 |
| Yummy turmat for lunch |
Hello there, Sam here writing from a wind battered Longyearbyen after a big storm came through last night. Recently I've been really busy - not so much with school work but with other equally exciting things.
After a big low pressure system eventually moved away on the 4th of March Felix, a friend and I decided to go for a 4 day ski trip to Colesbukta. As you may remember from one of Lucy's blog entries last semester, Colesbukta is an abandoned mining town between Longyearbyen and Barentsburg. After spending the 4th preparing for the trip, Felix and I set out at 8.45am with a 25km ski tour ahead of us. Felix looked the part with his new gear and skis leaving me feeling a bit outdated. We kept a good pace and made lunch around 1pm. After another km or two Matt (our snowmobile support) arrived having taken the firewood to our destination. After some discussion we all agreed that whilst the last 13km would be just as enjoyable as the previous, it would be best that we would be toed the rest of the way. In no time Felix and I were being pulled along at 40km/h behind the scooter and arriving in Colesbukta in no time. Once we arrived at the cabin we quickly settled in, got the fire going, ate 3 servings worth of mash potato and tinned meat and climbed into bed.
 |
| Inside Grumant |
After a long sleep we had breakfast and set out to hike along the coast to Grumant (another Russian mining town). It was pretty windy but we made good progress until stopping at the 'end of the line' of the old railway. Along the way we saw hundreds of reindeer and several Arctic Foxes. As the coast was to icy to clamber along we bailed out up a really steep valley. Our resident Tirolian Ski guide Mathias kicked steps up the steep slope whilst I followed tentatively, examining the fresh avalanche scars on the adjacent wall 200m below. Once at the top we crossed over to Grumantdalen where we decided to turn around at about 2pm. The walk back was great made epic by a sweet sunset. In the evening we had some visitors who brought enough beer and wine for all of us resulting in a late night.
 |
| Looking South-West towards Barentsburg |
After a fairly late start the next day we starting skiing towards Grumant again over the plateau. We quickly passed our turning point and ski'd down the valley to Grumant. I had a few big crashes on the way down and put some fresh cuts into my skis. Whilst Grumant was incredible we didn't stay for long, leaving at 3pm after a quick explore. The journey back was tough and we arrived back in the dark. Luckily the fire was going strong and the cabin was nice and cosy thanks to the others meaning after some food we were all off to bed pretty early.
 |
| Grumant |
 |
| Cosy cabin |
On the last day Felix and I woke up early and began packing and preparing for our long trip home. We left the cabin at 9.30am and set off towards Longyearbyen. It was really tough conditions and challenging terrain but by 3.30pm we were on the familiar plateau and nearing Nybyen. The ski down Tverrdalen was sweet and spat us out just above the barrack. We were both relieved to be home as our feet were worn out and I'd eaten all of my chocy bicies. After the photo below we both hobbled back to our barracks like a pair of OAP's with the disco shakes.
 |
| Battered and broken but back in Nybyen! |
One last thing - I've made a short video of highlights from the trip, here is a link to the
password protected video:
https://vimeo.com/122297815
Password : spitzbergen
No comments :
Post a Comment