Outdoor life on Svalbard in General

By Martin Neldèn

It is very easy to get to Svalbard and it is a wonderful place to visit but there are a few things that
you should have in mind.
 
Polarbears.
Polar bears are dangerous you should be aware of that, there is about 5000 polar bears in the  
Svalbard area.  
The main part of the bears prefers the east coast but there is a polar bear danger all over the island.
For example, in 1995 was a girl was killed by a polar bear just a couple of kilometres away from
Longyearbyen.
You can protect yourself from polar bears in several ways.
First you make sure that you always have a rifle when you are outside Longyearbyen 30.06 or
30.08 is the calibre most used, you can also use a shotgun with a big lead bullet
The best way to carry the rifle is in a state called "half loaded".
Then you fill the magazine with four bullets, but when you take the bolt forward you push down
the bullets so when the chamber is closed there is no bullets there. Then pull the trigger to release
the spring.
When you carry the weapon this way is it safe to carry and you have four bullets ready for firing
in a very fast way.
There are also fewer parts in the rifle that can get stuck in cold weather (compared to using the
normal safety catch which is not used at all when carrying a weapon like this).
But remember to empty the gun when you enter the city area. It is really bad to carrying a loaded
weapon inside Longyearbyen and it is not seen with gentle eyes from the population and
government there.
To protect yourself more is it possible to use signal pistols to fire flashes that explodes.
These signal gun shoots travels about 100m and is good to use on a polar bear on this distance.
When the bears comes closer you can also use a signal pen which is a similar thing with flash and
explosion and travels about 30-40 m. If this doesn't help and the bear continue to approach you
can fire a warning shot, and if nothing helps you have to kill the bear, otherwise you will self be

killed...

When you are sleeping in tents you should use trip wires with alarm mines around your tents to
prevent the polar bear to approach the tent without notice.
You should put the tripwires at knee height close to the tent to make sure that you comes awake
when the alarm mines goes of.
If you travel in a large group you can use polar bear guards instead, a dog is also a good polar bear
guard.
All weapons and other polar bear-equipment is possible to rent or buy in Longyearbyen and you
do not have to have a weapons license to rent a rifle (but basic knowledge is recommended) .
If you want to know more about polar bears read the brochure "polar bears" from
"Norsk Polarinstitutt".

*
Cell phones.
Your Cell phone does not work outside Longyearbyen, Svea and parts of the snowmobile track
 from Longyearbyen to Svea (Adventdalen, Todalen mainly).

This means that you should have some red signal flares to your already

rented signal pistol or signal pen.
If you are travelling far away from Longyearbyen you should consider renting a emergency beacon
 that will work all over the island.

*
Climate
The snow is often rougher than in Sweden or Norway in winter. This is due to the low temperatures

 and dry climate.

I mentioned this so that you are aware of it when you plan a trip.

There are also less snow in Svalbard than you would guess.
Since Svalbard is an arctic desert with low rain and snowfall and specially at the east cost where
snow dept often only measures a few dm.
The vegetation is also very low and there are no trees that help the snow to stay in place when it
is windy (which it is quite often...) so most of the snow just blows away right in to the sea.

 *
Water

The water is drinkable all over Svalbard as it is except at one  place, Grumantbyen, between
Longyearbyen and Barentsburg.
In this area there is a parasite in the water so make sure to boil your drinking water if you visit this
area.

*
Insurance

If you are planning to go further then just in the neighbourhood of Longyearbyen, Barentsburg or

Svea (you can travel between these without problem) please inform  Sysselmannen (which is the
governor of  Svalbard).
Also make sure that your insurance cover an possible rescue operation (Or if you prefer, a back
packer full of money).

*
If you have those things in mind and just use normal mountaineering and skiing sense you should
have a wonderful time on Svalbard!

Have a nice time at Svalbard / Martin

Also read Martin's day trip guide!

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