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LMGI COMPASS
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Winter 2025
THE GLACIER MAN
SLM Thor Kjartansson has been
with Truenorth for more than 20
years, his background and skill
set essential for working with
production crews in extreme
environments. The literal
definition of the "outdoorsy
type," he began training with
Iceland's Air and Ground Rescue
team at just 16 years old. Over
the next three years, he would
learn extreme survival skills
and practice search and rescue
(SAR) missions in a variety of
situations.
"We specialize in searching for missing planes," Thor says, "but
we do it all: glacier rescue, people that have fallen into crevices
or been buried under an avalanche, even just people who've
gotten lost on snowmobiles in the wilderness or on the glaciers."
While training with the team in his youth, he would never have
imagined that his work or, frankly, his life's passion would lead to
a career in film and television, though it should be noted that he is
still an active member of the rescue team.
Thor's move into film and television came through a chance
meeting on … where else? A glacier.
"I started operating Super Jeep and snowmobile expeditions," he
says, "and I would take people on excursions up in the Highlands
and onto the glaciers."
Thor quickly earned a reputation as a trusted and competent
guide on the ice, and soon it wasn't just tourists calling for his
expertise.
"Over the course of about 10 or 15 years, I ended up supporting
a lot of small TV crews that wanted to get up on the glaciers and I
worked as a kind of fixer for them," he says.
On one such trip in 2003, he met Truenorth founder and CEO
Leifur Dagfinnsson. "It was just one of those moments where an
opportunity comes up," says Thor. "We were standing at the top of
a glacier talking about the industry and he asked me if I would be
willing to meet at his office. I did and I basically joined Truenorth
a couple of months later."
If you're considering changing your career or considering
anything, really, Thor highly recommends going to the top of a
glacier to find clarity. "Yeah, I always say, 'the best way to reach
your thoughts is to go up on a glacier. You'll find them up there,'"
he laughs.
When Einar joined Truenorth three years ago, after having
worked for 20 years in production services in Iceland and at the
legendary Propaganda Films in L.A. before that, he recognized
right away that Thor was a very unique individual, unlike anyone
else he knew in the industry.
"Even on his days off, you won't likely find Thor at home or even
indoors," he says. "He's always somewhere out on the ice, in an ice
cave or riding around on his snowmobile!"
SNOW CHASERS: FINDING ENNIS
With the series taking place entirely in a single Alaskan town, the
team had to find a location that would work not only from a visual
SLM Thor Kjartansson
Navarro meets the polar bear in downtown Ennis
