Helping a Visakhapatnam lad represent India at Fjällräven Polar 2019

The Arctic region holds a reputation for being one of the most hostile places. The bone-chilling weathers, along with some extremely gruelling terrains, are what await you here. However, do you know that there’s an international competition that’s held every year in this region to challenge some of the grittiest souls?

“300km of Arctic wilderness. More than 200 highly skilled sled dogs and a group of ordinary people just like you. This is Fjällräven Polar, a journey you’ll never forget. Want in?” is what you read as you land on the homepage of Fjällräven Polar. While surviving the chilling weathers in our tropical climate is a demanding task for many, competing at the highest level in the intense climate of the Arctic is a no mean feat. Much to the pride of many, a 21-year-old Visakhapatnam lad has dared to risk it all. Jayaraj Gedela is fighting it out to represent India and win glory at Fjällräven Polar 2018. The young dentist, however, requires our support to achieve his longtime goal of winning laurels to the country.

The selection to this event though takes place through a voting process. While hundreds of interested individuals have enrolled for the event from India, Jayaraj is currently placed second on the list of the most number of votes. A few more votes from our end can potentially push the youngster to the top position on the list and ultimately contribute in nominating an able candidate from India for this one-of-its-kind competition.

Jayaraj, while explaining the event, says, “Fjällräven Polar is an annual competition that is held along the route of Norway-Sweden. The participants need to travel for seven days over a stretch of 300 km sustaining the temperatures in the range of -40 degrees centigrade. Each participant will be provided with 8 husky dogs and sledges in order to accomplish the task.

All the participating countries have been divided into 10 sub-regions and each sub-region will be represented by only two individuals. The fact that only 20 participants from all over the globe make the final list, makes the filtering process extremely stringent. The participants are selected via two processes. While the first process involves garnering votes from people, the second one involves selection by the jury. As can be expected, the first process, which is gaining votes from people’s end, offers the best possible chance to make it into the final list.”

Jayaraj further adds, “This event, which has come into existence in 1997. After putting in a lot of dedicated effort over the past few years, I am determined to make it to the competition this time and emerge as a champion. All I require is support from people in the form of votes and best wishes.”

You can vote for Jayaraj here.