Svalbard - an artic skitour cruise

The ultimate ski tour, skiing in the Artic, up to the 80 latitude. In an environment that beats the most.

A number of peaks that never has been skied before. Plan the trip around May / June and there is light the whole day, with the mystic of the midnight sun. Sum that up with a wildlife that is not to be found anywhere else together with the only communication that is via Sat phone. Could it be better!?

After a long season on skis I had the opportunity to make it even longer. 3 weeks of skiing on Svalbard, with the base on the cruise ship Origo. With its excellent Crew. 

Well, its an option not to be missed. 

Bags packed and with my ski boots in hand I checked in on the flight towards Longyearbyen via Oslo and Tromsö.

Equipped for an Artic ski day - powder and gun

   Longyearbyen is located far north, at 78 Latitude, 78° 13′ 3.79″ N, 15° 38′ 15.39″ E. The only thing that is left is the North pole.

Svalbard is sometimes referred to as Spetsbergen, which is one of its bigger islands. It is administrated by the Kingdom of Norway and a demilitarised and a free economic zone.

Sweden got the question to run the administration but we thought that it could be done by the Norwegians. Well they apparently can but what a stupid thing to say no to!!

   Anyhow, upon arriving in Longyearbyen I meet up with Anders and Martin and we head to the ship to leave the gear before a trip in to ”town”. Longyearbyen holds about 2000 habitants and on whole Svalbard its about 2600.

The center is quickly cruised but there is a couple of good coffee places. So a well deserved espresso before the real cruise starts. Heading even further north, yes!

Keep Svalbard clean! Collection rubbish from the shore

   The first evening we make a stop at Magdalena fjorden, a couple of hours north with Origo. Well protected from the winds and waves. The only issue I could see for this trip, how would the body keep up with the waves and seasickness…!?

Par ici ca va bien…

Added to the normal skiing equipment as avalanche gear and other obvious things is a couple of things one must have while skiing on Svalbard. One is sat phone and rescue sender togheter with a proper radio because lack of other communications. And the other is Shoot gun and a flare gun because the risk of meeting a polar bear.

So you need to have a licens to use a gun and know how to use the weapons. After testing all these things we make a short tour just up the closest slopes to get the legs and mind a little fresh and some appetite before dinner.

In the most excellent light from the midnight sun. Great to be out there, finally.

There is a number of fjords to explore on Svalbard, the only thing is to decide if its best to go south or north. Really just decided on the ice conditions, we decide to sail north. 

Anchor up and during dinner we sail under a cloudless sky, no stars visible because the sun shine as bright as ever, as the clock shows 10 p.m.

Walrus gathering...

  The wildlife is stunning as well as anything else. There is seabirds following us the whole time. And soon we can spot the first Walrus, a huge animal that can weight up to 2000kg. This animal can be up to 30 years old and dive up to 80m. Staying under surface for up to 30minutes. Its main diet is benthic bivalve mollusks. But it also eats shrimps and crabs. And occasionally seals and Narwhales. Once close to being out hunted because of its skin and speck and meat and the tusks. Now they are slowly recovering but still its not obvious to spot any. 

 The other hyped-up spice is the Polar Bear. By a good reason, its one of the biggest and most feared predators on earth. A male can weight up to 800kg. 

Every morning we start the day with scanning of the surroundings with binoculars to see what activities are going on. 

  One such thing to take in mind is seals on the ice, it could mean polar bear around as well.

And scanning the shore it doesn’t take long until we can see the first one, a big yellow/white male. That is keeping watch close to a whole in the ice. And then we spot an other bear, about 500m away from us.

To get a better look we go inte the Zodiaks and watch them from a safe distance. Amazed to watch them as they work togheter to catch the seal that they are waiting to show up to get a mouth of air.

Bear watch from deck

  Next stop is Klincowsfjorden. From were we are planning to make a traverse over to Liefdefjorden. 

A full day which will give us some 2500 vertical meters of skiing. 

Once again we load the boats and steam out on yet an other days of skiing. 10 days and we haven't seen any other around.

During the 10min passage in the Zodiak a big Minke whale appears in front of us. On its hunt for shrimps. A 4-5 ton big "fish" that can be up to 60 years old. 

