My Experience in Svalbard

Avery Harris | 9.20.2024

Svalbard

The Svalbard archipelago is about halfway between Norway's northern coast, and the North Pole. The largest town is Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen, and is the furthest northern human population of more than 1,000 people (1,753). The climate is Arctic, though because the Atlantic Current runs there, it is not as harsh as other places in the Arctic. Ny-Ålesund is the furthest northern settlement that is continuously inhabited. Roughly 60 people maintain a year round presence and what is mainly a polar bear research station. Wildlife include: polar bears, belugas, reindeer, and puffin. Over half of the landmass is covered in glacier and ice cap.

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A large iceberg in the middle of a snowy field with mountains in the background in Svalbard.

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An aerial view of a waterfall in the middle of a valley in Svalbard.

Getting There

Flights are from Oslo. One is direct, and the other stops in Tromsø. It's important to know what to expect! I decided to take a full day in Oslo, and stayed at the Comfort Inn Runway Hotel at the airport. I managed to get myself into the city, and went to the Mall of Oslo hunting for a local SIM card. I discovered Telia was essentially the only choice, They even called it a "tourist card", it was something like $20 for 7gb of data. After a fantastic hotel breakfast, I was back at the airport and flying up to Spitsbergen with SAS.

The Terrain

Flying into Longyearbyen is incredible, I definitely had a window seat. 60% of the archipelago is covered in glacier and ice cap, The ice caps movement has carved massive, steep fjords, with the occasional, distant frozen waterfall. I took a day trip to see the fjords on the MS Bard, a diesel hybrid catamaran. We were able to get very close to a glacier on the water; I found the patterns in the cracks of the receding glacier to be captivating.

A mountain with a glacier in the background and a grassy field in the foreground in Svalbard.

A seal is laying on the shore of a lake with a mountain in the background in Svalbard.

A large iceberg is sitting in the middle of a body of waterin Svalbard.

The Wildlife

Of course the hope is to see a polar bear, that's the dream. Unfortunately, it didn't happen for me this time, so Ill be back. I did see reindeer, lots of sea birds, including puffin, and a pod of beluga. I usually saw the puffin sitting on top of the water, often with fish in their mouths. The crew onboard the MS Bard told us there were roughly 100-150 beluga in the pod They slowed the boat down and they fed all around us along with many sea birds.

A white whale is swimming in the ocean in Svalbard.

A reindeer is standing next to a tree stump in a field in Svalbard.

A person is swimming in the ocean on a surfboard in Svalbard.

Ny-Ålesund

I got to Ny-Ålesund on Hurtigruten's MS Trollfjord. The settlement is home to about 60 people year round and is the furthest northern settlement. It's primarly a polar bear research station. Before we disembarked the ship, an announcement let us know that if we heard one long blast from the ship's horn, a polar bear was close to town, and everyone had to walk back to the ship immediately. They also said all the doors in town remain unlocked so people can always get into a building if necessary. I got off the ship about 8:00am and the lighting across the fjord was incredible. There were low clouds, tall peaks, and reflections off of the water.