Dispatch #9 - Kite Ski Spitsbergen

Kite Ski Spitsbergen

Dispatches

Mar 27

#9:
no kiting :(

Published at 20:16

After bacon, eggs and coffee for breakfast we bid our new pals goodbye and set off up Sassendalen in a little storm. The brooding clouds over Tempel were spectacular.

Groping through the murk we crossed the valley and looked for a frozen waterfall on the far side. I'd been there before but in similar weather so couldn't recognise anything and didn't find it. But we did find another frozen canyon that we followed for a little while until some soggy ice turned us back. We also discovered many 'rocks' that turned out to be reindeer grazing on the paltry grasses found under the snow.

My great intentions for kiting in Svalbard haven't eventuated and I realise now that it's too inconsistent with wind. So it seems that the 20kg of kiting gear we lugged around served only to make us fitter! So be it.

15km today, happy with that, and now 30km out from Longyearbyen. I don't think we'll be there tomorrow.

Eric

Name: Camp 7
Elevation: 50 m
Latitude: 78° 14’ 29” North
Longitude: 17° 1’ 37” East