- [Mark] Ahh, was that graceful?
About to go snorkeling in the Silfra fissure.
Some of the clearest water visibility in all the world.
(gulps)
Iceland.
(tribal music)
Hi everybody, I'm Mark Vins
and welcome to a very special edition of On Location.
One that features just me,
the director of the Brave Wilderness channel
and also the host of--
(record scratches)
Oh, I'm not allowed to say that yet?
- [Man] Nope!
- Okay, more on that later.
For now, I'm just the director
of the Brave Wilderness channel
but some of you might also know me
as the guy who often asks Coyote...
You alright, what are you feeling?
- Ahh!
- [Mark] You alright?
You alright man?
- Ahh!
- I read the comments, guys.
Yeah, that guy.
But for those of you out there
that have no idea who I am, hi, I'm Mark,
and I'm the one who's been filming
the adventures with Coyote Peterson you've been watching
for the past four years.
In that time, we've gotten all kind of questions
about how we do our productions
and how we make videos for the Brave Wilderness channel.
In an effort to answer some of those questions,
I thought, hey, why not get in front of the camera,
do some base camps, do some on locations,
and hopefully shed light on all things production
surrounding the Brave Wilderness channel.
To kick things off, let's start
with one of the most common questions that we often get
which is "Guys, how do you pick which location
"you're actually going to explore?"
That's one of those questions
that truthfully has many answers.
But one of the ways that we pick where we're gonna visit
is that I actually go ahead of the team
to scout the location in advance.
I could just tell you about this
but I thought it sure would be a whole lot more fun
to take you guys with me out in the field
to show what one of these adventures is actually like.
Recently, I got to visit the country of Iceland.
Iceland is one of the most amazing places
that I have ever visited, bar none.
Honestly guys, it's a place that I wanted
to visit since I was a little kid.
So I'm super excited that this is one of the first
pre-production videos that I'm going to share with you guys.
So without further ado, let's get out of this studio
and head into the field and check out
what kind of cool Icelandic adventures I discovered.
Iceland, a country sprawling with dramatic landscapes
and explosive volcanic terrain.
A place that truly embodies the meaning
of the word adventure with every vista
and every step forth on its craggy soil.
That's a volcano.
Just erupted eight years ago.
For me, this would be my first visit
to the Nordic island nation that is far more green
than it's northern neighbor of Greenland.
However, this would be no traditional adventure,
it was a solo mission.
My goal?
To scout further expeditions and adventures
for Coyote and the crew.
A mission I have led myself many times in the past.
Remember those dinosaur footprints?
Yep, I found those months earlier
on a scouting expedition in southern Utah.
But now, because of advancements in camera technology,
I can take you with me on these exciting
and often unexpected adventures.
Here we go, it's time to go snorkeling.
In freezing water, let's do this.
While on my Icelandic journey,
I explored places like the Valley of Thor,
rode Icelandic horses, and even got to visit
a world famous spa, the Blue Lagoon.
I still don't know what that is on my face
but hey, everyone was doing it, so why not?
Anyways, there's one particular adventure
on this expedition that I simply couldn't wait to show you.
That being my journey into the icy waters
of the Silfra fissure.
The fissure itself is a by-product
of the North American and Eurasian
tectonic plates drifting apart,
leaving in their wake multiple rifts
that fill with some of the purest water on the planet.
Alright, guys, about to go snorkeling in the Silfra fissure.
Some of the clearest water visibility in all the world
and actually, one of the only places
that you can dive between two continents.
Literally we are standing in the fissure
that separates Eurasia and North America right now
and we're gonna go diving in a natural spring.
It's very cold, we definitely don't want water
getting inside our suits because
it's around two degrees Celsius, just above freezing.
It's gonna be pretty awesome.
We're about to go get our snorkel gear together
and get in, so let's go.
(Mark groans)
Was that graceful, look good?
No, okay.
Well, it's gonna keep me warm so that's what's important.
As I walked down the steps of the platform,
a nervous anticipation started to set in.
Entering 36 degree Fahrenheit water
isn't something I tend to do everyday.
I mean, this water is only four degrees above freezing.
