In the end of 2007 I sent a mail to some friends of mine, asking if any of them was interested in joining me on a trip to Spitsbergen/Svalbard.

I had just moved to Oslo to work there for one year and Norwegian Airlines had just announced that they would have a direct connection from Oslo to Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s main settlement during the summer months. I had not really expected to find anybody who would want to join me to this exotic destination, but luckily my friend Max responded with an enthusiastic yes.

So in the evening of July 24th, 2008 we boarded the plane towards Svalbard. We were going to stay in Longyearbyen for a few days and then board a former Hurtigruten boat and take part in the “Adventure Cruise” along the west and North West coast. We had a late flight from Oslo and landed in Longyearbyen at 3 AM. Since there is midnight sun from April to September, we could directly get some first impressions of Longyearbyen before we went to bed in our hostel.

Exploring Longyearbyen

Despite the late bedtime we were excited and got up early the next morning to explore Longyearbyen. On Svalbard you are allowed to move freely within the settlements, but due to constant polar bear danger you are not allowed to leave the settlements without a weapon. Longyearbyen, named after American industrialist John Munroe Longyear who founded the first coal mine here in 1906, is a nice little settlement with 2000 inhabitants and nice colourful houses. It has a also a surprisingly high density of first class restaurants, bars and a night club – as we were going to find out later.

Santa Claus’ horses

After a lunch at Fruene café we had booked horseback riding. There are five horses on Svalbard. All of them are Iceland horses. Although Svalbard is home to many reindeer, the children in Longyearbyen believe that these horses pull Santa Claus’ sleigh. Actually, Santa Claus lives in the abandoned mine 2. On December 1st, he lights a candle in his tree outside mine 2 and he sets up his mailbox. The children send their wishes to mine 2, and on Christmas Eve, these horses pull the sleigh and Santa distributes his presents.

It was my first time on a horse ever (except some pony riding as a child), so I was quite happy to get the oldest horse, Snær (Snow). It was as stubborn as it was old. Max had a more spirited fellow called Stormur (Storm). Luckily, both Max and I survived the trip. We enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Radisson SAS restaurant that evening.

Cayak trip

For the next day, Max and I had booked a cayak trip.

The trip started in Longyearbyen from where we crossed the Adventfjord and enjoyed a Real Turmat lunch (dry-frozen food that you blend with hot water) at the other side. On the way back we had pretty strong wind and quite some waves, but we made it safely back to the coast. During our free time in the afternoon we climbed up to one of the abandoned mines (the one in which Santa Claus lives), and in the evening we met Kristian, one of our guides from the cayak trip and two of his friends at Kroa for dinner. It was Saturday night, so we started barhopping from Kroa to Svalbar and from Svalbar to Karls-Berger, and finally we ended up at the one and only club in Longyearbyen, Huset, where we stayed until 5 AM.

Nordenskiöldtoppen

You may say that this was not the optimal preparation for our next day, because on Sunday we were booked on a hike to Nordenskiöldtoppen at 1053 meters above sea level. Since we started more a less at sea level, this implied climbing 1000 altitude meters. Our group consisted of six or seven guests, our guide and the Greenland dog Ane. We met in Nybyen and started by climbing up close to Longyearbreen glacier. We had great weather that day and enjoyed a fantastic view already during the ascent. At the summit of Nordenskiöldtoppen there is a small research station where we enjoyed our Real Turmat lunch. On our way back we chose an alternative route and went over the plateau mountain back to Longyearbyen.

Adventure cruise on MS Nordstjernen

The next day our cruise began. Our boat, the MS Nordstjernen, is a former Hurtigruten boat which is now used on Svalbard during the summer months. During our first days in Longyearbyen, we had almost only met young adventure tourist, and now we were curious whether the guests on MS Nordstjernen would fall into this category or would resemble more the normal cruise target group. Unfortunately the latter was the case, so we would spend the next four days with a group of retirees, mainly from Germany and France. We were lucky though that we had a young Austrian couple at our table with whom we had a lot of fun during the next days.

Visit to Barentsburg

On the first evening we made a stop in the Russian mining settlement Barentsburg. The Russians used to have several coal mines on Svalbard, but Barentsburg is the only active Russian mine today. Coming to Barentsburg is a strange experience. While Longyearbyen has a distinct Scandinavian appearance, the buildings and everything in Barentsburg leaves no doubt that you have just entered Russian “territory”. We could enjoy a cold drink at a very reasonable price and were thrilled about the Russian folklore show we attended.

Ice-swimming

The next day we continued our cruise along the west coast, passing Prins Karls forland and continuing towards Albert I land where we made a stop in Magdalenefjorden. This fjord is the most visited by cruise ships on Svalbard, and according to our crew it is not uncommon that American cruise ships arrange a drink at the shore for their guest with waiters dressed up as polar bears and (!) penguins. We were more excited about finding fresh polar bear footprints in the sand. Our crew was not so creative as to dress up as polar bears, instead they brought some towels and challenged us to take a bath in the three degrees cold water. Our Austrian friend Wolfgang, Max and I couldn’t resist the temptation and jumped into the icy water. We were rewarded with the admiration and cheering from the crowd and a certificate proving that we are real polar bears.

Sighting of two polar bears

We continued towards Smeerenburgbreen glacier and Vasahalvøya, from where Swedish explorer Andrée started his fatal balloon expedition to the North pole. This day had two more highlights waiting for us. The first one was our crossing of the eighty degrees north frontier, which was celebrated in light snowfall with a glass of champagne. We were supposed to continue to the island Moffen with a large walrus colony, but unfortunately ice conditions did not allow to go there.

Instead we sailed into the Liefdefjord and made a stop at the massive Monaco glacier. On our way there we were lucky to spot two polar bears – the first one sleeping on an island quite far away from the ship, the second one trotting up a slope at the shore not so far away at all. Unfortunately my camera has no telephoto lens, so the quality of the pictures is rather poor. Liefdefjord was the most remote part we visited. From here we started our return towards Longyearbyen.

Visit in Ny Ålesund

After some grey and cloudy days, on our third day we finally had fantastic sunny weather. We started the day with a tender boat trip at Lilliehöökbreen glacier in Krossfjorden. Getting so close to the massive glacier front in small tender boats was quite impressive. In Krossfjorden we had another landing at Camp Zoé for a one hour’s hike with a great view down to the fjord and our ship, and we made a stop at the bird cliff Cadiopynten. Our final stop before our return to Longyearbyen was in Ny-Ålesund. Ny-Ålesund is one of the world’s northernmost settlements at almost 79 degrees north. It is home to 30-35 researchers from all over the world.

Dog-sleighing

Upon our return to Longyearbyen, we had one more thing to do: dog-sleighing. There is no snow around Longyearbyen during the summer unless you get a few hundred altitude meters up into the mountains. Our trip was planned to go into the Adventdalen valley, so we had a sleigh on wheels. Although this is not the same kind of experience as on a real sleigh in the snow, it was fun – especially to see how happy the dogs were about getting out to run a bit. We also had a chance to visit the puppies they had.

In the night we returned to Oslo, quite amazed that you can experience so much in only one week. This was my first trip to Svalbard, and for me it was so addictive that I returned three times by now: in 2009 to run the Spitzbergen mile (a 10 km run), in 2010 for the Spitsbergen Rock festival, and in 2011 for the Svalbard ski marathon. I have seen polar bears, walruses, beluga whales, and stunning Arctic landscape. Although I have no plans for any Svalbard trips at the moment, it is very likely that I will return. By the way: You can use your SAS bonus points for a trip to Longyearbyen – this counts as a domestic flight from Oslo.