Since there is a fjell named ”Ben Nevis” I just have to go via that peak! One of the reason it has the same name as its "brother" in Scotland might be that they have the same hight

There is a number of familiar places and names. At st Johnsfjorden there is Jämtland and Bydalsfjellet as an example.

Since the Polar bear is a curious animal I tell the others in the group to keep the voices down and make things quick as we prepare for the trip.

-If they get the smell from us it will only take some minutes to cross the fjord, I say as a joke. But with some seriousness behind.

And soon we are starting the ascent upwards Nevis.

After some 15min I hold the group and decide to take a watch as Origo steams out and around the island to meet up on the other side. 

During the morning I had observed a bear on the other side of the fjord and I was curios to see were we had her at this time.

  -I wonder where…

Following the tracks I can see that she has gone into the water. But then come up again and actually taking a shortcut towards us. Since we are some 500m uphill there is no risk that she will catch up, but still. And when I finally find her she is some 400meters away circulating with her nose trying to get an idea of what we are.

Soon she decides that we are no seals and turns around heading back to the ice again.

We can relax and go on…

Cruising down Ben Nevis...

   Having an incident with a Polar Bear is quite unusual and during the last years there has only been a couple of fatal accidents the last years. But, by law you must always carry a rifle outside Longyearbyen. And in this case, it felt quite good to have it!

Julia on Top!

Untouched snow, first tracks again...

On the cruise back towards Longyearbyen we make a stop at the most odd place of ”Pyramiden”. 

An old Russian settlement that until 1998 was fully run with 1200 people living there. 

In Pyramiden you could find everything from School to hospital, swimming hall, a big exercise gym and bandy rink. 

The people who lived there worked in the mines and it was hold as one of the best places to work at in former Soviet union.

The Russians bought Pyramiden from Sweden in 1927, who founded it in 1910. 

They still run a mine in Barentsburg which today still have a community of people who lives there.

In Pyramiden the Russians only have a few people that keeps the place housed, between 2-6 persons.

Then in January -98 came a message from Russia. 

-The mine is about to close, there will be a ship that picks you up tomorrow.

Now everything is just abandoned, still owned by the mine company Trust Arktikugol. 2013 they opened the Hotel Tulip. So now its possible to stay overnight or even make a season in Pyramiden as a ski bum!

                                                         

Here you will find the northern most Grand Piano, Red October and of course a Lenin byst.

The Hotel bar at Pyramiden - Tulip

  

Beer time at Ny-Ålesund

Barentsburg. An other Russian, but still running, settlement on Svalbard

New and old style

Abandoned houses at Barentsburg

  Once back in town again after a number of great ski descents, resulting in some new never skied runs.

During the trip we saw 9 Polar bears, a number of whales and a huge amount of different seabirds and Seals. And about 50 Walrus.

I finish the trip were I started it, at the coffee shop with a fresh espresso. Already planning my next trip to this great place…

Facts:
Svalbard (formerly known by its Dutch name Spitsbergen) is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Situated north of mainland Europe, it is about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. The largest island is Spitsbergen, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya.
Administratively, the archipelago is not part of any Norwegian county, but rather forms an unincorporated area administered by a state-appointed governor. Since 2002, Svalbard's main settlement, Longyearbyen, has had an elected local government, somewhat similar to mainland municipalities. Other settlements include the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research station of Ny-Ålesund, and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. Svalbard is the northernmost settlement in the world with a permanent civilian population. Other settlements are farther north, but are populated only by rotating groups of researchers; e.g. Alert, Nunavut—the northernmost year-round community.
The islands were first taken into use as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal miningstarted at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway. They also established Svalbard as a free economic zone and a demilitarized zone. The Norwegian Store Norske and the Russian Arktikugol remain the only mining companies in place. Research and tourism have become important supplementary industries, with the University Centre in Svalbard(UNIS) and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault playing critical roles. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve inter-community transport. Svalbard Airport, Longyear serves as the main gateway.

The retreat of the ice
60% of Svalbard is currently covered by ice year-round—but for how long?

On the west coast of Svalbard, the glaciers are retreating at the rate of nearly 100 feet per year—and Svalbard is just the most visible victim of the great Arctic melt.

True, some of the ice melts in the summer and freezes back again in the winter naturally all across the Arctic. The problem is that global climate change has pushed the cycle out of balance. Every year, more and more ice melts—and less and less returns in ever thinner ice sheets.

