tisdag 12 maj 2009

Skiing on Svalbard



Our maingoal on Svalbard was to ski up and down some mountains. And so we did. We took a taxi to the outskirts of the village Longyearbyen, put our climbing-skins on our skis, and started climbing up the glacier.



Our first day in the mountains was fantastic with beautiful sunshine and clearblue sky.





You don´t want to be anywhere else on a day like that. However, the weather can change in a minute. Therefore it is important to use a map, compass and GPS as much as possible, to make sure that you´re ok even if you´re surrounded by fog and clouds. We noticed that the compass and GPS didn´t work so well. The compass didn´t show the right direction and the GPS didn´t have a map of Svalbard. It seems like the GPS-maker considers Svalbard to be too far up north in the wilderness to cover by maps.



Skiing towards a mountaintop can be dangerous if you´re on steep mountainsides where there is risk of avalanches. You need to be cautious and observant when it comes to the quality of the snow.



We had a great trip to the top, although we were surrounded by clouds for a while. We also had a great race down in the powdersnow. It is easy to be happy on an adventure like this, with the favorite skis working perfectly.

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