NEWTONTOPPEN WINTER 2026

ELISABETH, LOIC, MARISKA, OLE TOM, AND INE-LILL

FOLLOW THE THEM HERE:

DAY 15 - FROM THE TEAM IN LONGYEARBYEN

What an ending! Honestly, it couldn’t have been better.

A polar safari by sea on the way back to Longyearbyen — getting right up close to two lazy walruses, loads of seals, huge groups of eider ducks, and an eager little Arctic fox running along the shoreline.

This 14-day adventure has been absolutely fantastic. And on top of that, we’ve had countless little adventures along the way: Newtontoppen, Jupitertoppen, fresh polar bear tracks close to camp, magical views, and so much more. You’d have to search a long time to find a more complete trip packed with experiences like this.

Storms, whiteouts, and freezing temperatures are all part of the game up here.

Now the polar astronauts are heading out for dinner to celebrate the crossing from east to west via three summits.

DAY 15 - AT THE EDGE UF THE ICE

they have skied their last 3km out to where the sea ive ends. There they are now waiting for the boat.

Just as a reward, Mother narture has granted them full sun, -5° and almost no wind. They are probably very happy with that as they will now have both a safe and sunningly beautifull end to their fantastic trip!

DAY 14 - PURE BLISS

Now we have crossed from east to west via three summits! What an incredible day. 16 kilometers of pure adventure.

We descended the Nordenskiöld Glacier, getting away from the gale, on great snow. The glacial river was frozen, so we carefully made our way down—but for the final stretch over the seance we rode the sled, pegging. It went fast!

We skied across the sea ice all the way to Brucebyen. A few seals popped their heads up and looked at us curiously.

Tomorrow will be an easy “charm stage,” just 3 kilometers to the boat pickup where the sea ice ends.

DAY 13 - LATER IN THE DAY

At 14:30, we heard: We’ll give it a try to topp out Ferrierfjellet. Sun is out and the wind is slightly better.

18:13: They managed to get up on the Ferrierfjellet ridge! They were rewarded with an absolutely stunning view over neighboring mountains and the glacier running down towards the fjord.

What a team!

DAY 13 - IN THE WIND

Today was a waiting game for the wind to ease off - and stumbling around, polar bear watching in full gale.

Last night, as they all tucked up in their sleeping bags, the storm hit. They all scrambled out of the tents and worked for hours to strengthen the lines and build a solid enough wall that could withstand the wind.

Great teamwork - and the tents stood up incredibly well - though they all slept with their outer clothes in - just as an extra precaution.

As the day went on, they eagerly scouted for a relief in the wind bombardment in the hope of topping ferrierfjellet.

DAG 12 – NORDENSKJOLDBREEN

It seems Mother Nature wants to test our team after all the goodies she has dished out.Today they have a big gale, and without. Luckily, most of the wind was more or less from behind, and they shed altitude and ended the day at only 600 meters.

They found a fairly decent shelter from the wind and were pretty content with how they handled it all. Actually, it seems they enjoy themselves!

They are now camped at Nordenskjöldbreen and, as the clouds lightened, they have a grand view over the fantastic glaciers and towards Billefjorden, where they have a pickup in 2 days.

All good

DAY 11 - HEADS DOWN

Six legs and good progress in challenging conditions. Increasing winds and reduced visibility that culminated in a total whiteout helped enhance their navigation skills. That was a success, from what we hear. And Elisabeth even perfected multitasking using snowdrift, sol, shadows, and wind to keep her bearing.

At camp, it was gale outside, but the wind was still inside the tents as they all gathered in the big tent for dinner.

Greetings from the bear-watching Polar Astronauts

DAY 10 – ON ANOTHER PLANET.

The polar bear tracks for yesterday were a bit overwhelming, but also filled the team with a lot of excitement. It was a great experience and put Svalbard's unique setting in perspective.

During the day they saw several more tracks. Was it the same bear that had been snooping around?

From the morning, they decided on another adventure in the adventure, so to speak, and topped out Jupiter (fjellet / mountain) straight from camp in partly visible and light snow but great ski conditions. As the self-proclaimed Polar Astronauts, they could not pass by another ‘planet’.

They headed south in thickening weather and wind building to a pushy gale from the side.

Greetings from very happy Polar Astronauts

DAY 9 – ASTONAUTICAL

Another hugely eventful day. After topping out Newtontoppen, they slept like babies after their amazing day!

The next morning, they started out in sunny, windless conditions. That was a first, and they all took off without jackets in a very comfortable 3°C.

As the day continued, the clouds came in, and the last bit was back to compass navigation.

They put in a short day and camped under Jupiterfjellet (mountain) and prepped for another summit.

After getting Newton done, they set their aim for Jupiterfjellet / mountain during the night if a westerly wind should grant them the chance. It is a real expedition feel to lying in the tent waiting for Mother Nature to play ball.

Ine-Lill paced up and down and around the camp as if to force the sun out. At one point, the it almost managed to break through. Not enough for a summit assault, but enough for her to spot some tracks just 150 meters off the camp. A polar bear had passed by in the whiteout! It did not frighten them, as they are doing everything by the book. But it shows how much whiteout erases. They had a polar bear watch at all times, with, of course, main attention downwind where the bear is likely to arrive from. – This one was obviously on its way over to the other coast, had spotted the camp, but with total focus on better hunting ground on the other side, had just made a small detour to be well out of sight as it passed.