According to the Arctic Council, average temperatures in the Arctic have risen at almost twice the rate as the rest of the world over the past few decades.

In 2007, the Arctic melt broke all records, with 463,322 square miles of ice simply vanishing. That's an area bigger than Texas and California combined. If we keep this up, sometime in the next 20 to 50 years, the Arctic will be completely ice-free in the summertime.

This is not just an inconvenience (by which I mean "near-certain extinction") for polar bears, who already have a rough time hunting on the thinning pancake ice (they can lose up to half their body weight during the summer).

Let's put it this way:

• If all the glaciers in the Alps melt, global sea levels would rise by less than 1mm.

• If all of the rest of the sub-Arctic glaciers (beside Greenland) melt, the seas will rise about 1.5 feet.

• If Greenland melts, the sea levels will rise 20 feet.

• If all the ice in the Arctic melts, global sea levels will rise 197 feet.

//The trouble with normal is that it always tend to get worse 

Training complex

Most of us want to be more physically functional, at whatever level we need to function at. 

My list of important movements is very broad, from climbing to getting my snowmobile unstuck to skiing and running to carrying the groceries up my great 3 floor stairs. But all of these forms of movement involve complex sets of muscles working together. My ability to do these movements is not likely to be dramatically improved doing exercises that isolate individual muscles. 

Yet most “gyms” in the world are full of machines and equipment whose sole purpose is to develop muscles in isolation from one another. Bicep curl machine. Lat bar machine you work with your elbows to isolate your tripceps mostly out. Ab machines that get rid of your hip flexors…. Life does NOT work like that.

Our muscles have to work together, and if we don’t train them together then they won’t work together. Most of the strength gains that come initially with training are due to teaching your muscles how to work together… When I pick up my back pack off the floor with my arms I do a sort of straight-legged deadlift into a bicep curl supported by literally hundreds of different trunk (core if you prefer) muscles, finger muscles, back, neck, etc. If each muscle I used in lifting into my arms were to light up in bright red and my skin were transparent then there probably wouldn’t be more than a few muscles in my entire body that didn’t turn red to one extent or another. A deadlift is a pretty darn complicated movement. A bicep curl is not. Complex vs isolated.

When I first started “training” for climbing. I did many of the classic muscle isolation “split” routines that came out of body building. That goal is develop each part to look nice. So you do your back one day, legs the next, chest the next, repeat. I did get stronger, but that was about looking good vs. function. I couldn’t have deadlifted my own weight without that my back wouldn't hurt. That’s a basic human skill we all ought to know how to do, and you won’t learn it at the average gym… If you do one thing different in your training this year go learn how to deadlift properly. I think about my form every single time I pick up a log or a heavy pack or help a friend carry the tires out from the basement. I have never had any chronic back issues, I don’t have any now because I know how to lift heavy shit up without hurting my self. Back to training.

If I’m climbing a rock route then I bet every single muscle in my body (OK, most of them) would have fired somewhere on the route.

Where this all going is that the more isolated in terms of muscle involvement an exercise is the less it is applicable to real life “functional/complex movement.” I didn’t come up with this idea at all; Crossfit certainly made it mainstream. That probably works really, really well. I’d put any Crossfitter up against anyone who trained isolation exercises at a globo gym in almost any real-world movement from running to lifting a car tire and I’d expect that the Crossfitter is going to win. 

But, will it win over a real life out door training?!

Functional movement training kicks ass on isolation movement training. So exercises like pullups dominate the lat isolation machine. Total strength in actually DOING things you get out of ‘em. You could have 17 inch biceps, but if you can’t deadlift 50 pounds of a shopping bag, then those muscles are useless.

So, if you’re training to be more functional then in general do more functional movements. But, even in a “general” conditioning program, we’re still always choosing our goals. Do we want to be more tilted toward running, or deadlifting? Doing high-output exercises for a short time, or a max single effort? “General” workouts pick a general line through many areas, great. Sport-specifc athletes need sport-specific exercises. That’s why a trained junior high runner will destroy a champion senior in a fast track. Skills and trained movement patterns start to trump strength pretty fast in most sports, and if you want to dominate in a single sport then you had better be training that sport, hard. Hard training for a single sport does not leave room for general fitness. That’s just reality. Nobody “wins” at being a generalist, it’s an arbitrary idea. But I do a lot of sports at a decent level, and I do find some common training ground. Broadly, I need to be able to push and pull with my arms and my legs, and I need to have good mobility and strength through the range of motion those movements require. If you can’t squat down until your heels hit your ass because it hurts that’s a problem, and you need to fix it.

