Spitsbergen north to south

We meet after breakfast to do the last preparations. Everyone does the tasks agreed upon the night before. We need to pack food and prepare the pulks/sledges. If needed now is the time to do any last minute shopping.

Snow mobiles pick us up for a 260 km long transport to the most northern part of Spitsbergen. If there is a clear view we get the chance to study the first part of our route, because we will turn back and follow in the tracks of the snow mobiles the next day. It is a long and tiring day and we’ll be happy once we can crawl into the tent and into the warm comfort of our sleeping bags.

Excited we wake up and crawl out of the sleeping bag, eat our porridge and finally put on our skies. Now is the time to see how heavy the pulk/sledge actually is. We are alone in the wilderness and the next month (30 days) our team will have to work together to make sure we reach the border of South-Spitsbergen National Park. The expedition that lies ahead is both scary and exciting and no one will leave this trip without having their head filled with memories and evidence of Spitsbergen’s powerful nature! The group share ups and downs as there is few possibilities to communicate with the outside world before we are back in Longyearbyen. Our satellite communication will be used to check the weather forecast and update a diary for the people back home to keep track of.

These are the four things we will do for 30 days and nights. The expedition life is a life of routines and the weather decides how our days will be. After several days have passed the life at home will feel far away. It is nice to live a simpler life. No worries about todays outfit or what to buy in the store. You have what you wear and all your meals are ready in the pulk/sledge. We work as a team, taking turns navigating and being a “snow plow” if needed. Some days you might have extra energy and will help out someone with some of the weight in their pulk, other days someone will help you. On such a long trip no one are just tired or strong, everyone are both.

The landscape is changing constantly. We cross huge glaciers where everything is flat, we will struggle with long hills, or maybe we will venture out on the sea ice. Further south we meet a dream land of steep peaks and valleys. Very few have traveled in these valleys before us and seen what we see. In Spitsbergen everything is a little bit further away and a little bit bigger than it seems. We move in a time of the year when it is mostly light all day and night. This gives us an extra energy boost even though the days are long and sometimes tiresome.

Even though it is light most of the time it is not certain we will see the sun every day. The weather is challenging and sometimes it might be so white from the fog that we might not even see our own skiis. Then it is important to stay together and take turns navigation, it is exhausting to navigate in a white out. Other days it might be the wind that provides us with a challenge and we have to be prepared for an involuntary resting day if the winds are too strong. The weather will either way colour our experience and it is the contrasts in the weather and landscape that makes this expedition a true adventure. When you know the nice weather won’t last forever you always appreciate it more and eating lunch without mittens becomes a highlight.

The polar bear is the king of Svalbard and since we are staying so many days in his kingdom the probability is quite high for an encounter. Meeting a polar bear is a powerful experience, but we prefer it if we spot it before it spots us. We bring weapons on the whole trip and in areas where there are known to be a lot of polar bears we will take turn sitting guard. Everyone will be taught to shoot a signal gun to scare away the polar bear if necessary. We take every precaution to avoid a meeting, but in case our roads cross we have to be prepared.

After we’ve reached the south tip of Spitsbergen we follow our own tracks back to the border of the South-Spitsbergen National Park. Now we can start to listen and see if we can hear the snow mobiles who are on their way to pick us up and drive us back to Longyearbyen. Back in Longyearbyen you can enjoy a shower, bed, clean clothes and food you don’t need to eat with a spoon. Because the expedition is so long it is hard to say what day we will arrive in Longyearbyen, if we’ve been lucky with the weather we might have an extra day or two in the town. Depending on the time and what day it is we gather for a dinner together and raise our glasses to give a toast to the adventure we’ve just been on.