Spring Nature Holidays - 2 -
Tempelfjord

Itinerary (1)

Day 1 :
Fly from Paris to Longyearbyen.

Day 2 :
Acclimatisation in Longyearbyen: visit of this very Norwegian town of the Far North. Distribution, verification of/initiation with equipment before departure.

Day 3 :
Morning departure from Longyearbyen: pulled by teams of huskies (Spitzbergen Greenlanders). We race to the bottom of the vast Valley of Adventure (Advendalen), towards the immense flat expanse of Sassendalen, which is overhung by sheer mountains. In this sumptuously white world, we pass from one valley to another through a wide passage, which culminates at almost 200m of altitude overhung by glacial plateaux. We come back down slowly to Sassendalen and its estuary, and arrive on the sparkling white ice floe, which is bordered by imposing cliffs.
Weather conditions permitting, our husky-teams could take us to the ice floe that same evening, in order to set up camp near Friedhiem, the famous trapper’s cabin.

Day 4 :
Leaving the husky-teams, we spend a day in the famous fjord (Tempelfjord), adventuring out onto the ice floe to get closer to the sunbathing seals. Weather conditions and group composition permitting, we may go to the Van Post glacier — right up to the foot of this enormous cliff of bluish ice 30 metres high, which stops brusquely on the ice floe.

Days 5 to 7 :
From Tempelfjord we return independently to Longyearbyen on ski and pulka, accompanied by just one husky pulling one of our small sledges. We cross the frozen sea, and after 22 km of skiing on the ice floes, we climb the small valley of De Geerdalen for 12 km and arrive at the Krekling pass (250m high), a passage that overlooks a 5km descent to the huge Valley of Adventure. Then only a few more kilometres remain before getting back to the town nestling among the mountains.
For meteorological reasons, our progress cannot be planned day by day in advance.
Consequently, for safety reasons, our arrival at Longyearbyen may be earlier than planned if the weather is favourable.

Day 8 :
Day of relaxation in Longyearbyen before departure.

Day 9 :
Fly from Longyearbyen to Paris.

(1) For atmospheric reasons, all descriptions are indicative and non-contractual.