It seems like most adventures these days have charity fundraising goals, obscure records to break, or fastest-known-times to set. Joffrey Maluski, a photographer and filmmaker based in France, rejected all those notions when he began planning his snowy, windy bike trip across Iceland.
Photo: Screenshot
“I’m not here to set speed or distance records. I’ve come to seek adventure, the unexpected. The discovery with its ups and downs,” he voices in the film he made about his experience, Bikepacking Iceland: A Winter Journey Through the Heart of the Highlands. “Its moments of hardship, and its moments of intense happiness. So, I accept this pace imposed by the elements. And I keep moving forward until nightfall.”
Maluski was referring to a punishing day of travel in which he pushed his bike through snowdrifts far more than he rode it, occasionally making only one kilometer an hour. But as the saying goes among bikepackers of a certain mindset, “If you’re pushing your bike, you’re in the right place.”
Photo: Screenshot
Winter bikepacking: not for the faint of heart
The filmmaker got the first germ of his trip — which took him from Iceland’s easternmost point to its westernmost point in 28 days — after a summer bike tour of Iceland with friends in 2021. He returned again in the winter of 2023 with no agenda other than a solid route and an idea of recording his experiences via photography and film.
Photo: Screenshot
The resulting film showcases grueling winter bikepacking. At first, Maluski is able to move quickly across windblown ice, towing a pulk behind him. But as he enters day five of his adventure, the terrain becomes mixed ice and snow. Soon enough, he’s strapping his sled onto his bike and manhandling the whole rig through waist-high drifts.
“I pedal a few meters, I push, I get back on the bike, and repeat,” he narrates.
At times, he changes modes of travel completely, loading up his fatbike onto the pulk and manhauling one step at a time. Through it all, he remains unfailingly cheerful and in awe of the scenery around him.
Iceland through an expert’s eye
And what scenery it is. Even a mediocre photographer could make the winter Icelandic landscape seem vast and imposing, but Maluski has an eye. His lens expertly captures the beauty of the terrain. Through his perspective, the landscape is stark, yes. But also surprisingly vibrant. A careful blend of traditional videography, action-cam shots, and drone footage showcases the textures and nuanced shades of the winter scenery to good effect. Although generic, upbeat production music choices occasionally hinder the film, the cinematography saves the day.
As Bikepacking Iceland progresses, it falls into a rhythm — pedaling, pushing, fording shallow rivers, then camping or holing up in the huts that dot the landscape. Glimpses of these huts, which are often positioned near hot springs, give viewers a strong impetus to plan an Icelandic bikepacking trip of their own. However, one exceptionally windy night might give them second thoughts.
Photo: Screenshot
Wind and snow
“My tent swells, flaps, and distorts under the relentless pressure of the wind. I consider every possible scenario, but I keep calm. I focus on what I can control, leaving the rest aside,” Maluski says with typical stoicism.
He waits out the storm for 24 hours, then, restless, decides to keep pushing forward.
Photo: Screenshot
As he travels westward, the biking gets easier, and Maluski makes better time. As he nears the end of his 1,000km journey, he reflects on the mixed feelings of elation and sadness that accompany every long human-powered adventure. But mostly, for him, it’s elation.
“Everything is moving faster now, the landscapes are passing by. I’m crossing numerous mountain passes, it’s climbing, it’s descending, headwind, tailwind, it’s sunny, it’s snowing, it’s warm, it’s cold, the fiords are always a mental battle. I’m tired but happy. Happy to live this adventure, to discover remote and magnificent places, to feel free and alive,” he says, to the accompaniment of typically stunning landscape videography.
Photo: Screenshot
Bikepacking Iceland: A Winter Journey Through the Heart of the Highlands is a cozy winter watch that runs just over 18 minutes.
