"The weather swung from sunshine and fresh powder to high winds so strong that the yacht couldn’t sail, forcing Henry to use his creativity, contacts and experience as host to ensure that there was no sense of compromise or settling for ‘Plan B’. Instead, he adapted and found adventure in unexpected moments..."
A sail and ski trip hosted by Henry Comyn
Over the years, we’ve organised highly complex itineraries for groups of various type and size, from family private island takeovers to lavish birthday celebrations with over 50 guests. We pride ourselves on our ability to cater for so many people at such a high level – in fact, it’s one of the reasons many of our clients sought us out in the first place – and our adaptability and creativity was really put to the test on a recent sail and ski getaway to Iceland.
Hosted by Joro co-founder Henry Comyn, the itinerary was curated to experience the best of the Westfjords by yacht and ski. Sailing up to the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, they were able to explore some of the more remote parts of Iceland in luxurious comfort. The group of 10 friends was made up of people with varying skiing ability, which posed a challenge in itself. With such dramatic landscapes, each day getting to the high peaks of the fjords would be demanding, so organising a preparatory ski training trip to France was essential to get everybody to the basic standard needed, while ensuring that each person’s needs were met was a delicate balancing act.
Henry used his experience and contacts to design routes that ensured everyone stayed together – those with more technical ability could tackle sections to push their personal boundaries and achieve their goals, while those with less experience still got that sense of achievement. When the weather was kind, the skiing was spectacular, and there was a real sense of bonding within the friendship group each day as they tackled a challenge together, but extreme weather conditions meant that the itinerary had to adapt multiple times. The weather swung from sunshine and fresh powder to high winds so strong that the yacht couldn’t sail, forcing Henry to use his creativity, contacts and experience as host to ensure that there was no sense of compromise or settling for ‘Plan B’. Instead, he adapted and found adventure in unexpected moments, making the most of their time in the harbour by organising visits to hot springs and local breweries, gathering together to enjoy freshly-caught fish and try new things such as the local delicacy of fermented fish, as well as Arctic Sea swimming and whale watching.
In fact, some of the most memorable moments of the week-long adventure came unexpectedly, where Henry was able to move plans to take advantage of good weather. He said: “One perfect day that sticks in my mind started at 1am when everyone on board was fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights from the yacht. The clear skies were an indication that the next day would give us good weather, so later that morning the team were able to climb 600m of fresh snowed powder to ski back down to the coast again, ending the day back aboard the yacht to relax and celebrate the day’s events with delicious food and plenty of drinks.”
A sail and ski trip hosted by
Henry Comyn
Henry has worked as a project manager for a key experiential events agency, looking after projects across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as for a high-end adventure company where he spent three years designing world ‘firsts’ and coordinating exhilarating trips. Henry is constantly searching for new ways to engage with local communities while dreaming up Joro’s culture focused trips.
