A Week of Sailing and Skiing in Svalbard

What you get in this adventure:

• • Experienced, certified ski guides with extensive knowledge of the area
  • 8-day sailing & ski touring adventure
  • Sailboat accommodations for the duration of the ski tour (Moondance for 2025, Ocean Sherpa for 2026 departures)
  • Professional sailing crew
  • Standard offshore lifejacket and lifeline
  • Transportation to and from the hotel
  • Shore landings and tours with the dinghy
  • All meals on board, snacks, hot beverages, non-alcoholic beverages
  • Bedding and towels
  • Safety equipment

What’s not included:

• • Technical backcountry ski touring equipment
  • Transportation to and from Longyearbyen
  • Accommodation prior to and after the tour
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Meals in Longyearbyen
  • Voice and data communication using onboard equipment
  • Guide gratuities — optional

To enjoy this backcountry adventure, you need to be in excellent physical shape. You will be on your feet for 7 full days, covering miles of complex Arctic terrain every day. You will need to manage controlled descents in variable conditions. All participants should feel comfortable on challenging blue or black-level resort runs and be able to carry a loaded daypack while skinning up variable degrees of terrain.

For the enjoyment and safety of everyone involved, participants must be approved to participate in advanced backcountry skiing tours either through a previous trip with the guiding service or through recommendations.

In order to join this sailing & skiing tour in Svalbard, you need to be an experienced backcountry skier.

Don’t worry if you’ve never been sailing before! You’ll have professional guides and crew onboard with you, and they will take care of everything. Still, the sails are easily handled so even unexperienced guests can take an active part in the handling of the ship.

For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring:

• • Alpine touring skis, telemark skis, or splitboard with skins (can be rented)
  • Touring boots and poles (can be rented)
  • Avalanche safety equipment (can be rented):
    • Digital, 3-antenna avalanche transceiver or beacon
    • Lightweight snow shovel
    • Avalanche probe
    • Harness for glacier travel (for advanced touring)

For clothing, we recommend bringing:

• • 2 merino wool underwear long-johns
  • 2 merino wool underwear t-shirts
  • Fleece jacket and thin down jacket
  • Wool sweater
  • Big down jacket
  • Shell jacket & shell pants
  • 4 pairs thin merino wool socks & 2 pairs thick wool socks
  • Beanies and buffs
  • 2 pairs of gloves (1 thick, 1 thing) & glove liners
  • Warm mittens
  • Inside shoes for onboard the boat
  • Leisure clothing for the boat

For personal items, we recommend bringing:

• • Water-resistant duffle bag to pack all your belongings in (90+ liters)
  • Backpack large enough to carry all items listed (around a 30-40L backpack)
  • Helmet
  • Sunglasses and ski goggles
  • Water bottle and 1L of water
  • Sunscreen and lip balm
  • Personal medication
  • Toiletries
  • Blister plasters and sports tape (if you’re prone to blisters or sprains)
  • Camera — optional

All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent it with your guides upon request, just let us know when booking!

Although there can never be guarantee of sun, May in Svalbard brings relatively good and stable weather. You’ll sail from point to point and go skiing depending on the weather conditions. Your guide will make sure to maximize your skiing time.

Regarding temperatures, it’s generally around -10°C (14°F) at sea levels with a variability throughout the day. Naturally, the nights are colder and temperature can vary depending on the altitude. Check out our clothing and equipment recommendations. We recommend packing more than you need, because the weather can come in quickly, and a sunny morning can soon become a stormy afternoon.

Group sizes and pricing:

• • For this adventure, the max client-to-guide ratio is 5:1.
  • The maximum group size is set at 10 guests.
  • A minimum of 6 participants is required for the tour to run.

Min. age requirements:

• • If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.
  • Minors above the age of 16 may be permitted to join private tours on a case-by-case basis.
  • Minors under 16 are not allowed to join this tour.

If your group has skiers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.

To get to this ski tour in Svalbard, most people fly into Svalbard Airport near Longyearbyen, the largest city in the archipelago and the starting point of this tour. There are daily flights to Longyearbyen from Oslo, Norway, but we encourage you to book early. Norwegian Air flies from Oslo, while SAS arrives from Stockholm.

Flying to remote Svalbard takes a while, so plan your journey ahead, and spend a day in town before departure on this tour. Your guide will organize for a minibus to transport you and your gear to your hotel in Longyearbyen.

We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with both medical and travel protection. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, simply choose Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner!

Redpoint tailors their protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations. Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.

Once your booking is confirmed and your trip is paid in full, you will be offered to purchase Redpoint’s protection. If you need any help or require more information, let us know and we will be happy to help!