You travel for the unknown, that reveals you with yourself.
-Ella Maillart-
Off we go by snowscooter with loaded down pulks full of gear. The 4hr ride was pretty cush and the seals, reindeer, fjords and endless peaks kept the “are we there yets” from ever creeping in. Many strange and unique surprises were in store.
First off we found a 100ft sailboat in the sea ice. The No0rderlicht is frozen into the fjord each year and acts as a hotel ($600 per night) for the winter season. They were awaiting the icebreaker to crush it’s way in and free them up for the summer.
Not just for petting, these guys pull sleds and ward off bears.
We encountered many seals basking in the sun. Here a mother seal pops out of the water to keep a close watch over her pup. They would let us get within a certain distance then slip back into the water.
The ice gave way to mountain passes and we were dropped off on a huge plateau a thousand feet or so above Billefjorden. The idea, on paper, was to use kites for covering the vast flats that separated the peaks. With a slight but steady breeze we spread our wings to test the wind.
Just as we hitched our sleds to our harnesses, the wind died. And so the “man hauling“ began.
And continued, as slogging would become a major theme of the trip.
After several miles we set up camp near the ridge to Neardetoppendenskien Peak, one of the more prominent mountains in the neighborhood.
Setting up camp on an archipelago covered with 3,000 polar bears takes extra consideration. The bears tend to stay close to the shore, but they do occasionally trek over the mountains. Trip wires are highly recommended and even required in certain areas. We were in the ‘optional’ zone and we opted in. Skis were stuck at the four corners of camp and a thin line was run to 4 small explosive charges. Bear trips wire, man shits himself and wakes up, bear gets spooked, man grabs gun. From here there are numerous possible endings, none of which we wanted to explore. We weren’t sure what effect the firecrackers would have on the bases of the skis, but luckily we never had any unwanted guests and didn’t find out.
The cook tent is a luxurious piece to have along and Andrew has the set-up dialed.
Home sweet home! The Trango 3 from Mountain Hardwear. Bomber basecamp tent with tons of room for 2+ gear.
The next morning we climbed up out of camp and got to view all of Billefjorden and our surroundings!
Ski touring is often just an excuse to go have lunch someplace with a nice view.
This was the summit of one of the tallest peaks in the area and with our commanding view we decided to slowly work our way down to the fjord tagging peaks along the way. Most the snow we found was harshly wind or sun efuckted, but we ripped a nice long shady bowl down to the glacier. Endless miles and miles of perfect kiting terrain, without the slightest breeze. OUCH!
We tagged a mini line while wrapping around to basecamp.
And then trudged home across the desert of snow.
Hauling sleds, setting up camp, skiing lines. This became the usual routine for the next 4 or 5 days, minus the sun and visibility. The clouds rolled in and wouldn’t let go. They provided beautiful scenery, but didn’t bring enough wind to aid in travel.
The vast solitude of this cold beautiful world.
We skied every day in all forms of milk and whiteout.
We got to know the sleds we borrowed from Ice Axe Expeditions intimately! The carbon fiber construction is nice and they glide smoothly through the snow without tipping too much. They are mostly used for expeditions to the North Pole and were a nice tool with all the trekking we ended up doing.
The skiing conditions were not much to write home (or blog) about. The gods weren’t responding to the continual plea for wind and or new snow. With no sign of change we decided to haul 15 miles to the abandoned mining town of Pyramiden. We had heard a little bit about it back in town and it looked intriguing. Plus, there were some good looking descents nearby and kite potential might increase on the fjord.
Talk about entering the unknown! Stay tuned for a tour of the northernmost ghost town in the world (with some skiing thrown in).
Gear up for your own adventures at Backcountry.com.
Wow, that last pic is really cool.