Spitzbergen

Spitzbergen or Svalbard, as the Norwegions call it, is an archipelago of islands to the north west of Norway, some 600 miles from the North Pole. It's overall landmass is similar to Scotland and is virtually uninhabited. It is as near to the North Pole as the mere mortal will get, this comes about as a result of the Norwegions running daily commercial flights to it's principal town, Longyearbyen which has a population of only 2000 people. Most of the interior is desolate ice-caps and glaciers covered with snow virtually all year round, the effects of the gulf stream melt the western sea ice late into the summer.

Our little team was 'headed' up by Trevor Cousins and Paul Brooks and in the end it was just the 3 of us from SOC who made up the 'team'. Our objective was to ski to a range of distant mountains, set up a base camp and climb peaks for a week and then ski the same 150km or so back into Longyearbyen.

There were many matters to consider with a trip of this nature, we had to haul the best part of 3 weeks of food and equipment on sledges, clothe and equip ourselves to suit temperatures as low as -30C, undertake glacier travel and one you are are not going to encounter everyday in the mountains, polar bears! This last one necessitated in having to carry guns and trip wired explosive charges to set up around our tent.

I have Paul and Trevor to thank for their organizational skills; routes and objectives were planned, menus and diet plans sorted, insurances approved by the islands governing council (you need permission to leave the vicinity of town and only then if you are carrying guns and are properly insured) food arranged with the local supermarket, guns arranged for collection etc. etc. Much brainstorming took place on the best sleeping bag arrangements, vapour barrier requirements, spares kits, type of ski and so on and all done on our email!

And so to Spitzbergen, it is a bizarre experience to fly north into sunrise at 2am in the morning but at this time of year the sun never sets over such northerly latitudes. As we flew over Spitzbergen, the mountains reared up and the islands were still packed in with sea ice, we landed in a balmy -11C and caught a bus into town. Next day was frantic, going over food, having second thoughts and buying extra, collecting the rifles, fuel for the stoves and packing our sledges, they were BIG!

The first part of out journey was along a wide flat valley, which cut across a peninsula to the sea and then onto the ice-cap. This was tedious hard work over ice and sastrugi fields pulling our heavy sledges; it was very apparent that the snow cover was 'thin' but we ground on and made camp later that evening. In the valleys, we tried to cook well away from our tents as polar bears have strong smell and a penchant for tinned fish, that evening we also had gun practice. Next day was slow, snow conditions were terrible and we were concerned as to if there was going to be any snow left on our return in 2 or so weeks time. Change of plan time, an early camp and Trevor thumbed a high-speed lift into town to arrange for skidoos to collect us on a glacier in the mountains, and then back again. So followed more un-inspiring flattish ski-ing for a few days including one particular mind numbing stretch across a very wide alluvial fan, which seemed to take all day to ski and only 10 minutes for the skidoos to cross! Snow conditions were atrocious we even resorted to skinning along the flat to make progress. Another camp and eventually we arrived at the snout of a glacier and our entrance onto the ice-cap. A very steep pull, without skis and onto the ice-cap, horizontals and verticals merged and it was difficult to know whether you were going up or down.

This was it, we would have another 2 weeks of this, bland whiteness with just nunataks showing above the ice, blue sky if we were lucky. Our camp life was developing and we soon got into a routine. The advantage of permanent daylight meant we were not burdened with essential early starts or finishes. This was just as well as every camp would take 3 hours from arrival to getting into bed and the same again when leaving. Snow platforms cut out, tents put up, snow dug for water, endless melting and boiling of water, so many things you take for granted when camping in easier climes becomes a chore in low temperatures. We abandoned cooking outside as this would at times have been life threatening in temperatures of -20C or lower, in a blizzard. Trevor had perfected his sleeping arrangements to such an extent that he simply rolled his bivi bag out complete with sleeping bag, liner, pillow and book open at the next page! This also had the advantage (for him) of taking up at least half the width of the tent but he was soon rumbled. The cold was never an issue as we were now sleeping 3 in a 2 person tent.

Progress on the ice-cap was slow and monotonous and we were not running to schedule, this was worsened by sitting out a heavy storm for nearly 2 days. At the pace we were going we'd be struggling to even complete our main objective, Newtontoppen, the highest mountain in Spitzbergen. We reckoned we only had 5 days in which to travel approximately 150 kms there and back and ascend the mountain, if tomorrow were good then we'd go for it. Next day was spot on, we jettisoned a tent, food, spare equipment, a rifle and marked our camp on the GPS, with a transceiver and probe. This might seem excessive but the tent was already half under the snow and would be the proverbial needle in the haystack. There followed a demanding 30 km stint, head down for 4 hours, lunch, another 4 hours and then 3 one hour stints. Next day was shorter, we had some downhill but there was no such thing as a free lunch in a whiteout on skis dragging a heavy pulk behind you. We pulled up a steep glacier and set up base camp in a very cold and exposed place. Summit day, the weather was reasonable, over a pass and down and along more level glaciers and up a long ridge which finally led to the top of Newtontoppen. At almost 6000 feet, it isn't high but is high enough when this far north. With the very strong winds on top, zero visibility, the wind chill must have been -50C and a quick ski down and forced march got us back to base.

Next day we were retracing our inward route, the weather was wild, extremely cold but very clear and the views were superb, Paul lost 2 karrimats, blown away up and over a 1000 foot ridge, amazingly we recovered them miles away. Up and onto the ice cap again, the same mile after mile of blandness but surrounded by superb peaks, nunataks and glaciers down to the frozen fjords. Progress was good and the next day saw us back at our cache - undisturbed! We encountered our first patch of ground free of snow for ages, it was rather surreal. We were heading for a hut across the ice only about 8 miles away so shouldn't take too long across the flat ice, but it's never that easy. The surface was dreadful, wax, skin, walk, try the wax again, walk, progress was very slow and we eventually got to the hut around midnight.

Next day was glorious, Paul to his credit and his ability to ski the flats fast, agreed to make an 8 mile detour to pick up a rubbish drop which we had been unable to pick up as a result of our route change. Trevor and myself lazed in the sun and watched the Svalbard reindeer, not surprisingly, there isn't an abundance fauna in these lands. We pushed on across more sea ice, making better progress and then back up into the mountains and a pass towards Longyearbyen. A storm induced evening start the next day resulted in a 3.30am dinner at our final camp which was for 2 nights. I declined the chance to bag a local peak next day and resorted to igloo building to break the monotony, the others did likewise. Next day we were picked up by our skidoos, bang on schedule. A fast and furious journey back out, at about 10 times the speed of our ski-ing, across a very soggy and snow free landscape saved us several days of further suffering and we were soon back in civilization and the chance to pressure wash off the accumulated grime, get water from a tap, dump our various torture implements and indulge in a few celebratory tax free beers. Yes, Spitzbergen is a tax free zone of sorts and so were able to enjoy a beer without having to sell our pulks...shame really!

This proved to be a physically and mentally demanding trip, the ability to accept suffering and to adapt to harsh winter camping was essential. It certainly had the feeling of expedition status and for sustained periods, you just had to grit your teeth and get on with it, there was no room for passengers. We didn't encounter any bears and we met only one other party on the ice-cap, very briefly. Remarkably there was no tension or upsets amongst the 3 of us which can be so easy when you are cooped up for so long in a little tent.

I can still look back with satisfaction at our achievement, the opportunity of doing this level of trip, under your 'own steam' doesn't come along very often. Once again I would like to thank Trevor and Paul for their companionship and the efforts they put into making this trip happen.

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

Spitzbergen

Andrew Hogarth