Itinerary

 

 

 

DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1

Fly from London Heathrow to Oslo where you will have time to enjoy the sights of the city and stay overnight.

 

The Aker Wharf - Oslo

The Royal Palace - Oslo

 

Day 2

Fly Oslo to Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen, Norway's northernmost outpost. You will be met from your flight and transferred to The Radisson hotel.

 

Map of the Archipelago of Svalbard

 

Airport at Longyearbyen

 

 

You will spend the rest of the day in Longyearbyen the largest settlement and administrative centre of Svalbard. Longyearbyen situated on the western coast of Spitsbergen, largest island of the archipelago is, at 78° North, the world's most readily accessible place in the polar north and the most northerly populated island in the world. It is 400 miles further north than Barrow in Alaska. The wondrous archipelago is incredibly beautiful with its stark mountain backdrop, vast icebergs choking the sea, ice fields, glaciers and home to polar bears that outnumber the youth of Longyearbyen by 3:2. This is a place where unforgiving nature commands respect.

 

The Radisson Hotel in Longyearbyen

 

The small town of Longyearbyen with a population of 2,000 has a rich history dating back to 1194 but it is from the 17^th century that the town gained importance when the Dutch, English, French and Scandinavian whalers decimated the whale population, followed by the Russians hunting for walrus and seals and in the 19^th century man's need for fuel brought in commercial coal mining which the Russians, at Barentsburg, continue to this day. The Norwegians have sovereignty over the islands.

 

Longyearbyen set amidst glorious scenery

 

 

The town has a wonderful museum well worth visiting. It is located in the Svalbard Science Centre and has many exhibits that show the progress of these islands over the centuries, the relationship with nature, technology and the environment in the Arctic.  It is probably the best museum in Norway and has really interesting souvenirs and books on sale. The museum was awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2008, competing against 59 other European museums for the award.

 

The Svalbard Museum in Longyearbyen

Inside the Svalbard Museum in Longyearbyen

 

 

At some point during the day you will be taken to the Russian Hangar and issued with your Polar Clothing Kit followed by a briefing to let you know the current situation at Barneo Ice Camp, times of the Polar Flights and answer any questions you may have.

The flight times will depend on weather conditions and the situation regarding the drifting of the ice floe. Barneo Ice camp, located as it is on the Arctic sea with the sea ice in a constant drifting motion, is never in the same place from one day to the next. It can drift as much as 15 miles in a single day.

 

The map below shows you how far Barneo Ice Camp drifted during a four week period in 2008

 

 

 

You can dine in the hotel or in one of the many good restaurants in the town.

Day 3

Make sure you have a hearty breakfast to prepare you for the wonderful experience ahead. You will only need your polar clothes and a small amount of money in case you wish to buy souvenirs at the ice camp. Your flight from Longyearbyen over the ice cap will take 2h30m. Remember you cannot check in liquids or sharp objects but all these items will be returned to you on the plane. You will fly in an AN-74 STOL Jet, (the STOL stands for 'Short-Take-Off-and-Landing'. This tough little soviet plane was specially designed for work in icy conditions therefore ideally suited for rough terrain where its ability to get in and out of short fields allows it to operate where few other jets can go.

 

Your Plane ready to take you on an Adventure of a Lifetime

 

The pilots are very experienced in polar flying and though this is not a normal trip with in-flight entertainment, the magical views of sparkling ice and the possibility of seeing polar bears, walruses and seals more than make up for this.  You will also be able to visit the flight deck for photographs.  Just ask. It is daunting to see below you vast areas of open water, called leads, so near to the Pole. Some of these channels of water can be like flowing rivers hundreds of miles long; undisputable proof of global warming.

 

Seen from the air a huge expanse of open water on the Arctic Ocean

 

 

Your first sight of the Barneo Ice Camp from the air is truly amazing. Having flown for over two hours above the wild empty plain that is the Arctic Ocean, a bleak and beautiful frozen world, you come upon what is virtually a small village built by man on the ice. You will land on the runway ready to be transported into another world. The airstrip is around 1300 x 65 yards in size, fully functional and capable of landing the AN-74 cargo-passenger aircraft.

 

The first sight of Barneo Ice camp built on the Arctic Ocean

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Nearly there getting ready to land on the Arctic Ocean at Barneo Ice Camp

 

The visit to Barneo is an adventure on its own.  Barneo, which has been operating since 2003, is a drifting station built by the Russians on the Arctic Ocean every year in the month of April at about 89^th degree.

It is rebuilt  every year in a new place as close to the North Pole as possible just as the Arctic night ends only to be dismantled a month later as the ice gets too thin before melting away.

There are months of planning and preparation in Moscow before the actual building of this station; a triumph of endeavour and endurance. Two MI-8 helicopters scout the region to locate a good ice flow with suitable relatively flat smooth surface on the ice, within 60 miles or so of the North Pole using satellite images of the region. Tractors, supplies, and the advance team of engineers are parachuted in on P-7 and PGS-1000 parachute freight systems and the work begins to flatten the snow and create the runway strip ready for the cargo planes to land with all the equipment necessary to establish the full blown camp. Once the landing strip is completed the construction of the camp takes five or six days and becomes the gateway and temporary home for explorers, scientists and environmentalists, a base for the resupply missions of big expeditions crossing the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada, a hub of arctic adventure.

