Why join us on this adventure? Here are my main reasons for making this expedition together with my partners:
The Expedition Team. This Spring I was contacted by Heather Thorkelson and Rickard Berg, married couple and owners of the Swedish adventure company Twin Tracks Expeditions. For more than ten years they have been organizing different expeditions to Antarctica, Alaska, Greenland and of course, Svalbard. Heather specializes in booking and taking care of all the needs guests might have before and after expeditions. I first got to know Rickard, the Swedish Viking, on my first Spitsbergen east coast dogsled expedition for Svalbard Wilderness Center. Rickard as the main guide, and me as the second guide. For many years Rickard has been expedition leader on journeys to among others Antarctica, Greenland and the arctic love of his heart, Svalbard. I can promise you that I have never met an expedition leader and tour guide with such knowledge and enthusiasm for his guests as Rickard. And then I should not forget, he’s very safety oriented. He has also lead longer unsupported kayak expeditions at Greenland. Together with multi-day dogsled expeditions to Spitsbergen´s east coast, this is some of the most demanding things you can do as an expedition leader. Imagine the rich arctic life he has lived. And when you add all the exiting stories he can tell, which he also likes to share under the right circumstances, a tour with Rickard would be worth it just because of his lectures. I certainly know the quality in this man, his many years of experience in knowing the details of terrain and wildlife of Svalbard under different climate and seasons, and his skills of taking care of people around him, giving them the best arctic experience ever! He has handpicked our second field guide on our expedition, Axel Broman, a man with the same qualities and years of experience.
The ship Polarfront has never been used on commercial expeditions before. The Polarfront is a former Norwegian weather ship just taken out of official service. She is classified and made for a life in arctic waters. She is now in a French shipyard, getting a totally facelift to meet the needs as a modern commercial expedition ship. Also adding the special needs for photographers. Her new owners are a French duo, icebreaker captains by profession, who also works as captains on expedition vessels in Polar Regions. They have just as with Heather and Rickard been working for other expedition companies for many years, and their motivation for buying the Polarfront is to be able to deliver a high quality expedition product on their own demand where no one but nature and official regulations can tell them what is possible or not.
And it is exactly this what I like about our concept. As other boats are owned by someone say in London, Brussels or Singapore, our ship`s owners are standing on the bridge. That means that the line from idea to execution during the expedition, if we need to adjust the route due to weather, light or demand, is only within Rickard, the bridge and me right on the ship. We don`t need to call Brussels! This is the closest we’re going to get to the feel of real expeditioning.
The Polarfront will eventually be retrofit to take over 30 guests, but right now she can accommodate 12-14 spaces in 6-7 suites, which we prefer because we can give you our maximum attention. She is 54 meters long. The other vessels that are offering 12 guests expeditions in Svalbard are about up to 40 meters long. That gives, compared to the Polarfront, everybody less space onboard, and less comfort in the arctic sea. Our cabins are about 33% larger. No bunk beds and no shared bathrooms. The kitchen will keep high quality based on French cuisine. The Chef is from Marseille.
Mud Room: The Polarfront is one of the only ships of her size with a mudroom. For us all it means that as we enter the ship by tender boats from the field, we goes from the main deck into this room and undress our maybe dirty field clothes and boots in this room. Therefore we don`t need to dry our field clothes in our cabins.
Check the pictures of the ships rear deck. There will be plenty of room here for everybody to take pictures from. We have also access to the bow, the mast and the bridge.
At the rear our two Zodiacs will be placed, and there will still be plenty of space for us.
But most important my friends: At the rear deck there will be a Jacuzzi. Picture yourself relaxing there between all the exciting landings, chilling in the hot water as the arctic wilderness passes by! There is also a sauna and a gym room below, if you feel like working out.
The Expedition Route. As Rickard and I say, this is an expedition. We could give you an exact route by day description, but that would be lying to you. Up here it is the weather and environment that tells us what we can do. -Although we got a sturdy ship. But we would also like to keep our schedule more open, so we could spend our days where the conditions will give us the best adventure, light and pictures. We just like to have a red line of the planned route as a loose guideline.
Our expedition is not just a quest for wildlife. We will also take you to astonishing Fine Art Landscapes at the right moment when the light is perfect. Most 10 days Svalbard expeditions will take you the north-western route around the islands and back to Longyearbyen. To give you the best experience, Rickard and I have considered our route different. We will leave Longyearbyen, discover our way up the western coast, around the northern coast down the Hinlopen strait on the eastern coast, doing breath taking landings along narrow fjords, glaciers and arctic shaped peak mountains. All with Svalbard Reindeers, Arctic Foxes, seals, whales and the possibilities for Walruses and Polar Bears in low autumn light.
This is where our expedition changes: After the impressive ice shelf the Bråsvell Glacier at the large island of Nordaustlandet NW on Svalbard, we turn around and goes back far up north via Sjuøyane (The Seven Islands) and up into the drift ice where the real Polar Bear areas are. You will be far above 80 degrees north!
We consider the stretch from halfway down the east coast, around to the west coast back to Longyearbyen to be a territory of less interesting scenery (except from Hornsund).
After the drift ice we head back along the northern and western coast on a southbound route, getting an extra chance on places we found special interesting, or places that didn`t come out great on the way north. Again, this is just the plan as we have no way of knowing where the ice will be and what we’ll be able to access. No matter what, we’ll do our best, with our years of experience, in the moment to take you to the most breathtaking spots and experience amazing wildlife moments.
Here´s an extra offer: There are only two Deluxe Suites left on this voyage. Because we know each other and you’re receiving this email, we can offer you a space in one of these Deluxe Suites for the price of a Polarfront Suite if you book prior to October 30th. This is on a first-come first-served basis, so when the Deluxe Suites are gone, they’re gone. Prices are based on a twin share.
As I said we got two zodiacs and field guides. The mountains suitable for hiking are not so tall at Spitsbergen, between 200 to 450 meters. At some landings we could split the zodiac teams. Then there would be a chance for those who would like to go for a hike to do so. And the other boat party could spend time exploring the lower area. I really want all of my expedition members to have a journey of their lives.
I really believe in this expedition. The Polarfront will be a game changer at Svalbard. Our expedition leaders have done their profession for many years. The difference is that they now do what they would like to do, not what they are told to do. Even though I have been up here, doing boat cruises for many years, I must be honest with you and say that also I look forward for this journey with these guys! I know that this is a great chance to experience something extraordinary.
