Dog sledding and the ice cave

Nothing can possibly prepare you for the day we have just had. It was quite possibly the most exhausting day I have ever had. BUT, it was also one of the most amazing experiences and I loved most of it. I will certainly have fantastic memories for a very long time.

The day started at 9am with a short briefing on what we were about to do. Luckily, we were to be the first expedition up to the ice cave at the top of (tbc) fjord starting about 10km from Longyearbyen. After starting off in many layers of clothes anyway, we went with Kristen (our guide) and were kitted out in a huge thermal suit, balaclava, furry hat etc. Then into a van and off to the dog kennels at the base of the fjord. It was just three of us, Katrin, Kristen and me. We learnt about the various trapping techniques used by hunters in the last century (almost leading to the extermination of polar bears up here) and how hunters can still catch the polar fox.

Then, Kristen chose our six huge dogs who would be on our sleds for the day. We each had a sled to connect up and it was hard work as the dogs were so excited to see us there and had masses of energy! Just getting each dofg to the sled was an acheivement and I felt exhausted after I had connected the last one.

My dog sled

Each sled was held by two big brakes (back and front) which held the sled until we were ready to go. Kristen removed the first brake and then, with Kristen in front followed by Katrin and me at the rear, we each had to remove our rear brakes and we raced out of the dog kennels. Kristens last words of warning were to ensure under all circumstances to keep hold of the sled as if we did, the dogs would come to a halt.

It was as if the hounds of hell had been loosed and we raced away down a pretty steep slope with a slant to the right. Katrin made it about 50 metres before the sled ended up on its side and I hit my foot brake just in time to avoid my dogs overtaking. Kristen was brilliant and set everything right again and we started off, but this time the jerky start (the dogs had soooo much energy) meant that I ended up on my side. Standing it up again was no easy job and as soon as I had it upright, then the dogs moved away resulting in another capsize! This time I could not hold on and the sled sped away until stopped (again by Kristen). I was beginning to think that this was going to be a VERY long day as we had only made it about 200 metres from the kennels. Luckily I learnt pretty quickly to bend my knees and hold back whilst almost continuously holding down the footbrake and leaning into the hill. It worked and we kept going and made some good progress up the valley towards the rocky morain underneath the glacier. The sled was now pretty much horizantal and much easier. The morain (lots of rocks from under the glacier) was a different matter and we went up and up with some amazingly steep slopes. At this point the dogs need some human help and used one foot to help push the sled up these slopes.

I was amazed after what seemed like a very long time of complete concentration to reach the entrance of the ice cave which was marked with a reflective pole. We parked up the dogs (using plenty of brakes), gave them lots of encouragement (they deserved it after making it around 1200 feet up from the kennels) and made our way down into the ice cave. We were only the second expedition into the cave (which changes shape every summer as the meltwater carves out caverns in the glacier which freeze again in the winter.

The cave was astounding. The ice was completely clear in places and you could see individual air bubbles. There were icicles as long as spears and probably longer, but the negative temperatures gave plenty of confidence that they were not going to fall. The furthest point we ventured had an unbelievable array of hundreds of individual icicles. This came down almost to the smooth frozen floor and we could go no further. I took plenty of pictures and just hope that they can do the cave justice. It was the most amazing place!

Katrin in the ice cave

Kristen in the ice cave

It was much warmer in the ice cave and we took off gloves to take the pictures, but as we rose back out of the cave the temperature plummetted again (we reckon about -15deg) and we then sat by the dogs to have lunch of hot blackcurrant squash, biscuits and chocolate (I wish I had eaten more!). Whilst eating as well as the full moon, we also had a short presentation of the northern lights which in the artificial-light-free environment was wonderful. I could have gladly stayed at the cave for several hours, but we were getting cold and the dogs restless so we got packed again and started out - me at the back once more. Except that my dogs decided that instead of following the sled in front, they would take a short cut at 90 degrees to my sled direction. I do not know how I stopped the sled going over, but we raced away and almost overtook the lead team. Two feet on the foot brake was only just enough to stop them and we were then on the helterskelter down from the cave (around 1200 feet). I did capsize twice but held on and managed to right myself both times and keep going down the slope. It was hard work, having to concentrate hard on what the dogs were doing and the camber of the track so that I could the put my weight to one side or the other to avoid the dreaded capsize. The scenery down the valley was beautiful and although there was no sunlight at all, the bit of moonlight from behind the valley wall showed the valley sides and the terrain.

We reached the kennels in such a short time (it seemed that way anyway - although time behaved very strangely today) that I almost felt it was too short. I had got much more confident on the sled and was really enjoying the ride.

We unharnessed the dogs and took them back to their own kennels and packed everything away. After saying a brief hello to the puppies, taking a few photoshots of the dogs and some artic reindeer we could see from the kennels, we made our way back to Longyearbyen.

Alaskan Husky puppies enjoying attention

I was totally exhausted but had had the most memorable experience. The sledding had been hard work but very satisfying to make it all the way to the ice cave and back in the darkness. The ice cave itself was just beautiful. Very few words can sum up what it was like.

Kristen our guide was fantastic and very patient (given my multiple falls). Basecamp Spitsbergen provide everything you could want for the trip and I am very grateful to them - although I need to pay for it tomorrow :-(.

A final thanks to my team of six dogs - Ivar and Swing, Borneo and Junior in the middle and Harald and Bruno in the rear next to me. They were great - they certainly had plenty of energy.

I would recommend this to everyone, although perhaps doing it only two days after a half marathon is a little unwise. Nonetheless, I will sleep well tonight before flying back to Tromso tomorrow.