Camping on Spitsbergen
Clothing and other Equipment
Nice weather, ...... Bad weather
Polar Bears on Spitsbergen
Camping on Spitsbergen
Clothing and other Equipment
Nice weather, ...... Bad weather
Polar Bears on Spitsbergen
Last update on June 22nd 2009
Camping on Spitsbergen
On Spitsbergen you won't find those nice open mountaincabins like in Norway.
Camping is the only possibility if you want to go out for some days in the Spitsbergen mountains.
It is recommended to have the right clothing and equipment on those trips.
It take some time to make your campsite and to anchor your tent.
But afterwards you can sit 'warm' and out of the wind in your tent.
The tent must have enough space to have a good overview.
During wintercamping on Spitsbergen it is often warm in your tent. After pitching your tent you have to start melting snow on the burner.
Snowmelting takes a lot of time. When the burner is on in front of your innertent (outer tent almost closed) it is getting
warm in your tent. You also have to melt snow for the next morning. this will take some time but the heat of the burner is
very welcome. Most of the time you only have your warming clothes on when the burner is melting snow.
When the burner is of you are going to find your 'warmest friend' dring this trip: your sleeping bag!!!! a Warm water bottle
(which closed good) with a sock over it inside your sleeping back a you sleep very warm!!>br>
Every wintertent from Fjelltours has also a thin isolation folie which covered the ground area of the inner tent. This in combination
with a second foam sleeping mattrass makes a very good ground isolation.
Clothing and other Equipment
Not so many items change on my packinglist for a winter- or summertrip on Spitsbergen. For a wintertrip I take more
handshoes, more food and more petrol with me. For a summertrip I take a big poncho with me, this poncho covered also
my backpack.
All participants receive a detailed packing list for necessary clothing and equipment for a campingtrip on Spitsbergen.
It is possible to hire some specific clothes/equipment from Fjell Tours. On this way you can save some money on
clothes/equipment which you don't use anymore after this trip. (but take care: Trips to Spitsbergen can become addictive!)
Some Clothes and Equipment which are mentioned here in red can be rent at Fjell Tours (hire prices are for one week).
For the 2010 trips it is only possible
to hire equipment if you sign in for the trip before December 1st 2009.
Backcountryski's ( 60,-): with 2 pairs of skins (skins under the ski's
are very important when you ski-up)
Backcountry ski-shoes ( 35,-): During the wintertrips you need to have these special
ski shoes.
For the summertrips we are using the ski's in very easy terrain.
We will use a fixation on our ski's that we can use our normal mountain walking shoes when we use the ski's. This will save us
the use (and tranportation weight) of another pair of boots.
Neos waterproof boots for over your shoes ( 20,-): These boots are made to put over
your ski-shoes or your walking-shoes.
These boots reach till under your knees and they don't weight much. During wintertrips I use them for extra isolation (warm).
When I get of my ski, I directly get in these boots.
During summertime I use these boots for crossing rivers and to walk over wet snowfields.
Extra Foam-mattress ( 5,-):
It is a lot of volume to take a 2nd mattress with you when you are flying to Spitbergen. You will have enough other luggage
with you. That's way it is possible to hire an extra 2 cm thick waterresistance isolated foam-mattress. The participants
must their own Therma-Rest air filled mattress. These two mattresses together will give a good isolation.
Downjacket ( 40,-):
Participants must have a downjacket if they go out on a wintertrip with Fjell Tours. On a summertrip it is recommended
to have a downjacket. You don't wear your downjacket during ski-walking (to warm), but you put it on when we have a break or
at the campsite. When I am ski-walking I mostly wear 1 or 2 thermo-shirts in combination with a windstopper fleece or my
windjacket. During a break I put my downjacket over it and I stay warm when enjoying the break!!
a Big Poncho ( 15,-):
Only useful during the summer months June, Juli and August. It is mostly fine thin rain when it is raining on Spitsbergen.
Heavy rainshowers are seldom. But also thin raindrups makes you wet after some time. During walking it is then very
recommended to use a big poncho which also cover your backpack. This type of poncho gives more ventilation then gore-tex
jackets. And this poncho is also handy during a break when you wear your downjacket. You put your poncho over the
downjacket to avoid that your downjacket is getting to wet.