Today I primarily do 4 functional, compound exercises that I regard as highly relevant across my sports, and then do I sports for the rest of my training. I deadlift, squat, bench (or do pushups), and do pull-ups. I’ll vary this with running and road biking for lunges, but those four exercises about cover it for me, and I do them in my “off” seasons as well as occasionally during my season. I’ll throw in some front levers maybe, dips or whatever feels right depending on what I’m feeling weak at, but I need to be able to pull up, push up, and lift up to be functional both in my life and across my sports.

I do these four exercises with strict form, and never for time. If you’re training complex, heavy movements fast you WILL get injured unless you’re a fantastic genetic mutant. Kipping around the pullup bar like you’re being electrocuted is not the way forward to develop actual useful pulling strength, nor is bouncing the bench press bar off your chest like it’s a trampoline. I have learned to respect strength movements; doing them fast never works out well over time. Ask anyone who argues how their shoulders feel in a few years. They probably won’t still be training as they’ll be injured, and I find that a needless tragedy.

I hike, climb, run, ski, bike etc. etc, but I find that if I’m doing those exercises once to a couple of times a week plus whatever I do outside I’m doing OK  as far as “general” function goes. If I drop one exercise due to time or whatever it’s squats; second, deadlifts. I hike enough and use my legs enough that it’s my upper body that needs strength and balance maintenance. During the height of my sport-specific performance season I don’t go near a bar,(well ok it happens) but it’s not going to help me at that point (or it may, but not to win or kick ass at my sport, which is what the goal is…)

Finally, my idea is to keep up and do a lot of different exercises which also helps to keep the training interesting but even more staying away from injuries. 

/

Food for a thought, now there is an other functional movement!

Hang on...

Granit la France - La Vierge ”Bettembourg-Coqueugniot”

Granit la France et les Alps

Printemps in the Alps and a perfect time for the combo of ski and rock climbing in the high mountains.

With skis, suddenly the approaches and descents are so much easier, and many times the rock is more of a pleasure. At least if you as me like a bit cooler conditions, maybe even some snow in the cracks to cheer things up!

We started up the week with some climbs in Vallèe l´Arve but it was actually a bit to warm. So instead the focus changed to granit and crack climbing in the haute montagne.  And, the best option turned out to be Grands Montets.

aig du Genepi

The spring weeks around Chamonix and specially Grands Montets means a lot of ski touring people, with a high number starting the classical Houte Route via Argèntiére. But still with some patience its not to bad to access the summit lift with the goal to go climbing. The days are long in april and with the summer time on its even better. Also the descent back down to the village, you might even get a ”manchester piste”, isn’t close to bad compared to the neighbour ”merde du Glace”.

Pitch one "Arete Sud" Genepi

At least for me I find the the approach to the rock climbs on the other side of Argèntiére glacier is a pure nightmare in summer. Ok, maybe not that bad. But still, descending down on my skis, a little skinning up to the start of the climb…well it is practical. Exercise for both mind and body, legs and arms in a most pleasuring way.

Our first goal was a route that Anna had a go on earlier, but had to turn around from because lack of time.

At that time the conditions was perfect but then we had a big storm passing and suddenly it was almost one more meter of snow. Still, the south facing ”murs” clears up quickly and arriving at the base of Genipi, it was again ok. Almost no snow on it. the "Arete Sud” on Genepi is a grade 5 rock climb, as the name reveals, it goes up the south arete with the crux on the start pitch. 

Pitch one, crux pitch of arete Sud, Genepi

The route finding is quite obvious as well as the protection, just stay on the arete. Its an obvious summit as well. A nice ”ballade” and a good intro to the Cham Rock and its cracks. 

Aig. du Genepi

From the summit its easiest to rap down the south face, so it is clever thing to place a pair of boots/skis at the base of the rock. The classic of the sector, pleasing and varied, on a high mountain cliff with just a few pegs but easy to protect and only some 30min approach from refuge d´Argentiere.

