An arctic dream
The silence is all around us. We and the wind a produces the only sounds. We a constant rhythmic sound of movement. Ski poles piercing through the snow and the slushing sound of the sleds moving the snow apart. The wind generates the only irregular sound. Other than that it is utterly silent. It all feels surreal and I can´t belive that we are actually on our way. Looking at the vast surroundings I suddenly feel very far from society.
My eyes traces the horizon and the long waves of the glacier in front of us. On both sides we are followed by the distinct shapes of the mountains of Svalbard. Shapes being both smooth and hard at the same time while casting long shadows.
We were on the final few kilometers of a 10 day skiing expedition - this also at Svalbard. My mind was craving more. I asked our guide Vincent: "Where should we go next?". Without a moment of hesitation, Vincent answered: "You should go to the south - to Sørkapp." A new dream was born.
There is a lot of preparation for a trip like this. Our plan was to ski unsupported from Longyearbyen to Sørneset and back. A trip we estimated was around 500 kilometers. Our team consisted of 3, a good size for an expedition like this. We could use one tent and were able to distribute the shared equipment between us.
We had a hard deadline of 30 days to complete our mission and prepared rations for 32 days. Two days extra if we were to be caught in bad weather. Not the biggest margin but we anticipated to spend less than 30 days. As part of our preparation we did a lot of physical training - preparing our bodies for skiing for 8-10 hours per day while pulling all our belongings in our sleds.
A dream that has been following us for the last three years. We wanted to do the next expedition on our own, to own the plan and to be fully dependent on ourselves. Good preparations are a big part of an expedition like this. Something we had never done before on our own. We spent countless hours looking at maps and talking to participants on other similar expeditions.
Vincent Colliard
Preparing for an arctic adventure
The silence is all around us. We and the wind a produces the only sounds. We a constant rhythmic sound of movement. Ski poles piercing through the snow and the slushing sound of the sleds moving the snow apart. The wind generates the only irregular sound. Other than that it is utterly silent. It all feels surreal and I can´t belive that we are actually on our way. Looking at the vast surroundings I suddenly feel very far from society.
The silence is all around us. We and the wind a produces the only sounds. We a constant rhythmic sound of movement. Ski poles piercing through the snow and the slushing sound of the sleds moving the snow apart. The wind generates the only irregular sound. Other than that it is utterly silent. It all feels surreal and I can´t belive that we are actually on our way. Looking at the vast surroundings I suddenly feel very far from society.