Backcountry Ski and Splitboard Touring is not just for the Bitterroots

This spring, I had the opportunity to guide one of the most remarkable ski trips I’ve ever experienced. A week of ski touring in the Svalbard Archipelago, high above the Arctic Circle on Norway’s northern frontier, far from the magic of Montana’s Bitterroots.

I joined my longtime friend and fellow ski guide, Blake Votilla, as the second guide for a private group of four couples from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We began our journey in Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town with a full-service airport, where we spent several days skiing from town, dialing in equipment, and preparing for life in polar bear country, including carrying the required bear deterrents.

From there, we boarded the M/V Ulla Rinman, a beautifully restored ice-capable expedition vessel that became our home for the week. Sailing under the midnight sun, we cruised north along Spitsbergen’s rugged northwest coast, anchoring each evening beneath snow-covered peaks in preparation for the next day’s objective.

The rhythm of the trip was wonderfully simple. Each morning, we loaded into the Zodiac, landed on a remote beach, and climbed directly from sea level into alpine terrain. Every afternoon, the boat repositioned us farther north, opening the door to a completely new landscape the following day.

Spitsbergen is unlike anywhere I’ve skied. Towering mountains rise straight from the sea, surrounded by glaciers, ice caps, and dramatic fjords. With no trees to obscure the view, every peak, ridge, and ski line is visible from miles away. Route selection becomes an exercise in reading maps, studying snow conditions, and scanning the mountains with binoculars.

No two days were alike. We climbed beside active glaciers in brilliant sunshine, skied boot-deep powder through brief whiteouts, navigated rolling glaciers, and found everything from smooth spring corn to wind-sculpted Arctic snow. Along the way, we skied over a peninsular range and down a glacier to visit Ny-Ålesund, one of the world’s northernmost research communities, and even skied near a Russian coal mining settlement tucked deep inside a fjord.

The wildlife was every bit as memorable as the skiing. We saw Svalbard reindeer almost daily, fresh polar bear tracks on our first tour, walrus hauled out along the shoreline, countless seabirds returning for the summer season, and we scanned for Arctic fox and Polar bears. Every landing carried the excitement of exploring a truly wild landscape.

What struck me most was the scale and quiet of the place. Standing on a summit just 3,000 feet above the sea, surrounded by glaciers stretching to the horizon under 24 hours of daylight, was both humbling and inspiring. It’s impossible not to notice the retreating glaciers, the vast untouched wilderness, and the incredible beauty of one of the planet’s last truly remote mountain environments.

This was genuinely a trip of a lifetime, and one I’m excited to return to. Blake and I are already planning future expeditions to Svalbard, offering both liveaboard ski-and-sail adventures as well as day-based ski touring from Longyearbyen, with snowmobile access available for more remote objectives. We also can lead similar Arctic ski touring experiences based out of Tromsø in northern Norway.

If skiing from the shores of the Arctic Ocean, under the midnight sun, sounds like your kind of adventure, I’d love to talk. Whether you’re interested in joining an existing group or creating a custom trip with friends, we’d be happy to help you plan an unforgettable Arctic expedition.

To find out more about guide/owner John Lehrman and guided opportunities you read more here