SVALBARD EAST-WEST 2026
FOLLOW EDGARS, ELAD, FRANÇOIS, FABRIZIA, SIFFREDO & GAUTE
Day 0: FOLLOW THE JOURNEY HERE 🤗
Soon everybody will gather all their stuff and head north. Really far north for this epic eat-west crossing of Svalbard.
If you in the meantime want to read more about what they have signed up for, follow this link :-)
SEE PHOTO CARUSELLE AT THE END!
DAYS in LYR
The whole group is finally all in Longyearbyen! We have had a few hectic days. First Franqois had a delayed flight that made him reach Longyearbyen later than planned. Then Fabi and Siffredo did not get their luggage and we waited for this for two days. Now finally, everything is in order and we are packing up the last equioment for the trip.
Our departure was delayed one day because off these troubles, but tomorrow we will start our journey.V
DAY 1, SUNDAY: HEADING OUT
Got driven out with snowmobiles today. Snow and whiteout going out of town.
A lot of snow made the snowmobiles stuck a few times. Everyone had to help out to get us going. Reached the east cost late in the day. Pitched tents right away as ut was soon getting dark.
All in good spirits looking forward to start skiing tomorrow.
DAY 2, CAMP AT N78,147726° e18,751817°
After a first camp on the glacier, where we had a glimpe of the aurora we set of skiing. Clear skies today, but some wind. Passed a beautiful glacier when we skied down on the seaice. After the snowfall and wind it was heavy pulling the sleds through the thick snow up the hill from the sea. Slow going, and did not go as far as we hoped, but beautiful views! Made camp as the sun set. 10km
DAY 3, camp at N78,092676° E18,363218°
Lots of northern lights during the polarbear watch tonight. Today we headed down into Agardhdalen. Big cornices in the rivervalley but we found a safe route and a couple of ptarmigans kept us company for a while. Mostly flat and downhill today made for a nice change after yesterdays heavy uphill.
Even a northern fulmar greeted us as we skiied into Agardhalen where we made our camp for the night.
16km in the Bank - will sleep well tonight :-)
day 4, Beauty & beast, camp at N78,110433° E17,784741°
Beautiful cold morning today as the sun hit the nearby mountains. Perfect skiing into Agardhalen with the sun just over the horizon. Lunchtime with a couple of reindeers grazing nearby. Started climbing Sveigbreen glacier after lunch, quite cold. Slow and heavy going. Clouds rolled in as we made camp for the night. All a bit tired after the uphill.
14km down & Up for a good sleep
day 5, WEATHER CLOSING IN, CAMP AT N78,062754° E17,304025°
Started the day with an uphill as we climbed up Sveigbreen. Slow and steady to the top. Increasing winds, but wheather is mild. Whiteout the whole day today.
Going down SÃ¥tebreen the wind gained speed as we made our way down the glacier. Heavy wind and snow made us put our heads down the last hours before we reached a place suitable to put up camp.
Day 6, camp at N 78,052937° E 16,602037°
Wind in the back as we skied towards Reindalspasset. Here we saw some old polarbear tracks that was still visible in the snow!
Continued on the frozen river into Reindalen. Wind picked up, but luckely still in the back. As the day went to an end we struggeled to find a campsite with enough snow to anchor our tents in the strong wind. But, as the sun was setting, giving us beautiful light, we found a place to camp.
17km Gone with the Wind :-)
Day 7, camp at N 78,024774° E 16,312401°
Very strong winds and whiteout this morning made us stay in the tent until lunch. When we decided to get going we all helped each other to take down the tents safely. With the wind still in our backs we continued down Reindalen hoping to find a more sheltered place for our next camp. After some hours of walking it was time to make camp. Still a lot of wind, but we managed together.
8km! Not bad!!
Day 8 - camp at N 77,956871° E 15,687661°
Traveled further down Reindalen today. Slightly less wind than yesterday, but still freezing winds. Lots of reindeer kept us company as we traveled further west. After some houres of skiing the clouds lifted a bit and we could see the vastnes of this very big valley. Lunch in the tent today as the wind was so chilling. Good day on the skiis.
17km down and all smiles :-)
Day 9, camp at N 77,988360° Ø 15,217009°
Strong winds today as well when we packed down the tents. Away we went. Pointing our skiis towards Semmeldalen. Very heavy sastrugi made us test our balance as we went. Turning the corner of Semmeldalen we had a blissful lunch with sun and almost no wind. As soon as we set of we had fierce winds from the side. When we made camp the wind setteled a little and we had nice calm evening as the sun set.
16 km, Regular as clockwork!
Day 10, camp at N 77,996053° E 14,583964°
Last full day of skiing. We started climbing over Grøndalspasset and into Grøndalen. It was almost no snow on the mountains around us, giving an indication of how fierce the winds can be. We followed the snowmobiletrack towards the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. This made the skiing easy and we crused out Grøndalen towards the coast. Found a campsite about 7km from the coast. Tomorrow we will ski the last bit before we get picked up and driven back to Longyearbyen.
16km - agan!
Day 11, END & BACK TO LONGYEARBYEN
Last day we traveled the final bit to the coast. All happy to reach our destination we celebrated with a small glass!
A seal was couriously checking us out from the harbour.
Later we got our transport back to town. It was heavy winds as we drove back and we had to do a detour to get back to town.
All safe in town we fixed our gear and went to town for a well deserved dinner.
