Oscar II land
6 day trip in Oscar II land
Oscar II land is the pearl of Spitsbergen!
On this trip you have the chance to experience the beauty of Svalbard; from glaciers to pointy mountains, to fjords to Svalbard's wildlife. You may also visit the northernmost settlement in the world, Ny-Ålesund. Visiting Ny-Ålesund is only doable by boat, unless you do like we do - go skiing an expedition!
Tour to Ny-Ålesund
We travel over Isfjorden with RIB, and start the 6 day expedition in Oscar II land. We will start in Borebukta and we end up in Kongsfjorden and Ny-Ålesund.
To do this tour you must be in an average physical shape. You don't need experience in winter camping, but you must have skiing experience.
We travel the whole trip on glaciers. Actually, 60% of Svalbard is covered by glaciers. That means that the guide will always have safety in mind, and we will have close follow up on our guests. The guide-guests ratio is 1:8.
Available seats are 8.
Tours available 2024:
May 21 - 26
Price NOK 24 000
Polar bear safety
We need to change on doing the polar bear watch. During the midnight sun, many end up loving the time being awake alone. Perhaps you will reflect over things you haven't thought about before?
Practical information
You will get provided tent from Backyard Svalbard. Sleeping kits we have for rental, if you need.
In camp we learn how to survive the Arctic nature. Vi set up the tents, we boil water for drinking, for food and for cleaning, and we make an outdoor toilet. The guide will certainly show you smart tips and tricks to survive the winter arctic.
Packing list
To do this tour, you'll need the following:
Woolen liners x2
Woolen socks x2
Mittens and gloves
Personal buff/face mask
Toiletteries
Sun glasses and sun screan
Jacket + trouser. sofshell/wind protective
Woolen sweater
Down jacket
Sleeping bag, comfort -15
Watertight bag to have in your pulka (ex. duffelbag)
Watertight bags to store smaller items in
Skis, boots, skins and poles.
Climbing harness (if you have)
A book/crosswords/podcast/music for personal recreation.
Day to day program
We pack our pulkas May 14 in our storage.
Day 1. May 15. We start the day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. We take the boat over the fjord and eat lunch next to the ice shore, just before we start our 6- day expedition. It's time to say goodbye to phone reception. After a half day skiing, we'll find camp spot on Borebreen.
Day 2. After a good night sleep we make breakfast and coffee. We have already started our preparations with boiliing water, and we start knowing how to set up the camp and put it down. On day 2 the goal is to reach Geitepasset before we set up camp.
Day 3. Today we are going to pass a challenging part with crevasses down Vintervegen. It's downhill and we are learing how to ski down with pulkas. At the end of Vintervegen, we'll reach St.Jonsfjorden. From St.Jonsfjorden we go up Austre Osbornebreen to set camp.
Day 4. Today we are going quite flat and long. We might see many nunataqs, mountains that are surrounded by glacier. Camp nr. 4 is at the top of Sidevegen.
Day 5. We are soon at the end of the expedition. Today we're going downwards Sidevegen and Kongsvegen. Now we finally can see the fjord, Kongsfjorden, which is the goal of the expedition. Camp nr.5 is on the glacier Kongsbreen.
Day 6. The last part to Ny-Ålesund is pretty exhausting for a body that has travelled 80 km the last 5 days. But when in Kongsfjorden and Ny-Ålesund you are fully deserved for a cold soda or a beer. We might also visit Kongsfjordbutikken where they have the remote suvernirs you only can purchase in Ny-Ålesund. The retour trip with boat takes at leasts 4 hours. We will go for a common dinner in Longyearbyen, when we are back.
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