  Our next goal was a route first put up by E. Arbez-Gendre et M. Ravanel le 11 mars 1984. A Ravanel route is never to be wrong, he was a man of good cracks. And the ”Singe Bleu” on aig. Jardin comes in good style. A nine pitch route at max 6b, again the crux on the first pitch. 

aig. du Jardin - Argèntiére

-ok, I just realised that i didn’t put any wires with me…stayed home togheter with the jam tejp…nickel!

Anyhow…its a pinch/crack combo, very good climbing and worth the work to get to just for that one! Pitch two is a 5b on  the paper, a little of a transport, until it suddenly wakes one up and a couple of meters with unsecured steep climbing…lovely!

Above there is, again, a number of high quality pitches and all the way on good anchors/rappels. A suger cake just as good as te famous neighbour Diedre Central!!

Anna on pitch 1 Singe Bleu

After two days of early mornings the time was a made for a sleep in…its holidays after all…so an easy work out day with single pitch overhanging sports climbing on limestone between coffee brakes.

Layback and jam...!

With the meteo again showing sunny weather, the hunger for granit was greater then just bolted limestone. So one more route around the Argèneiére massif should do it. Well, we like to ski as well…so its an easy choice. 

With all the nice sunny weather in mind and after reading le Vertical with all its good reportage, we got hooked on la Vierge. A steep face above glacier d´Argèntiére. Reached via glacier du Milieu. A very obvious face and suposed to be holding some of the best crack lines around. Well, we like cracks so lets get on it!!

An obvious face with a number of great routes…hard to decide, but since Bettembourg was great climber and Alpinist, with the Arete Est on Shivling still fresh in mind, the goal went for his contribution on this face.

On the drive up towards le Cham, the clouds looks a bit suspicious. Windy sort of, but a check on the web says nil wind on le sommet. OK!?

But sure, once at top it is clear that the decision to leave clothes like long johns and duvet wasn't to cleaver. 

To get a little heat I try tone as close as possible with some some of the other heavy dressed people in the bin.

A cup of coffee at the Top des Grandes, best coffee place around in the valley! Warm and friendly as ever.

But after some 10-20min it starts o get a little…lingering. We need to get a move, do it or get off it. 

After descending the stairs, with all clothes on, it isn’t to bad after all. Almost a little warm sometimes.

And finally down at the glacier it is actually quite warm. With out any further questions asked I just start to marche towards the goal. Keeping enough distans backwards not to be in a potential discussion about what to do. A look up to the right show 4-5 parties on the north face of Les Droites. So it can always be worse I quietly think, sending a thought to the local PGHM. Might be some work later on here with Droites totally covered in clouds. Maybe some modern alpinistas in race suits!? Hope not!

Skinning uphill towards la Vierge the sun heats up more and more, finally I am in just a thin shirt and open zippers. This is going to be good. An expectation that holds all the way until I am putting my rock shoes on below the face. As on a schedule, the sun disappears and at the same time as I start up pitch one it starts to snow! Just great, thanks!!

La Vierge

Climbing and blowing back life to the fingers, alternating, full time cheered by a couple of Finnish skiers, I slowly work my way up to the slab crux and the the crux of the whole route. The roof! Good pro with a bolt and a red alien I slide over it and then gets a little easier ground for a while. Only thing is that its wet from the snow, so still slowly I continue onwards to the second but smaller toiture. 

Good fun on "Bettembourg"

-Are you on good pro? Anna ask from below

-Well yes, think so. I got two heavy pieces here…actually just one, the second just came back out :-)

Finally, after a big struggle I am at the belay, still snowing….

Equipment

Voie Arete Sud, aig. Genepi, s-ridge

2x50m ropes

1 set of friends, #0.5-3 camalot

1 small set of nuts

5-7 QD´s

Aig du Jardin

Voie Singe Bleu, plateau-du-jardin-singe-bleu

2x50m ropes

1 set of nuts…not super necessary apperently

2 sets of Aliens green-red

1 set of Camalots 0.75-3.0

5-7 QD´s

La Vierge

”Voie Bettembourg”

2x50m ropes

1 small set of wires

2 set of aliens blue-red

2 set of Camalots 0.75-3.0

1 set of Camalots #4

//Framtiden. Är en virtuell förlängning av nuet