Anyone played pipes within the Arctic Circle?
Just that I have a series of gigs playing to the Elk and a spot of Yoiking.
I don’t get out much these days
So … Who is the most Northerly Piper YOU know?
And problems associated in playing in a cold climate to people who HATE music but LOVE fish and fish by-products? 
Our friends in Finland have us all beat I suspect. There’s a sign not far from my cabin in Oregon that says 45th parallel. I guess that puts me about even with our pipers in southern France. There may be one or two pipers in Alaska.
I’m at about 48 degrees north but from mid-january to mid-march I may as well be in the arctic. We frequently have -40 C (with the windchill) and 3 years ago we had a week of -50 C.
Problems associated with cold weather piping, in reverse order of preference:
- Bits falling off the pipes (and the piper) due to the extreme cold
- Huskies howling when you play in the second octave
- Audience members being treated for frostbit and/or hypothermia
- Having to pipe despite a sever case of “Tuque-head”
- Getting tongue stuck to ferrules when trying to lick the frost off
PJ, watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow. 
djm
Thank you Frank.
I think an Alaskan piper wrote a piece for the Pipers’ Review. There’s a BC piper’s club, I’m sure some of them are chattering their teeth at this moment. This Montana piper Dave Latham has homemade antler mounts…
Good luck with your nightmare gig there!
I have played pipes at Pruhoe Bay, on the north coast of Alaska, which is at latitude 70° 24.0’ N, well within the Arctic Circle. Admittedly, they were Northumbrian smallpipes, but you did not specify uilleann, so there you go. I have a picture of me doing that somewhere, with a dogsled at my side and the icy waters behind me. I was not there long enough for the pipes to really dry out or for any bits to fall off. I did not see any yellow snow but did go to a great pancake breakfast (where I stole the margarine).
You forgot cannibalism. 
t
Well … I’m only at 63 deg North and know that there are guys more up north. One member of the forum (Mikko aka uilleannfinlander) is living in Oulu (Finland) which is at 65 deg North.
I heard of another UP in Umeå (Sweden) which could be about 64 deg N. Then there is Eivind in Trondheim (Norway) which is about the same are I’m here. But if I remember correctly do the Norwegians have an UP up somewhere around the Lofote islands. That could be the “record”. But luckily they have milder climate (but on the other hand even less light). But as from now the shortest days are over! 
Cheers, Thies
Hello frpm Oulu city near arctic circle..200km south from it (http://www.65degreesnorth.com/ )
This winter been now so different than ever , weather changed between
-13 to +6 during 2 weeks.
Normally here is over meter snow , but today +4 and raining… hope we got white christmas.
This is now the weather my reeds like indeed, not so dry indoors as usually(becouse heating), no loosen brass parts etc. and reeds are wonderfully in tune and working condition.
Usually it’s been quite figthing with tuning probs during the coldest time,
even tuning is ok but volume and sound getting “weaker”.I have allways few apples in my pipebox to keep certain comfortable humidity , noticed that not so much shrinking with wooden parts(no more falling ferrules,drone slides quite tigth too)
Cheers,
Mikko
Tom, few people can make me plotz. You are one of them.
Plotz: is that anything like making shame-shame?
Maybe the term should be _crann_ibalism: that’s where other pipers steal your moves.
Wandering in a snowy wilderness of off-topicness,
tommyklaus
_Crann_ibalism: a delicious coinage, that. 
“plotz (plots) To explode. To fall apart as with laughter or overeating. At your mother’s dinner you have two choices: to eat like a normal human being and disgrace her, or to eat as she tells you and PLOTZ.” (from yiddishforyankees.com)
Don’t mind me. I still pepper my speech with Yiddishisms now and then. It’s an old habit from back in the day when it was fashionable.
Okay, so how about the most southerly pipers? Anyone play pipes in Antarctica? If not, Patagonia? Tasmania?
I seem to recall a fellow from Brazil or Argentina, can’t remember which, but I don’t know if he frequents this board often.
djm
Yes, the fella who built his own practice set.
Last Anctartic summer I’ve met a guy here (New Zealand), setting out for the summer to McMurdo. He had a set of Scottish Smallpipes. Don’t know if his collegues murdered him or not, but for the last summer there was one , in any case.
How could any of us forget Phil Wardle of Tasmania who owns the Coyne set? Or Dicky Deegan.
BTW, Tasmania and New Zealand aren’t that close to the south pole are they…compared to Alaska, Norway, Finland, and Sweden to the north?
They aren’t, and in any case, there is plenty of South America still further south.
Wasn’t there a set of vintage pipes found in Tasmania a few years back? Egan or Kenna or something similar?
I’ve heard of a few different classic/vintage sets floating around both Australia and New Zealand. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were a couple in Tazmania.
Dionys