This then is Barneo Ice Camp; a bustling centre complete with electricity, heated comfortable accommodation, medical care and all the technical support and equipment needed for intensive scientific research.  The camp is serviced by pilots, flight directors, a doctor, expedition leaders and their assistants, tractor drivers, cooks, the head of the base Alexandr Orlov and the head of the joint aviation division Alexander Plyonkin.

 

Welcome to Barneo

 

South Pole next? Only 12,430 miles (20,004 km)

 

After landing at the Ice Camp there seems to be organised chaos as the plane is unloaded and loaded simultaneously but you will be directed to the warm mess tents and your luggage will be delivered to you.  The Base Commander will give a short talk covering safety and life on the camp.

After a brief tour of the camp, depending always on weather conditions of course, you board a Russian M1-8 Helicopter, these powerful machines are ideal for extreme weather conditions found in the Arctic and unlike a plane they do not need a smooth piece of ice long enough to serve as a runway, something one cannot count on finding at the North Pole. The flight will take 45 minutes.

 

 

Another exciting journey over the lonely wild polar terrain, more glimpses of open water perhaps this time you will be lucky and get sight of polar bears. Once the helicopter has landed you will step out onto the Top of the World.  We will plant our pole in the ice to mark where the North Pole really is for that moment only. Even as the exact position of the pole is established it is drifting from this point and you with it. This journey over sparkling ice and snow has brought you to one of the last true frontiers left on the planet:

 

THE NORTH POLE

 

The Geographic North Pole marks the location of the rotational axis of the earth.  It is the most northerly point on earth at which all lines of longitude meet and all directions indicate South. It is approximately 500 miles from the nearest land. The sun lights up the vast stretches of pack ice continuously for six months March to September and never appears above the horizon during the rest of the year.  The ice layer which is from 3 - 14 feet thick is in constant movement. Enormous ice floes collide, overlap and form, with a mournful cracking sound, pressure ridges up to 30 feet high.  It is when these floes separate that the open water leads are created. This is the icy domain that lured explorers of old to conquer the mystique of the North Pole.

Tents will be erected so you have warm shelter, a celebratory drink will be served. You can phone friends and family from our satellite phone, take this unique opportunity to run round the world and  of course take lots of pictures so that this journey will stay with you forever.

 

No artist can surpass nature everything you see will soon melt into the sea to be created anew next year

This ice sculpture appears to be lit from the inside

 

Even more beautiful up close

 

The Helicopter returns to take us back to Barneo Ice Camp

 

You will experience 24 hour sunlight have a hearty meal with the Russians and stay overnight in comfortable heated accommodation. You will be sleeping on moving ice with sea water just a few feet below you and in the morning you may well have moved 10 nautical miles.

Day 4

You will spend the morning at Barneo, preparing for your departure. You may want to trek round the camp and take more photos of this historically significant place; who knows how many more years it will be possible to create it. You will meet fascinating people in the mess tent, scientists, tourists and skiers.  A last chance to soak up the atmosphere, listen to the sounds of the Polar pack ice and realise anew that you are standing on a frozen ocean that may not exist much longer.

Fly back to Longyearbyen with enough time to relax, walk round the town again or go further afield by dog sledge or snowmobile to see more of the Arctic wilderness and the magnificent scenery surrounding Longyearbyen

 

 

 

 

 

It will be hard to choose where to go and which form of transport to use.

You can visit the Russian settlement at Barentsburg, 40 miles away, the closest settlement to Longyearbyen but so very different.   You need to travel by skidoo and the route is very exciting crossing glaciers and frozen fjords, between mountains and icebergs heading towards the inner part of Grønfjorden, with magnificent views over the western parts of Nordenskiöld land.  Barentsburg is the second largest settlement in Svalbard and has its own coal-fired power station, a hospital, museum, hotel, school, kindergarten and a culture and sports centre as well as a pig shed and greenhouses. The Russian state-owned mining company Trust Arktikugol owns and runs the mine and the community. The town is characteristically Russian; it even has a statue of Lenin and is of significant architectural interest, a stark contrast to the stunning scenery surrounding it.

Statue of Lenin in centre of Barentsburg

 

Typical Russian Houses in Barentsburg

 

 

Or you may prefer to visit the Ice Ship; 40m miles east of Longyearbyen, the 100 year old schooner which is used throughout the summer for natural history sailing expeditions in Spitsbergen  has been specially strengthened to enable it to withstand the pressures of being locked in the sea ice. The journey to the ship is exhilarating taking you over a snow covered wilderness through impressive Arctic mountains and glacier scenery to the exquisite Tempel Fford the winter home to the ship. There is always a warm welcome on the centrally heated ship. This trip is a unique opportunity to explore the magnificent Arctic nature up close. You can experience stillness and a light that is difficult to find in other places. If you are lucky, you may even glimpse the "king of the Arctic", the polar bear.

The 100 year old Dutch Schooner locked in the Ice

 

Meet up in the evening for the Survivors Dinner and The North Pole Certificate ceremony.

Day 5

Fly back to UK (Longyearbyen/Oslo/London Heathrow)