Locals, police searching remote Manitoba wilderness for Norwegian trekker

YORK FACTORY – The search continues for a Norwegian trekker who disappeared last week in the treacherous muskeg and swift moving rivers of northern Manitoba while on a cross-continental journey of the Canadian wilderness.

Manitoba RCMP say officers in Gillam were contacted on Friday after Steffen Skjottelvik failed to arrive in York Factory, 850 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. 

The 29-year-old had set out on foot with his two dogs from Fort Severn, Ont., last month. 

Police say one of the dogs turned up in York Factory, while it is unclear what happened to the other. 

The Manitoba government says it is helping with the search.  

Police say locals have also been helping search the area by boat and plane because the terrain is too dangerous to canvass on foot. 

“It’s completely unforgiving territory,” Sgt. Paul Manaigre said Tuesday. 

“If you’re able to walk anywhere, usually the best areas to walk is the riverbanks because that’s the most stable soil. Otherwise, it’s bog, (a) kind of swampy, (waist-high) marsh muskeg.”

A Facebook group created to track Skjottelvik’s travels says he had planned on trekking from James Bay all the way to Alaska. 

On the latest leg of his journey, police say Skjottelvik would have had to cross six or seven rivers by foot while also fending off local wildlife including wolves and polar bears. The nearby Hayes River is reported to be one of the fastest moving rivers in the country, said Manaigre. 

As travelers approach York Factory, Hudson Bay impacts the river, resulting in a four-metre tide, said Manaigre. 

“The likelihood is he may have entered the river to try to cross and was swept up in the water,” he said. 

“There aren’t too many people on this planet that could make that trek. The fact that he actually almost made it, it’s impressive,”  

RCMP have asked for assistance from other agencies but have been denied because of the safety risks, said Manaigre. 

An officer searched the area using a drone Monday in the hopes of seeing if they could pinpoint a heat source or find an evidence of animals congregating. 

Manaigre expects searchers to have most of the terrain covered in the next couple of days. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2025.