Jupiter never happened. Now, continuing towards pickup in a few days.

Greetings from the Polar Astronauts

DAY 8 - SUMMMMMMIT!!!

It was a very happy, excited, and content team that reported back. They had an amazing summit push:

Due to the weather, it was decided to delay the summit push and aim for a predicted weather window later in the day. The whole area was covered in dense fog. So they started out in whiteout. Lunsch was in whiteout. And closing in on the summit, it was still a total whiteout.

Then, with 700 meters to go, it all opened up, and they skied up in bright sunshine. They could not have hit that weather window any better.

At the summit it t´was 100% clear, and they had the most extraordinary view in all directions. Surrounded by peaks and glaciers, they could even see the ocean and the island north of Svalbard. 

Then they skied down in light powder snow and arrived in the camp, truly on a high. It had been an absolutely unforgettable experience.

As they reported this back, the clouds and the fog closed in again. And as they went for dinner, it was back to whiteout, snow had started to fall, and the  wind hit gale force.

Say no more 🤩

DAY 7 – HELP FROM BEHIND

The team is sharpening up, and today they started out at 08:15 in whiteout and a light breeze.

As the day progressed, the wind picked up, and after hardcore navigation for the first few hours, the god gained some visibility. Up and over the Titanpasset and down on Keplerbreen, they had a solid 20ms (strong gale) from behind. That helps :-)

Now they are sheltered inside the tent. Enjoying dinner anf listing to the wind and snow falling. – But the focus and anxiety are on the weather tomorrow and if they will be able to reach the top!

Stay tuned

DAG 6 - ARTIC RENDEVOUS

A varied, but great day! Got away 08:30 and put down 7 stints of 50 minutes + 10 min breaks. Routines working smoothly now as they are nearing Newtontoppen.Weather was a good mix, mostly sunshine and winds a bit all over the place. It stared weak, but bigged it self up during the day. And it seems they will have a pug tailwind tomorrow.

The route they have chosen is on the more eastern side of Lominosovbreen (glacier) giving then a stunning view eastward of mountains, glaciers and further out the sea.

In the evening Caro and her Spitsbergen south to north team passed by as they are transporting back to Longyearbyen after a very successful trip. It was a great reunion! You can read all about thet trip here!

DAY 5 - HAPPY TIMES

Another stunner of a day! Sun in the morning. Sun in the evening.They had a batch of wind mid day, and mixed with -12°C, it was cold. It meant full plar-astronaut packaging with facemasks etc. But with firm and fast snow they had no problems moving 18km closer to Newtontppen. Which it seems they may top out on Thursday?

The great conditins, with sun, shadow and snowdrift, ment that the practised polar navigation; using just the direction hints provided by nature. Shadow that moves 15° in an hour. The direction of the snowdrift in comparison to the skis. And also the dirction of the snow. The woman i red (under), Elisabeth, prepped her shoes and feet to get ready for the climb. Feet being the most important part of the body, we alway treat them as Kings - or in this instant, Queens

Stay tuned ;-)

DAY 4 - WHAT A DAY!

They started at 08:30. And for the first time without extra warm layers to guard from the cold. It was almost no wind, sun, and a stunning view.

They skied through the ever-changing and beautiful landscape, transiting from Filchnerfonna and up on onto Lomonosovfonna glacier, until they camped after 14km.In their joy, they even invented their own sign for ‘fantastic’!

DAY 3 - SUNNY HARDSHIP

After another very, very windy night, but with the tents held up very well, and they woke up to glimpses of the sun! That showed them the magnificent surroundings they had not seen last night in the very whiteout and snowdrifty conditions.

They set off at 08:30 into fierce headwind, well wrapped up in full protection mode. It was one foot (ski) in front of the other.

As the day passed, the wind gradually eased, and they set camp after a hard-earned 10kn. It was really sunny and stunning with views.

Ole Tom took the first bear watch.

DAY 2 – HARDCORE

The first night was awaited with some anxiety. But the polar bear watch went well. Great weather did its part.

But that changed as clouds moved in, it started to snow, and the wind kept increasing

In a gale-force wind, they chose to pitch the tent for lunch. Well inside they decided to stay inside and call it a day.

7,5km done, but they were happy and spirits were high!

DAY 1 - A BEAUTIFUL START

They were picked up early this morning and geared up for the scooter trip over to Mohnbukta. In sunny weather, it was a great trip, with plenty of reindeer and birds.

Well, there on the ice they spotted a seal, which is solid proof for starting at the sea!

They soon headed into the wind and up the Hayesbreen Glacier. 3 stints and 6,5km later, they camped out in still sunny surroundings as Loïcs photo shows.

As they settled in and got the first polar watch going, we found out the wind would turn 90° late in the night and increase in force. So now everybody had to get out and turn the camp- hopefully a good investment :-)

DAY -1: ALL HAND ON DECK

A happy team is hard at work preparing in Longyearbyen. We are on schedule, having packed until 23:00 yesterday! We assembled and set up all the tents in a gale-force wind. If that is not realistic prepping, we are not sure what is ..

Everybody has also tested firing the MSR stoves and passed the test with flying colors!

More frantic packing today. At 16.30, Setefano (our man and scooter driver) will come to pick up all the luggage, so we'll be all done then.

Plan is: Leaving at 7.30 tomorrow.

Great atmosphere and excitement!

DAY 0 - SOON YOU CAN FOLLOW THEM HERE 🤗

Every day we will bring you the days happenings!