The North-West Traverse
About the expedition
Join us for a an unique ski expedition where no people go skiing, exploring the North West corner of Spitsbergen. You will experience glaciers, mountains, sea ice, all types of weather and wildlife. The 230+ kilometers long route offer exciting challenges and experiences.
Guide: Morten Rostille will guide this expedition, you can read more about Morten here.
Whats included:
All emergency equipment
Glacier rescue equipment
All foods and drinks - regardless of special diet. We take pride in providing good meals and snacks for everyone.
Boat transport to and from skiing
All common equipment such as tents, stoves, pulkas..
Administrative costs for applications with The Governor on Svalbard
Obligatory search and rescue insurance
Whats not included:
Personal equipment
Transport to and from Svalbard
Accommodation and food and drinks in Longyearbyen before and after the expedition
Travel insurance with special coverage for Svalbard expeditions
Info
Dates 2026 (Dates are tentative, exact dates to be confirmed):
Latest arrival in Longyearbyen: 30th April Expedition start: 2st May Expedition end: 15th May Earliest departure: 16th May
Price: NOK 61.500,-
Available spots: 8
Blog
Or read the blog from the 2025 trip here
Who can join?
The North West Traverse is not a piece of cake. But, with the right training, guidance and equipment, almost everyone can make it. If you are already in good physical condition, a few months of training is more than sufficient. It is beneficial to have some past experience with winter camping. It is however not a requirement and we are more than happy to provide help and training prior to the expedition.
Plan
Day 1 to 3 Preperations
After everyone has checked into their hotels and gotten sorted, we will meet and begin packing! We will spend this entire day, and the next for our preparations. On the third day we load our gear onto the boat and drive to our starting point for this adventure!
Day 4-15 Skiing
We are dropped of on the sea ice, in the land of polar bears, we make sure the conditions on the ice are good and ski towards the land and glaciers. We navigate up on glacier platous, through mountain passes and crevasse terrain to find the safe route North. The landscape changes every day and with sharp mountais and white glaciers its truly a sight you'll remember.
Day 4-15 Exploring
During our days of skiing through the landscape one of the focuses of the trip is to explore. We will often leave our pulkas, or camp, and hike up mountains, explore glacier icefalls, melt water channels, see fjords, vallies and focus on the fantastic nature we are in.
Day 15 Transport back
We'll be picked up by boat on the North-West of Spitsbergen and enjoy a comfortable trip back to Longyearbyen, on the way we'll be able to see aereas we skied through and plenty of wildlife spending their summer months on the shores of Spitsbergen. Earliest departure is midday on day 15th, we do however recommend you get flexible tickest in case of bad weather.
Photogallery North-West Traverse 2025
