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This is the ultimate way of exploring the Arctic! Arctic Husky Travellers is the one and only one in Svalbard offering these longer dogsledding expeditions to guests which requires some training beforehand since this is true wilderness with all its beauty but also demands to travel safe which require 2 days of training before we set off.
“A special way of travelling the Arctic”
Travelling in the high Arctic can be challenging and the program below may change due to weather, snow and sea ice conditions which varies from year to year and from week to week. Polar bear encounters may also force us to take another route, camp a different place than first scheduled.
We always think safety first and we do our best to ensure happy guests and dogs. We travel silent and do our best to minimize our environmental footprint. We return all garbage and do not disturb wildlife and tundra vegetation along our trail. See program day by day below.
Day 0 – arrival Longyearbyen 14-16:00 (depend on plane schedules) We will drive you to our dog yard, 12 km outside town. Here we will go through the route, try on the very warm and comfortable expedition clothes (see below) (https://www.nonstopdogwear.com/), warm winter boots (Sorel snow mobile shoes or equaling), and introduce you to the dogs. Dinner will be served.
We get dressed to test out the expedition clothing, shoes, hat and mittens a full day out with the dogs. We will get instructions in how to use the sleds, harness the dogs ++. Each of you will travel with your own dog sled pulled by 6 of our strong, friendly dogs. Alternatively, we have double sleds and a slightly bigger dog team, if you like to have someone to chat with while you are travelling and prefer to be two co-pilots instead of “full” responsibility of the dog team on your own.
At the ice cave at Scott Turner glacier you will also learn how to put the dogs on stake-out lines, and get familiar with some dog camp routines. And of course we will visit the ice cave!
Day 2 Practice camping and tent routines and some shopping/sightseeing in Longyearbyen
After breakfast we will go through the tent/camp routines step by step so we are well prepared to set up camp. This is important in case we hit bad weather, and we need to set up camp fast. After lunch we go to Longyearbyen; visit the museum and do some shopping if needed.
Day 3 – We are ready to start! After 2 days of training we are ready to go!
We will drive the beautiful Todalen and Gangdalen, aiming for putting up camp in the large Reindalen valley. You will sleep 2 or 3 persons in each tent, and in addition we will set up a larger heated basecamp tent with space for enjoying the meals and dry clothes etc. The dogs will be placed side by side around the camp area and serve as loyal polar bear guards. During the night we may have to ask you to be awake polar bear guard for 1 hr – this is actually very nice since we have midnight sun and the light is at its most beautiful in night.
Breakfast at 08:00-08:30, and we aim to be ready to hit the trail again around 10:00 after melting all the water necessary for feeding the dogs and for the thermoses. We will travel to Van Mijenfjorden and cross over the fjord on the sea ice. Aim to set up set camp at latest 18:00.
We may be a bit quicker with the morning routines today and we will aim for reaching the East Coast. We will camp in safe distance from the sea ice. Polar bears are marine mammals and are more likely to meet close to or on sea ice. Polar bears are very curious and are attracted to smell so especially when we stay at the same place several hours (e.g. camp site) they may come to check us out.
We will always have an awake polar bear guard during the nigh in addition to all the dogs lined up around the camp.
This day we aim to enjoy in the beautiful Inglefieldbukta which is surrounded by glaciers and glacier pieces frozen into the sea ice resembling various art sculptures. The camp for the night will depend on the sea ice conditions and best route, either Agardh or Passbreen, or even Kjellstrømdalen.
We will continue to travel, crossing Reindalspasset into the largest valley in Svalbard: Reindalen. Here lots of reindeers are living (so that is why it is named “Reindeer” valley). and camp close to the beautiful glacier Marthabreen, which we will explore
We will continue to travel through this wide and majesthetic Reindalen for a couple of hours before we turn into the side-valley Tverrdalen, continuing for two hours before we reach our very nice lodge Reinheim. Here, we and the dogs will have a nice rest after many nights in tents. We will sleep in proper beds, relax in the sofas and eat a better dinner. For those interested it is also possible to take a sauna with a shower in the end.
Day 9
We will have a relaxing morning with a nice breakfast, before we get ready and leave for the last leg of our journey back to our dog yard in Bolterdalen. Here we will say goodbye to the dogs, unpack the sleds and drive you to your hotels in Longyearbyen. Dinner will be on a restaurant in town.
Day 10 Last day you spend in Longyearbyen a few hours before hitting the bus or taxi to the airport.
