Journey to where Norway meets the North Pole and you’ll find the Svalbard archipelago, home to some of the coolest ski runs and Arctic backdrops in the world! Starting in Longyearbyen, the northernmost permanently inhabited settlement, embark on a week-long ski odyssey under the 24-hour Midnight Sun, during which you’ll tour untouched summits, shred untracked lines, and explore places no one’s ever seen before. From mild cruisers to bone-chilling couloirs, skiers of all skill levels will find a run of their own. And the best part? You won’t have to share the slopes with anyone.
Enjoy a week of sailing and ski touring under the Midnight Sun! Make your way to Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost settlement, join a seasoned local guide, and chase the freshest lines on remote and untouched mountains! You will be aboard either the Ocean Sherpa or the Moondance sailboat, and you will switch locations almost daily to reach the best snow and get some epic descents. Your guide will adapt the touring to your group’s goals and abilities. All you have to do is enjoy the views and pick the most exciting slope you want to shred!
Fly into Svalbard Airport just northwest of Longyearbyen and get transferred to your hotel in town. After you go over the trip logistics, get a good night’s sleep. You’ll need it for the adventure to come!
Get settled in the sailboat, your home for the week. Head towards the beautiful Isfjorden, a majestic fjord in Svalbard. You will anchor in Trygghamna, which is where you’ll have your first day of skiing! The bay Trygghamna translates to “safe harbor”, as its calm seas give travelers the opportunity to disembark the boat and explore the wonderful surroundings.
Accommodation: Ocean Sherpa or Moondance sailboat
Meals: Light dinner
With today’s locations being Trygghamna and Ymerbukta, you will have plenty of options to leave your first turns in fresh snow. You will find lots of terrific and exciting terrain options here. Once you return to the boat, you’ll be served a delicious meal before heading towards St. John’s fjord.
Accommodation: Ocean Sherpa or Moondance sailboat
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Today you’ll wake up in the wonderful St. John’s fjord, an area said to have potential gold hidden! Better go out and search for it, maybe you get lucky.
Accommodation: Ocean Sherpa or Moondance sailboat
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
The destination for these two days is Krossfjorden. You are now 79 degrees north, not far away from Kings Bay and Ny-Ålesund. This is the northernmost place of this tour, so make sure to fully enjoy the moment and take in this once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Accommodation: Ocean Sherpa or Moondance sailboat
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
This island is also known as the Foreland, as it’s the westernmost island in the Svalbard archipelago. These were most likely the mountains that William Barentz discovered in 1594, and he gave them the name Spitzbergen (due to how pointy they are).
Accommodation: Ocean Sherpa or Moondance sailboat
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Isfjorden has countless skiing opportunities, and depending on the weather, your guide will take you to the best spots. Ski your heart out, as this is the last day of skiing!
Accommodation: Ocean Sherpa or Moondance sailboat
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
After a full week at sea and in remote mountains, it’s time to return to civilization. Disembark the boat, explore the charming Longyearbyen, and catch your flight in the afternoon!
Meals: Breakfast
My favorite part of the experience was getting to know Sigurd, the guide, and hearing about all his local adventures. He did a great job arranging all the details for the trip, making it a safe, fun, and enjoyable day in the backcountry of Svalbard. I would highly recommend Sigurd as a guide and feel like I made a new friend. If you visit, remember the weather changes pretty quickly so leave yourself a day or two of flexibility for unpredictable conditions.
What you get in this adventure:
What’s not included:
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:
For clothing, we recommend bringing:
For personal items, we recommend bringing:
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:
Min. age requirements:
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!
Deposits
When booking a trip, you can either pay for it in full or reserve your spot with a 50% deposit. The remaining 50% of the trip price is to be paid 120 days prior to departure, at the latest.
Cancellations
