Spitsbergen ski tour cruise

• Length: one week, Sat-Sat, or more upon demand
• Guests: 12 max
• Period: mid-May to late June
• Supervision: 1 or 2 mountain guides
• Departures/arrival point: Longyearbyen (airport)
• More information/dates/prices: upon request
• Price for guides: upon request
• SEE THE VIDEO

Overview

A ski tour on the island of Spitsbergen, located at 80° north (merely 1,100 km from the North Pole!), the most northern land a ship can reach, the kingdom of the polar bear. Skiing under the midnight sun is a rare experience… Mid-May to late June is the only period of the year that provides a good snow condition and accessibility by ship, since the ice fields prevents it until then.

Complete description

Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen is the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, north of Norway. The name, which means “pointed mountains”, results from Spitsbergen’s very mountainous landscape that shows all the typical features of polar environment. The island is rich with dazzling panoramas, gigantic glaciers, steep mountains as well as plains in flowers and welcoming tundras. It is home for a very diverse arctic wildlife that you will discover with us: polar bears, bearded seals, walruses, reindeers, arctic foxes, whales (beluga whales and Minke whale), many bird species such as the common eider, the arctic Tern, the Atlantic puffin, the black guillemots, the little auk, the snow bunting, the barnacle goose, the Ivory gull, the phalaropes…
The island was also the scene for whale hunting in the 17th Century as well as a place of fur trapping, and has been the starting point for countless North Pole expeditions, the vestiges of which are still visible when we will visit the island.

Details of the expedition

Spitsbergen is a perfect place for all sorts of mountain skiing, between slow-moving and relatively flat glaciers with very few crevasses and the large areas between the mountains. The coast is characterized by its huge fjords, former glacial valleys that were later covered by the sea. Not many lands can combine both natural environments in such a picturesque fashion. The trip will depart from Longyearbyen, and Polaris will take us to the south of Spitsbergen, in the Wedel Jarlsberg Land. The area is still largely unexplored and tourists almost never come there. Several tours are possible, for all skiing levels: looped tours, circuits, expeditions across fjords; everything is possible.

Being on a ship offers one big advantage: it can leave and pick up the skiers anywhere. Thus, we won’t often need to come back to our starting point, unless that’s the only possibility. Countless promising and unexplored areas are waiting to be discovered in the area. Polaris is a fast ship with a long range. It’s a travelling and comfortable shelter that travels everyday to find a new circuit in magnificent and remote places where no one has ever set foot. Navigation will take place in still waters or in relatively sheltered waters. The daily trip will last less than 3 hours on most days. Navigating from fjords to fjords or along the ice field is the perfect opportunity to witness the breathtaking landscapes.

Walking on the land or on the ice field is not allowed outside of ski tours. The regulations require us to always bring weapons because of the possible presence of bears looking for new and fresh things or for food! As such, and excursion on foot must only be in an organized group and under strict supervision.

Special offer: mountain guide

You are a mountain guide and you wish to charter the entire ship, on your own or with another guide.

• The charter price is available upon request.
• We have aboard the ship all the hiking maps of the area, with the routes of our tours, as well as a GPS with the corresponding itineraries. Even if this is your first time with our services, you will still benefit from our experience and the experience of all the other guides before you.
• Equipments to communicate with the ship: cell phone for the tours in the Isfjorden, Iridium phone, VHF radio (156.800 MHz channel, radio available onboard if necessary).
• Replacement skis in case of breakages, a workshop with all the tools is also available. We also have crampons onboard.
• Locally available assistance: medicine chest (with a large quantity of medical supplies), helicopter. Hospital in Longyearbyen.

More information

• Physical condition: good physical condition required.
• Ski level: Level 3 ESF, all snows, all terrain. For ski touring amateurs or skiers with a good level and accustomed to go off piste. No technical difficulty.
• Climate: winter conditions and northern lights from February to mid-March. Permanent daylight from mid-April onwards. All weather conditions can occur regardless of the period of the year, and the snow is often of excellent quality.
• Required equipments:
  - Touring ski, climbing skins, crampons and boots.
  - Avalanche beacons, shovel and probe.
  
• Currency in Norway: Norwegian krone, 8 NOK = 1 €.

Consult our photo gallery.