Ski & Sail expedition next to the North Pole!
Welcome on board!Private booking, Ski&Sail, Svalbard on the Valiente
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When we wrap up the ski season on the mainland, it continues in Svalbard. Where the snow is cold, the sun is back in full force, and the desolate landscape lies before us. With the midnight sun all night long and bustling wildlife. We will experience and explore raw nature, ski and use our bodies, and eat and drink well – that’s all. We take the dinghy ashore, put on our skis at the beach, climb up, ski down mountain sides almost no one has been before us. May is a fantastic month in Svalbard, and Ski & Sail is the best way to experience the archipelago!
The expedition feeling
Just below the North Pole, we are sailing in the wilderness, endless areas without roads, buildings or civilization. We are far from people on a real expedition. Sailing day and night, in midnight sun, fog and snow, to find the most spectacular peaks along the west coast of Spitsbergen. Svalbard consists of a vast landscape, and long distances, both at sea and on land. And the reward is looking out over a wilderness of mountains, snow and ice from the top of some of the most beautiful and desolate mountains you will ever visit.
It is the feeling of being in unexplored areas we are hunting together. With poor maps, without phone coverage, and at the very edge of our modern civilization. We rarely find meters of powder snow in Svalbard, but if we are lucky we have good spring slush down to the fjord, and dry snow on the glaciers. What we can also experience is a rich wildlife, eternal views of untouched mountains and, not least, ice. In all formations: sea ice on which we can start the ski trip straight from the boat, to glacier fronts 100 meters, straight up from the fjord.
Life on board a Ski & Sail expedition
On board we provide a skipper, crew and up to two ski guides; a team with good knowledge and experience from Svalbard. We plan the ski tours and sailing routes together according to weather and conditions. On this trip, we usually use a full day for sailing, to get to/from the good mountain areas. While the rest of the days are skiing days. We look at the weather and conditions, and if it’s windy and snowing one day, so the mountains don’t tempt us, we use that day for sailing. If anyone wants a resting day, that is also fine. After skiing during the full day, we sail on to the next anchorage and prepare for a new peak for the day after.
Blog articles
Check our blog articles from Ski & Sail trips.
Video clip from Svalbard
Here is a small video clip from one of our sailing trips in Svalbard.
An awesome experience. Stunning scenery. Knowledgeable and safety conscious guides. Fun skipper & crew combo with excellent route planning and great food. Great camaraderie on board with everyone mucking in and such a lovely bunch of people to meet. Loved it!
Andrew Bell (Ski & Sail Svalbard, 2022)
Itinerary
Day 1: Ship o'hoi - we meet and cast off
Welcome on board! We meet at the dock in Longyearbyen at 14:00, settle into the boat and get to know each other. Before we hoist sails, we get to know the boat and equipment, and we go through safety routines on board. We eat food on the way out from the harbor. On the very first evening, we sail a few miles to get ready for the next day’s ski trip.
Day 2: Ski touring in the outer Isfjorden
The most famous and visited fjord in Svalbard is Isfjorden. In each fjord arm of this fjord system are Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Pyramiden and other smaller uninhabited places. The fjord is large and surrounded by many great ski mountains, and we spend today skiing in the mountains here before we sail further north.
Day 3: St. Jonsfjorden and Forlandsundet
Just north of Isfjorden, we enter Forlandsundet. Here there are mountains on both sides of the strait and we have a lot to choose from. If there is more weather and wind, we can hide in St. Jonsfjorden and find some big, nice mounitan sides to ski here. If the weather is calm and the sea is flat, we may even be able to get ashore at Prins Karls Forland, a special place in itself.
Day 4-5: Kongsfjorden and Ny-Ålesund
Further north on the northwest coast we reach Ny-Ålesund, this small research town at 79 degrees north. Kongsfjorden is the fjord system around this small settlement with very good skiing terrain and large glaciers that calve into the fjord. For us to be able to reach all the way north to Kongsfjorden, we will have to do some longer evening sails, but that may be our most ambitious goal.
Day 6: Sailing day south
After a few hopefully great skiing days up the north-west coast, we hoist sail and set our course south again. If the weather is better, we will take this sailing day further north at the start of the week. And rather work our way south more slowly. The best thing about being on an expedition is that the weather decides and we can adapt to make the most out of it!
Day 7: Last day of skiing and bye for now!
We wake up at anchor somewhere in Isfjorden again on the last morning. Here we do some hours skiing in the morning before we cover the last sea miles to Longyearbyen. On the way to the dock, we pack, clean and wash ourselves off the boat, so we are ready for the end of the trip no later than 16:00. Thank you for a fantastic Ski & Sail expedition!
Changes to the program
The program is an indication of what the days will look like. Though it might change according to weather and snow conditions. We start each day with a good breakfast and pack lunch before we go out ski touring. Some days we eat dinner straight after skiing. Other days we just eat a little when we get down to the boat again, and sail further before we cook a later dinner. Some days we put in time to fish, or time to look around. Especially on this trip, we have light around the clock and can use weather windows both early morning and late evening to do nice skiing trips in the mountains!
In Longyearbyen
If you have the opportunity, we recommend spending an extra evening in Longyearbyen to familiarize yourself with this small hub of a city with people from all over the world. And if we manage to do so, we will try to arrange a joint meal on land on the last day.
Important info
Travel
This trip start and ends in Longyearbyen, Svalbard
You find more information on travel, equipment and other tips under Practical info.
Noen svært få ror til Svalbard, noen flere seiler, men de fleste flyr. Norwegian og SAS flyr til Longyearbyen.