End of April 2022, I joined, together with my sister, a four-day snowmobile expedition across Svalbard. It was a journey that became one of the most humbling and powerful experiences of my life.
Day 1: A Taste of the Wild
Our first day was a warm-up, riding westward past valleys, over glaciers, and frozen fjords before returning to Longyearbyen in the evening. Endless white stretched around us, broken only by shades of grey and blue of the cliffs, the ice, and the ocean. I felt the first taste of what the coming days would bring: silence (broken only by the sound of our engines), vastness, and the thrill of moving through this frozen wilderness.
Day 2: Into the Ghost Town
The next day we set out for three days away from town, heading to Pyramiden, a largely abandoned settlement from another time. Riding across frozen fjords and sweeping valleys, the journey itself was as memorable as the destination.
Pyramiden was once a bustling Soviet coal mining settlement. It felt like stepping into another world as all the documents, dried plants, and even a piano showed how suddenly the town was deserted. Spending the night in one of the buildings, which today functions as a hotel, was a very interesting experience.
Day 3: Presence of the Arctic King
We ventured deeper into the wilderness, riding over glaciers under a perfect blue sky over Dicksonfjord. It was almost too warm in our heavy gear, and for a moment the Arctic felt gentle and so incredibly peaceful. On land and the frozen fjord we found signs of polar bears: the remains of a reindeer and paw prints in the snow. Polar bears are considered marine mammals, hunting primarily seals resting on sea ice. But as sea ice retreats, some have learned to hunt reindeer by chasing them toward cliffs. This behavior is an adaptation to a changing Arctic.
Running low on fuel, we returned to Pyramiden before setting out again towards the east.
Day 3 Night: Lost in the Whiteout
Crossing glaciers on the way to Sabine Land, the weather suddenly changed. The wind howled, temperatures plummeted to -40°C with windchill, and the world dissolved into white. I could barely see the lights of the snowmobile two meters ahead of me. In that whiteout, you lose all sense of direction. Uphill, downhill, flat — everything blurs into the same nothingness. Fear mixes with focus as you force yourself to keep moving.
And then, as if a curtain lifted, the sky cleared. Perfect blue again, the vast Arctic revealed in dazzling clarity. The relief, the beauty, the feeling of waking from a dream — I carry that moment deep in my heart.
That night, instead of tents, we sheltered in an ice cave, shielded from the wind. Dinner thawed slowly on a tiny gas burner, freezing to the plate if you ate too slowly. We rotated polar bear guard duty under the midnight sun, its endless light a small comfort against the biting wind.
Day 4: The Relentless East
Our final day took us to the east coast, prime polar bear territory. The glacier fronts and icebergs frozen into the sea ice were stunning, but the weather was unforgiving. The wind sliced through us, freezing the exposed side of the body until it ached. Not a single animal was out in those harsh conditions. Eventually we turned inland and made our long way back to Longyearbyen.
This journey left a deep mark on me. To be exposed so fully to the forces of nature makes you feel small and unimportant, stripped of all the noise of society. Survival becomes simple: did I drink enough, eat enough, can I still feel my fingers and toes?
It was a life-changing experience, a reminder of both the raw power and fragile beauty of the Arctic, a place that has become part of my heart.