolidate everything into the remaining three trucks.

One truck short, they finally reached Siglufjordur, the small town where they’d start their journey south. The next morning, they set off, destined for a small hut where they would be spending their first three nights. Huts like these are scattered all across remote areas in Iceland, and they are usually closed during the winter months because no one can get to them, but during the summer they can be popular places to stay.

To effectively drive over snow, the team drops the air pressure in their 44’’ tires to just 3 or 4 PSI to stay afloat on the snow with heavily laden trucks.

After a 9 hour drive over snow, roughly following Kjolur, a dirt road now buried under feet of snow that bisects Iceland, they reached their destination.

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

As they continued, they reached a small set of huts in the center of Iceland, near Kerlingarfjoll. “We took a few days to ski in this remote place and enjoyed the hot springs,” said Jordan. When you can’t drive, skiing is one of the only other modes of transportation in Iceland, but also poses dangers due to avalanches and frigid temperatures. Keree led the group through the difficult conditions and ensured they would be safe while skiing these untouched areas of the country.

“The enormously high winds make the snowpack extremely hard to assess, and the way one aspect reads, is almost no indication of another similar slope. We’re very lucky Keree is so accustomed to maritime snowpack here in Iceland, and not just Alaska,” Jordan said. 

As the trip went on, the high humidity mixed with the blistering cold proved to be difficult on the equipment and cause some trouble for the team. They had to stop multiple times along the trip to adjust the tire pressure, dig the truck out of deep snow, and chip ice out of the axels, springs, and driveshafts of the trucks.

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

It takes a strong group of individuals to venture across Iceland in the winter time. From digging trucks out of snow to prepping for the worst, you have to be able to adapt to any and every condition. This made the trip one that they will never forget.

(Featured watch: Diver 42mm)

The End. 

Introducing Special Edition Solar Watch

In honor of Earth Day we are launching our first solar powered watch. We felt Earth Day was the perfect time to debut our Solar Watch, not only because it is composed of recycled and sustainable materials, but because its unique features make it the perfect companion for any active outdoorsmen.

Inspiration and Design 

As we were thinking of ways to evolve our Field watch, we wanted to incorporate some of the tech-infused materials and sustainable trends advancing in the market. The biggest challenge was creating an environmentally friendly watch without sacrificing style and quality. Through challenging ourselves and our factory partners, we came up with innovative ways to incorporate eco-minded materials into each element of the watch. We chose the solar powered movement not only for its lifespan and use of earth’s most available resource, but also for its subtle encouragement to get outside and recharge it. In addition to cork, a popular sustainable resource, we used a recently developed recycled polyester upholstery to construct the interchangeable watch straps. For the watch case, we invested in a new tooling that allowed us to cast recycled stainless steel and use wastage from other case manufacturing.

Key Features 

The 42mm stainless steel case is cast from recycled case blanks that would be otherwise unusable material, and it is tested for water resistance of up to 100 meters. The recycled polyester Field strap is made from used plastic bottles. The production process for this innovative material, developed by Kvadrat, is much more efficient than for virgin polyester. It uses less energy and chemicals which minimizes CO2 emissions to make a genuine impact on the global environment. The Epson VS43 movement uses a solar sell that sits below a translucent black colored dial with super-luminova numbers and a day-date aperture. No need to replace the battery because it can run for 6 months on a fully charged solar panel.

The aluminum secondary crown controls a bi-directional compass bezel which can be used for very basic orienteering.

Limited Box Set

For the box set we partnered with Rite in the Rain to include one of their all-weather recyclable notebooks and pencils made from recycled newsprint. The box itself wrapped in recycled paper certified by the International Forest Stewardship Council which contains greater than 60% recycled material. The set also includes an interchangeable Nato strap made from sustainable cork.

When purchasing the Solar Watch or Box Set 5% will go to support Conservation International’s forest conservation efforts. They strive to protect tropical forests around the world, working directly with the communities who live in, and depend on, these forests. Together we will protect 50,000 trees. 

You can purchase the watch for $325 or the box set for $375. Both are available for pre-order on jackmasonbrand.com and will ship out on Earth Day. There is a limited quantity available so act fast.

Order Now

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