Extra sleepingbag ( 25,-):
This is an extra large (235cm) thin synthetic sleepingbag with a breathable waterresistance outerlayer. You put this
sleepingbag over your own sleepingbag and your sleeping bag stays dryer and it makes your sleepingbag 10 degrees warmer.
This system works good, and you can put your shoes (in plastic bags) between these sleepingbags (space enough)
to prevent that they freeze.
Crampons ( 20,-).
: During the summertrips we use crampons under our shoes
when we are walking up the glacier and when we are walking down the glacier. On the flat parts on the glaciers we just walk
on our mountain boots.
These crampons are very important. It might happen that they brake. For that case we carry one extra crampon per person.
This is included in the price if you hire them. If you bring your own crampons: take a spare crampon with you!!
During the wintertrips we seldom use these crampons. But if necessary they are important to have. During the wintertrips
the crampons are included in the price.
The use of a wintertent, cooking equipment to make hot water, petrol stove with petrol is included in all trips from
Fjell Tours on Spitsbergen.
Nice weather, ...... Bad weather
The weather has big influence what you can do on Spitsbergen. Sofar on all my fieldtrips on Spitsbergen I have been out 2 of
the 3 days. That means that I stay in or around the tent 1 of the 3 days, waiting for better weather. This is an average
over 120 field days.
During these bad days it was sometimes impossible to go. But there where also days in it with totally no view. Does
it make any sence to go out then? If you have to, because of lack of food/petrol, you can go. But if you have enough
food and time it is better to wait some hours and see what the weather is going to do.
On Spitsbergen you can start your trip on each moment of the day. From the half of April to the half of August the
sun doesn't goes under. This is very handy with camping. You don't have to use a headlight and when the sun is
shining during the night it keeps your tent warmer!
So with nice weather you can go out for 24 hours. It is sad then that a human being must have rest and sleep at those days.
For example: When it is minus 15 during a wintertrip with a strong wind, it is possible to go out for a day trip. But taking
down your tent and go to a new campsite is not advisable.
It is not the purpose of all the trips from Fjell Tours on Spitsbergen to try to go out in (extreme) bad weather.
These trips become then extreme expeditions and that is not the purpose of these trips. We will face and survive enough
other adventures which will make these trips special.
When it is minus 25-30 it is most of the time clear sunny weather with less wind, so we can do anything we want. The wind on
Spitsbergen is very important how cold it really feels, the windchill factor!!
Polar Bears on Spitsbergen
The chance that you meat a polar bear in the zoo is much bigger then that you will meet a polar bear during a trip with
Fjell Tours. (Excluded the trip from Fjell Tours in 2010 to the East-coast of Spitsbergen. At the East-coast of Spitsbergen
you find the most polarbears)
Almost all the trips of Fjelltours are in the mountains of Spitsbergen. The chance to meet a polarbear is much bigger
at the fjords at sea-level. Here they find their food, the seal etc. The chanche to meet a polarbear in the mountains is
very low but is still possible!!! I saw fresh polarbear footprints on a glacier at 1200 meter above sea-level!
All the participants will receive information and receive instructions how to handle if we see a polarbear on
our trip.
The trip leader have equipment to chase away polarbears if this is needed. Most of the time we can observe the polarbear
from a safe distance and see the polarbear walk further. This will be a lifetime experience then!!! To make pictures you
have to have a big telephoto lens then. Because the polarbear will be on a big distance and we do not walk in his direction.
If the Polarbear is walking towards us and keep on doing that after the use of our chasing away equipment
(Flare gun), then
at a certain time the tripleader has to use his heavy caliber riffle to make the polarbear change his mind. The trip leader
has a riffle licence for this.
In almost every case the polarbear shows no interest for us or the campsite and follow his own way further or the heavy shots
(big noise bangs) from the flare guns will make him change his mind and go away. It is seldom that the tripleader has to use
his riffle to chase away or shoot the polarbear.
Due to the polarbear, the freedom of moving around for all the participants and the tripleader is very restricted.
Every one must stay together in the campsite and also during the day on the ski-trip. The tents will be placed close
to each other and around the camp a tripwire will be placed. If we camp at the fjord (or nearby) we will organise a
bearwatch.