IMAGE: PIOTR DAMSKI


Departures out there Sledding in Svalbard


With dramatic landscapes, the northern lights and, at times, absolute silence, Svalbard offers a rare chance to feel like a first-time explorer, says Connor McGovern


“Last week, a polar bear and her two cubs


walked past the lodge,” says Maaike, her face childlike with excitement as she recounts her memories of Svalbard’s most notorious resident. “It’s exciting even for us.” Smiling, my host returns to her steaming


pot of reindeer stew — a tempting waft of what’s to come later this evening. We’re sitting around her dining table, surrounded by hunting paraphernalia and bearskins in a faithful replica of one of Svalbard’s old trapping stations, once used by hunters who’d been out in the bitter wilderness with just their trusted rifle. It’s snug and cozy with an old heater in the corner and miners’ lamps hanging from the beams. It’s so snug, in fact, that I’m almost


reluctant to step back outside into the dark. But Piotr, our guide, has reappeared with a face flecked by ice and beckons us outside. Tere are no polar bears, he assures us, but we’re about to meet some other furry beasts. He leads us to the dog yard, where rows of wooden kennels stretch out before us, their four-legged residents curled up inside. “Tere are about 90 of them,” he says,


“but we’ll just meet 24 tonight.” To my left is Dropbox — brother of Google and Skype — a


fluffy Greenland dog whose wagging tail is hard to resist. Before I know it, I’ve roused the attention of his neighbors, tugging at their leads to get a stroke. But there are more pressing matters at hand — harnessing. Piotr makes it look like child’s play. He


slips Dido into her harness in no time. Now, the others have realized what’s going on — one by one, they emerge from their kennels and burst into a din of barking, whining and howling. It takes me several attempts to harness Nunatuq, who insists on licking my face, and even more attempts to get dancing Sierra through the loops in the harness. After much patience — and intervention


from Piotr — our sled is ready to go. “Te sleds are simple to use,” he explains, perhaps forgetting how much of a hash I’d made of readying the dogs. “You stand on this pedal to brake and keep hold of the handles with both hands. It’s simple.” With a few other lingering pieces of advice,


the dogs soon charge downhill to the valley. Tey’re fast; much faster than I’d anticipated. I have to muster all kinds of arm and core strength just to stay upright and quickly become familiar with the brake. But as the ground levels out, I find my groove and drive


Essentials


Where: Located high in the Arctic Circle, about halfway between Norway and the North Pole When: Go in winter for the snow sports and a true Arctic adventure, and in summer for the flora, fauna and midnight sun How: Scandinavian Airlines flies to Longyearbyen from New York, with a layover in Oslo. Norwegian flies from Los Angeles, also with a layover in Oslo


the dogs onwards, letting the polar air tickle my cheeks as we glide across the snow. ‘Avalanche risk. Keep left’ reads a hand-


painted sign. With a fleeting glance up the mountain beside me, I keep going. It’s eerily dark; the tiny beam from my headlamp is lost in the black canvas of Svalbard’s landscape, and there are almost no landmarks to guide us. No trees, no houses, no signposts. Somewhere behind me is the faint glow of the trapper’s station, and on the hilltop, one of Svalbard’s last remaining coal mines, its cranes and containers twinkling from above. But down here in the valley, we’re tiny and


helpless as our sleds slice through the Arctic silence, leaving a furrowed trail in our wake.


ASTAnetwork | Summer 2017 | 119


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140