Safe to say, it doesn't get much colder than this.
So guys, my sister's helping us out today.
Say hi to everybody, Yvette.
She came by to Iceland with me,
so she's the cameraman today.
Here we go.
We're gonna go snorkeling in the Silfra fissure.
Time to get in.
As I plunged into the water,
my face was instantly met with a stinging sensation.
The shock distracted me, but then suddenly,
an explosion of color.
This landscape was absolutely surreal.
Something straight out of the pages
of a science fiction novel.
And to top it all off, the water was 100% crystal clear.
It was nearly unbelievable.
The visibility in the fissure on a good day
is said to extend well beyond 300 feet.
And I think we can all look at this footage and confirm
that that is definitely true.
I could see now why so many people with a fear of heights
have issues with this experience.
It literally felt as if nothing was between me
and the bottom of the fissure.
In fact, the sensation was actually closer
to that of flying than it was to swimming.
That is, until I tried to actually kick with my fins.
The dry suit, while providing life-saving warmth
and insulation, made it nearly impossible to move.
The buoyancy it created restricted my movements so much
that, to a large degree, I was only able to move forward
by the assistance of the current.
However, I will say this lack of mobility
actually allowed me to relax and enjoy the experience
as a whole and really take in all the color
and spectacular scenery.
Sometimes, it's nice to just be along for the ride.
So how does a place like the Silfra fissure come to exist?
As it turns out, Iceland sits smack dab
on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is formed
by the separation of the North American
and Eurasian tectonic plates.
In Thingvellir National Park, the separation
of these plates expands nearly one inch every year.
But over the course of millions of years,
it has created fissures, which are filled
by a natural aquifer and glacial meltwater
from the surrounding peaks.
This water moves slowly, very slowly.
In fact, in can take up to nearly 100 years to travel
and filter itself through the porous volcanic soil,
making it some of the purest H2O on the planet.
It is so pure, you can literally drink the water around you
as you swim through the fissure.
And yes, I definitely tried it out.
- Woo, well, the water is cold.
But I can tell you guys this is, by far,
the clearest visibility I have ever encountered.
And oh, by the way...
(gulps)
The water's delicious.
It's about the purest water that you could ever drink.
It is one of those scenarios where you can drink the water.
It's pretty awesome.
(gulps)
Iceland.
While it is delicious, it is actually the purity
and frigid temperature of the water
that helps to create the vivid colors
and the landscape of this environment.
As I continued to drift along,
I couldn't help but dream of coming back
to dive this location with the team.
My imagination was literally running wild,
trying to picture what the scene must be like
from the bottom of the fissure.
And I was also beginning to wonder
what else might live down there.
Is there something down there besides algae and troll grass?
But just as I started to consider the idea
of taking a free dive to find out,
I noticed the battery on my GoPro,
which was full 20 minutes prior, was now at only 1%.
Woo, wow guys, the water is so cold
that it's literally draining the life out of this GoPro.
But before it dies, I just want to say
that getting to snorkel in the Silfra fissure
here in Iceland has to be one of the coolest
experiences I have ever done.
I'm Mark Vins, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see ya on the next location.
Woo, this water's cold!
Ah, just seeing that footage makes me wanna
go grab my dive gear, jump on an airplane,
head back to Iceland, and get down there to explore
the depths of those fissures.
I can only imagine how cool it looks from the bottom.
Unfortunately, we are going to have to wait
a little bit longer for that adventure, guys.
That was just a scouting mission,
but I can 100% guarantee you that Coyoto, Mario, and myself
will be heading back to Iceland
on an epic adventure very soon.
Well I hope everyone enjoyed this behind-the-scenes peak
of the Silfra fissure and just what it takes
to location scout productions for Brave Wilderness.
Did you guys like this video?
Do you want to see more of these?
Tell me about it in the comments section below
and don't forget, please ask me questions, guys.
Who knows, maybe I'll pick yours
to answer on the next On Location.
If you enjoyed this scouting expedition,
make sure to go back to go back and watch the video
that resulted from my discovery of those dinosaur tracks.
And don't forget to subscribe so you can join me
and the rest of the crew on our next location.
(wolf howls)