SVALBARD
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THE CROSSING
Beginning of August in 2014, Borge and Vincent left Longyearbyen – capital of Svalbard – and sailed for about two days to a place called Verlegenhuken, in the Hinlopen strait. The skiing start point on the North-Eastern part of the island is estimated to approx 79°49’ N and 17°50’ E. Here they went ashore and started the ascent up to the glacier, and crossed the main Spitsbergen glacier all the way to Templefjord at around 78°25’ N and 17°20’ E, before being picked up by a sailboat which brought them back to civilization. On the way they reached the Newton peak, highest mountain on Svalbard, and skied down before heading back to the South. It took them 8 days cross country skiing to cover the 180 kilometers of “Main Spitsbergen” glacier.
DAILY REPORT
The last moment in Longyearbyen before going at sea aboard sailing boat Skydancer. On deck, Børge and Vincent are securing their gear for the 2-day sailing trip. We can observe the ski bag, sleds, fuel cans and also their personnal equipement stored in 100 liters waterproof bags. “Straping the last bag before heading North!” declare adventurer Vincent Colliard.
Børge and Vincent on the bow of Skydancer, both eager to check the ice in front of the boat. The arm of the glacier is directly plunging into the water. « Have you heard the sound of the ice that comes off the glacier » shouts Børge. « Rumbling sound! » replied Vincent
“Doctor Ice is feeling at home as soon as he has a piece of ice under his feet, he is like the a polar bear!” declares Vincent Colliard about his partner and hero Børge Ousland.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
It was time to leave the boat this morning with our gear. There were lots of drift ice in the Hinlopen strait, so Børge and Vincent had to hurry up and got dropped by the captain onto the beach at 8.00 this morning. Sail boat SkyDancer needed to quickly get away from the ice of the Hinlopen straight. Glacier went almost all the way down to the sea here so we only had to carry 100 meters before the two adventurers could pull their sleds.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
It was time to leave the boat this morning with our gear. There were lots of drift ice in the Hinlopen strait, so Børge and Vincent had to hurry up and got dropped by the captain onto the beach at 8.00 this morning. Sail boat SkyDancer needed to quickly get away from the ice of the Hinlopen straight. Glacier went almost all the way down to the sea here so we only had to carry 100 meters before the two adventurers could pull their sleds.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
It was time to leave the boat this morning with our gear. There were lots of drift ice in the Hinlopen strait, so Børge and Vincent had to hurry up and got dropped by the captain onto the beach at 8.00 this morning. Sail boat SkyDancer needed to quickly get away from the ice of the Hinlopen straight. Glacier went almost all the way down to the sea here so we only had to carry 100 meters before the two adventurers could pull their sleds.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
It was time to leave the boat this morning with our gear. There were lots of drift ice in the Hinlopen strait, so Børge and Vincent had to hurry up and got dropped by the captain onto the beach at 8.00 this morning. Sail boat SkyDancer needed to quickly get away from the ice of the Hinlopen straight. Glacier went almost all the way down to the sea here so we only had to carry 100 meters before the two adventurers could pull their sleds.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
It was time to leave the boat this morning with our gear. There were lots of drift ice in the Hinlopen strait, so Børge and Vincent had to hurry up and got dropped by the captain onto the beach at 8.00 this morning. Sail boat SkyDancer needed to quickly get away from the ice of the Hinlopen straight. Glacier went almost all the way down to the sea here so we only had to carry 100 meters before the two adventurers could pull their sleds.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
It was time to leave the boat this morning with our gear. There were lots of drift ice in the Hinlopen strait, so Børge and Vincent had to hurry up and got dropped by the captain onto the beach at 8.00 this morning. Sail boat SkyDancer needed to quickly get away from the ice of the Hinlopen straight. Glacier went almost all the way down to the sea here so we only had to carry 100 meters before the two adventurers could pull their sleds.
Ready to go! It’ s 9.00 am, Børge is firmly ready to commence crossing the ice of main Spitsbergen – 13th world largest glacier and first journey of the Icelegacy project.
“Route we made based on sat maps was great, no crevasses and very little melt ice. Skied 16,3 km, are now at 700 meters. Weather good most of the day, we could see Nordaustlandet island across the Hinlopen strait.” comments Børge Ousland.
CONCLUSION
As far as we know no one has done this route crossing Spitsbergen and exiting down the Von Post glacier, but the satellite photos and waypoints were perfect. No major problems for us with the fantastic weather we had, but for the glacier it is a losing game. The Von Post has retreated several hundred meters in a few decades agreed Børge Ousland & Vincent Colliard. Because of the favorable weather conditions the crossing has taken only 11 days instead of the 20 previewed.
I don’t think I have ever seen such good conditions. One days was minus 8 degrees and the next day we had a hard surface with very good glide. Sun from a blue sky and sometimes we skied in T-shirts, no wind at all. We did 36 km. It is being one of the most beautiful summer ski expeditions I have been on. So much variation with all the mountains and various glaciers coming in from the side. At the same time it’s safe. We met some crevasses areas but they were all snowed in and with the hard surface they were easy to cross. Also we saw some more ivory gulls and quite a lot of fox tracks zig zagging across the glacier. We are now on a large snowfield called Lomonosov fonna. Even got some suntan!
8 days covering 180 kilometers with the impression to have skied half of the distance. Beautiful weather and excellent skiing conditions. However, it is way too warm for polar bears including Borge ;-).
We never get tired of enjoying the continuous mountain tops that keep popping up both to the left and right as we moved forward. The mountains here are more astonishing than I expected.
