This Arctic experience runs between the last day of February and mid May when sea ice is set hard in the High Arctic wilderness of Spitsbergen (Svalbard). The classic sailing schooner which is home to our summer wildlife voyages is locked in ice, many miles from the nearest point where the surface of the sea is liquid. To reach her, you will learn to mush your own pack of Alaskan Huskies and drive them across land and sea ice to her stunning Winter and Spring home at Tempel Fjord.

You begin your experience in Norway's northernmost town of Longyearbyen, staying in a hotel designed in the form of an old trappers lodge. You will have a chance to see something of the town and become atuned to a quite different way of life from most peoples' temperate home. The next day you will taken to meet your team of working huskies and shown how to harness, handle and drive them before your sledge. You will be responsible for your own pack of dogs and will take part in all work tasks on your wilderness adventure into the Arctic wilderness. You will soon start to develop confidence in managing your own dog team and feel a bond building with these incredibly resilient animals.

Your expedition target is the schooner, locked in ice within the stunningly beautiful Tempel Fjord. To reach her, you will mush across snow covered lands and frozen seas, travelling beside glaciers and amongst ice covered mountains which dominate the landscape of Spitsbergen.

The 'ship in the ice' will then become your base for two nights, in a scene reminiscent of those in which explorers sat through the winter, waiting for their chance to set out for the poles. Here you will be able to absorb your surroundings in a land of complete silence, far from the trappings of modern daily life. Your entire third day will be spent exploring the Tempel Fjord. You will take your lunch in the field but come back onboard for a three course dinner in one of the ship's two warm and comfortable salons. Polar bears sometimes wander close to the ship, so you can never wander by yourself across the ice. At night, you might be able to the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis), playing in the skies above you. Best chances for this are early March and with a New Moon. As we move through March, April and May you can benefit from longer daylight hours to enjoy some stunning Arctic landscapes and be on watch for polar bears, of which some two thousand or more are resident in Spitsbergen.

This is a true Arctic wilderness experience which provides a complete dislocation from the modern world.

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Day 1
Arrive Longyearbyen.
An airport shuttle will be there to meet your flight and take you to your hotel - an Arctic lodge built largely from drift wood in the style of a trappers cabin.

In the afternoon you are free to explore Longyearbyen.

Day 2
(B,L,D)
After breakfast you meet your guide for a briefing before packing and heading by road to the dog station. Here you will meet your team of huskies and learn how to harness them and manage them as a dog sledding team. You will be supported throughout, but you will be responsible for your own dogs and will need to take part in work tasks along the way.

As soon as you are ready to mush a dog team, you will set out into the Arctic wilderness of Spitsbergen. Lunch en route.

After sledding across snowscapes and sea ice, past glaciers and mountains, you will arrive at Tempel Fjord where the stunning 100 year old schooner is trapped in the ice, far from open water. You will receive a warm welcome on this centrally heated ship. Before settling in you will need to settle your dog team. You will be in a twin bunked cabin. 3 course dinner onboard.

Day 3
(B,L,D)
In the morning we feed the dogs before enjoying your own breakfast onboard the ship. Full day to take you dog team out onto the ice and explore deeper into this Arctic wilderness.

Accommodation onboard.

Day 4
(B,L)
You will get up early and set off quickly with your dog sledding team to make full use of the daylight hours.

Lunch en route.

When you arrive back at the husky station, your dogs will be taken care of whilst you are taken back to the hotel in Longyearbyen.

Day 5
(B)
If you are taking the 14:45 flight you will have plenty of time to relax and see some more of the most northerly town in Europe.